Grants and Communication Manager

About Rungano-Ndota Initiative (RNI)

Ngira nkugire, Mfasha ngufashe

Rungano-Ndota Initiative (RNI) is a Rwandan youth organisation based in Ruhango District, Southern Province. We build communities of trust where young people aged 16–26 from the poorest households break out of poverty and become entrepreneurs and leaders. They are proof for the next generation, and for the world, that it can be done. Rungano-Ndota means “a dream generation”, and that is what our youth are becoming.

RNI was founded by nine young leaders from Ruhango District and officially began its work there in 2017. Led by young Rwandans who know poverty and hardship from their own lives, RNI is shaped by a simple idea: trust and belonging come first, then self-leadership, then capital. Youth join RNI from local government lists of the poorest households, on need alone, with no screening. They include young single mothers, youth returning from rehabilitation and youth with disabilities.

Each young person walks a two-year Core Program journey and then joins Inyenyeri, RNI's lifelong community of graduates who give back. The journey rests on four foundations: Personal Wellness, Leadership Development, Entrepreneurship Development and Ecosystem Connection.

In 10 years, 550 youth have walked this journey with RNI. RNI's data shows:

427 businesses created by our first 450 youth, with 143 full-time and 218 part-time jobs for others 82% of graduates are elected leaders in their communities, up from 9% before joining 0 further unplanned pregnancies among the 98 young single mothers in the program over the past five years 44 of 45 youth returning from rehabilitation have not gone back

In 2026, RNI walks alongside 300 youth in the Core Program and 250 Inyenyeri members.

Our principles

Trust • Patience • Youth in the driver's seat • Communal role modelling • Co-creation • Holistic & experiential learning

Join us. At RNI, you won't just fill a post. You'll walk alongside young people that others wrote off as they become the people their communities count on.

Learn more: www.runganondota.org

Job Description

Position Title Grant and communication manager

Supervised by Executive Director

Supervises Multimedia Officer and Community Engagement Officer

The grant and communication Manager shall work under the supervision of the Executive Director

General Responsibilities for All Rungano-ndota Program Staff

Cultivate constructive engagement within the Rungano-Ndota (RNI) community, fostering positive relationships with youth participants. Contribute to the execution of Rungano Program Days, Alumni Forums, RNI Business Bootcamp, Business Idea Generation Day and virtual events in collaboration with Rwanda Youth Partnership, ensuring seamless coordination and facilitation. Actively engage in Monitoring and Evaluation processes, providing valuable insights and feedback to enhance program effectiveness. Participate in Staff Development Retreats, and be available for weekend or overnight commitments away from home during the Annual RNI&RYP Leadership Exchange, as required. Collaborate with colleagues, offering support through constructive feedback and mutual assistance in fulfilling individual responsibilities.

Responsibilities for This Particular Job

Donors engagement and grant management:

Developing relationships and collaborating with key stakeholders. Identifying grant funding opportunities. Writing, submitting, and managing grant proposals. Furnishing prospective funders with supporting documents. Collaborating with Executive Director to send funders newsletters. Conduct pre-award due diligence assessments of current and potential partners and analyze organizational capacity to manage grant funding and project implementation. Draft grant agreements and MOUs and all grant agreement modifications in consultation with designated program, and finance leads. Work with Executive director to ensure all agreement templates and letters of commitment are current with respect to RNI and donor compliance requirements. Monitor compliance with donors’ requirements. Work with program staff to ensure grant payments are made in accordance with agreements and work plans. Help develop policies relating to grants management. Train RNI staff and partners regarding compliance as needed. Provide analysis of the status on current and closed grants, e.g. spending patterns, outstanding reports.

Communications Strategy and Public Engagement:

Strategy and planning

Develop and update RNI’s communications strategy and an annual communications plan, linked to fundraising and partnership goals, and agree it with the Executive Director. Identify RNI’s key audiences (donors, government partners, Twese for Rungano, the public, youth and their communities) and set the key messages and channels for each. Plan communications around RNI’s calendar: Inkera y’Urungano, graduation, the Leadership Exchange, Rungano Youth Roundtables and RNI’s 10th anniversary in 2027.

