Title: Senior Manager, Talent Development & Performance Management
Reporting to: Head of People
Location: Nairobi
About Food4Education
Food4Education (F4E) is a Kenyan nonprofit that is African and women-led, revolutionizing school feeding programs across Africa by designing a blueprint, operating it, and then supporting replication. Our vision is a world where no child has to learn on an empty stomach.
By creating an innovative, scalable, and sustainable model, we’re ensuring that children and youth have not only access to nutritious meals but also the opportunity to thrive in quality education. Over the past decade, F4E has expanded its reach exponentially, serving more than 120 million meals and growing from just 25 children fed daily in 2012 to a staggering 540,000 children receiving meals every single day in 2025. With our presence now spanning 12 counties—Embu, Kajiado, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kisumu, Machakos, Mombasa, Murang’a, Nairobi, Nakuru, Nyeri, and Uasin Gishu—we’re delivering daily meals to children in over 1,400 public primary schools and ECD centers.
About the Role
The Senior Manager, Talent Development & Performance Management is a strategic leadership role responsible for overseeing key pillars of talent acquisition and development, performance management, learning and development, and employee experience.
The role focuses on cultivating a high-performance culture, enhancing organizational talent capabilities, and driving employee engagement and satisfaction. Additionally, the job holder will be responsible for cascading initiatives developed under these pillars across the organization, ensuring alignment with both the long-term business strategy and the overarching HR strategy.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
Performance Management:
- Design and implement a performance management framework aligned with the organizational strategy, ensuring performance goals are effectively cascaded across all levels of the organization.
- Train employees and create awareness of the performance management framework to promote consistent understanding and application.
- Manage critical stages of the performance cycle, including goal setting, mid-year reviews, and end-of-year evaluations.
- Extract insights from performance data to inform continuous improvement of both the performance process and overall organizational strategy.
- Collaborate with managers to develop performance strategies that support employee growth, foster development, and encourage a high-performance culture.
- Design and implement reward and recognition programs linked to performance outcomes to reinforce a performance-driven culture.
- Provide regular reports to the leadership team throughout the performance cycle to support data-driven decision-making and related strategic initiatives.
- Analyze performance data to identify trends, highlight strengths, and uncover areas for improvement
Talent Acquisition and Development
- Design and implement a Talent Management Framework aligned with organizational needs, with a focus on talent attraction, development, retention, and long-term capability building.
- Conduct talent assessments to evaluate employee skills, competencies, and potential using appropriate tools, and identify gaps between current capabilities and future workforce requirements.
- Develop a competency framework that clearly defines and communicates the organizational capabilities required for success.
- Lead the Individual Development Planning (IDP) process by creating personalized development plans that incorporate career aspirations, development goals, and targeted learning activities.
- Design and implement leadership development programs tailored to various leadership levels, including emerging leaders, mid-level managers, and the senior leadership team.
- Develop a competency model aligned with the organization’s development agenda, covering behavioral, technical, and leadership competencies.
- Identify critical roles for succession planning and manage the High Potential (HiPo) Program to ensure a robust leadership pipeline for future needs.
- Facilitate and oversee coaching and mentoring programs to support employee development and performance.
- Monitor the progress and impact of management development initiatives and adjust strategies as needed to ensure effectiveness.
- Collaborate closely with the People & Culture team to ensure that all talent development initiatives are fully aligned with the broader HR and organizational strategy.
Learning and Development:
- Collaborate with the Learning and Development Manager to define and implement a learning and development strategy aligned with the organization's overall organizational development goals.
- Oversee training needs assessments to identify skill and knowledge gaps across the organization.
- Lead the design, development, and implementation of comprehensive training programs that cater to employees at all levels.
- In consultation with the L&D Manager, source reputable external training providers to ensure high-quality learning experiences.
- Develop an annual training work plan and budget in collaboration with the Learning and Development Manager.
- Provide regular reports on the effectiveness and impact of training programs and employee development initiatives, including analysis of return on investment (ROI).
- Monitor and report on the utilization of the training and development budget, including impact assessments of training activities.
Employee Engagement:
- Collaborate with the employee experience function to define the employee value proposition pillar and cascade the across the organization
- Contribute to the development of programs that recognize and reward employee achievement.
- Oversee the development and implementation of the employer branding strategy.
Desired Candidate Profile
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources.
- Member of the Institute of Human Resource Management.
- 8 years experience in HR with a specialization in performance, talent development or learning and development.
- Strong knowledge of competency framework, performance frameworks and talent development.
- Strong analytical skills and experience with performance data analysis.
- Proficiency in HRIS and performance and learning management systems.
- Knowledge of HR practices.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Excellent computer skills.
- Ability to interact effectively with staff at all levels of the organization.
- Excellent interpersonal skills.
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Attention to detail.
We are an equal-opportunity employer
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances.
Career Growth and Development
We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You will have weekly check-ins with your manager, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You will have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding, long-term career.
Deadline; 17th October 2025
We aim to contact all our applicants, but due to the high volume of applications only short-listed candidates are contacted. If you do not hear from us within two weeks your application might not be successful on this occasion. This does not mean you will not be considered for future roles so please keep an eye on our job board and apply for positions that match your skills and experience.