Guiding the team

Supervise the Multimedia Officer and the Community Engagement Officer, including setting their work plans and reviewing their performance. Set the monthly content plan and give direction and feedback to the Multimedia Officer, so that stories, photos and videos serve the strategy. Guide the Community Engagement Officer on messages and updates for Twese for Rungano members.

Brand, quality and ethics

Make sure all RNI materials follow RNI’s brand guidelines and key messages, and approve major publications before release. Make sure informed consent is obtained before any youth’s story, name or photo is shared, and that youth are always shown with dignity, as leaders and entrepreneurs. Make sure results are reported accurately and consistently, using RNI’s own data.

Donors, partners and visibility

Turn program results and youth stories into donor reports, newsletters, proposals and impact summaries, working with program staff. Find and pursue visibility opportunities for RNI and its leaders: media, conferences, awards, panels and partner platforms. Prepare the Executive Director and staff for public speaking, media interviews and presentations, with talking points and briefing notes.

Learning

Set simple measures of communication success, such as audience growth, engagement, newsletter reach and donor response, review them regularly with the Multimedia Officer and adjust the strategy.

Other duties:

Other duties as required Perform any other duties as assigned by the organization.

Essential Qualifications and Required Skills

All Rungano-Ndota staff:

Possess a reliable and clear teamwork communication style with colleagues, youth, and external partners. Demonstrate a strong understanding of the barriers faced by youth who are not in formal education and employment, combined with a genuine belief in their potential to succeed. Show the ability to build positive, trusting, and empowering relationships with vulnerable youth. Demonstrate high integrity and ethical behavior in all professional responsibilities. Be Rwandan by nationality with a strong understanding of the Rwandan social and community context. Be young themselves, because the work requires flexibility, travel, and working with youth. Have good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). Be fluent in spoken and written Kinyarwanda and English.

For this particular job, the candidate should possess:

Education and experience

Degree in business administration,project management or equivalent. At least 2 years' experience in proposal, project, or programme development, or grants management in an local NGO Proven experience in successfully applying for institutional donor funding. Budgeting and accounting experience.

Skills

Methodical and strategic thinking. Good communication skills. Excellent organizational skills. Strong writing skills. Possess strong interpersonal skills and be able to confidently provide communications related guidance to organizational executives and volunteers Possess outstanding project management skills and have the ability to work in a fast-paced team environment and manage multiple priorities,projects and deadlines

Benefits

In compensation for service rendered, RUNGANO-NDOTA INITIATIVE will offer a monthly salary, health & maternity insurance and pension savings insurance. All staff benefit from different training organized by the project All staff also benefit from collaboration and coaching discussions with international colleagues whom we meet through our US-based partners

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit their application through info@runganondota.org. Include a cover letter and CV, along with a one-page handwritten sketch discussing the scenario below. In your cover letter, you are welcome to explain any parts of your professional, academic, or personal life experience that truly motivate you to pursue this job. Deadline: November 16th, 2026 at 5:00 pm. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview!

Scenario for Your One-page Handwritten Sketch

IMPORTANT: The sketch must be written in your own handwriting. Scan it or take a clear photo and attach it to your application email. Applications with a typed sketch, or a sketch that is not written in the applicant's own handwriting, will not be selected.

Imagine you have been Grants and Communication Manager for six months. RNI's largest donor, which funds the biggest share of the Core Program, informs you that because of a change in its own strategy, its funding will drop by 40% next year and end completely in two years. RNI wants to keep walking alongside 300 youth in the Core Program. At the same time, a large funder opens a call for proposals for youth employment programmes in Rwanda, but it asks for independently verified results, while RNI's results so far are self-reported from its own data. Few funders and decision-makers outside Ruhango know RNI. The Executive Director asks you to present a plan to the Board in one month.

In one page, explain how you would respond. Please cover:

What you would do in your first month, and the main points of the plan you would present to the Board. How you would build a more diverse funding base over the next two years: which types of funders or income you would target, in what order, and why. Whether you would apply to the new call, and how you would present RNI's self-reported results honestly while strengthening the evidence over time. How you would use a communications strategy,to raise RNI's profile with funders and decision-makers, and what you would ask the Multimedia Officer to do. How you would protect RNI's relationship with the current donor during the transition.

RUNGANO-NDOTA INITIATIVE is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to the equal treatment of all employees without regard to race, religion, gender, physical disability, or any other basis protected by Rwandan law.