The context:
Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school – but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, we’re changing that, and we want your help. Our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp®.
About us:
Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we’ve spent over a decade crafting a unique blend of high-tech and low-tech learning solutions proven to dramatically improve student outcomes that elevate teaching quality at scale. 7 RCTs have shown that the students we support learn, on average, 2.4x faster each year than their peers in comparable schools.
Today, we serve more than a quarter of a million students across 1,000 schools in West and East Africa through three integrated and complimentary channels:
- Pioneering Great-Value Private Schools: Our innovative networks of private schools deliver best-in-class results for children while developing highly scalable new technologies and approaches.
- Scalable Government Partnerships: We partner and collaborate with local and national governments across Africa to transform the quality of public school systems at scale.
- High Impact Solutions for Partners: We offer our proven high-impact solutions to other education providers and schools to improve school performance & increase outcomes.
Our innovative approaches combine expertly designed curriculum materials, personalized learning experiences, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data for school leaders. You can learn more about our solutions here: https://www.risingacademies.com/oursolutions
At Rising we keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to share in our commitment to meeting the highest standards of safeguarding excellence and protecting children from harm.
About the role:
We are hiring for an exceptional individual to join our central team as People Associate. Our people are at the heart of everything we do just as our students. As People Associate, you’ll help ensure that every Rising staff has a positive employee experience in line with Rising’s values. You’ll play a hands-on role in keeping our HR operations running smoothly, supporting staff and managers, and helping build a culture where people feel valued and set up to thrive. This role will sit on our central team (group level) and will support the People Manager across all our operating countries and beyond. This is a great opportunity for someone early in their HR career, and looking to grow, learn and make a real difference.
The People Associate will:
- Support the full employee lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding, ensuring every step is handled accurately and in line with policy and local law, on time, and with care and in line with Rising’s values.
- Prepare and issue contracts, offer letters, exit letters, and other key staff documents, making sure all details are correct and deadlines are met.
- Track probation periods for new staff, reminding managers of upcoming reviews and supporting timely confirmation conversations.
- Keep our HR systems (BambooHR) fully updated with changes like hires, exits, promotions, pay changes, title updates and contract extensions within set timelines.
- Regularly review employee data for accuracy, flagging and correcting errors promptly.
- Recognize and celebrate key staff milestones (e.g. birthdays, promotions, anniversaries) in a timely and thoughtful way.
- Contribute to employee engagement and culture-building activities, events, recognitions that bring Rising’s values to life and help make it a joyful place to work.
- Support the People Manager in delivering HR Lead responsibilities across Rwanda, Liberia and all global teams, helping to ensure smooth and timely People operations.
- Uphold safeguarding policies and practices, promoting a culture where concerns are reported confidently and acted on promptly.
Location and reporting:
This is a full-time position. The People Associate reports to the People Manager and will ideally be based either out of our country office in Accra, Ghana or on the African continent.
Application deadline:
The target start-date for this role will be Jan 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, as such, we encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.
Qualifications and Experience:
- 2-4 years of relevant experience in HR operations, people support, or administration, ideally in a fast-paced or multi-country organisation.
- Experience owning the full end-to-end HR/People processes (from onboarding to offboarding) is required.
- Familiarity with the local labour market/law across various geographies on the African continent.
- Experience in understanding, embodying and promoting the message, culture and brand of the organisations you have recruited for.
- Track record of building and fostering relationships with key stakeholders and advising them on people processes.
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent level experience required.
About You:
- You are passionate about Rising’s mission and have the highest levels of integrity and trustworthiness.
- You have the ability to take direction and then drive work independently and autonomously.
- You have the ability to set and hit goals, timelines, support team members and deliver within deadlines or let things fall through the cracks.
- You can prioritise, well organised, have strong attention to detail to succeed in an environment with growing demands.
- You can build productive relationships and partner closely with the various key stakeholders and team leads.
- You are a strong communicator, including the ability to clearly articulate information and ideas orally and in writing; and communicate compellingly to impact and influence decision making.
- You have a proactive, solutions-focused mindset and willingness to learn quickly.
- You have genuine interest in people, culture, and creating great employee experiences.
Why Join Us?
- Compensation: We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. We regularly benchmark our compensation against comparable businesses, social ventures and non-profits. Rising’s goal is to be transparent about salaries at all levels of the organisation and have a standard, global pay scale for all positions that is non-negotiable.
- Continuous Development and Growth: Rising is a Certified B Corp and twice named in its “Best for the World” list. We are committed to continuous development, which is grounded in our values and a vital part of how we bring the ‘Rising Way’ to life. We provide a nurturing environment where our staff are supported with the right ongoing conversations with their managers, among teams and as an organization, to support their career growth and help us reach our goals.
- Impact: Our students achieve learning gains 2.4 times faster than their peers in comparable schools, positioning our impact in the top 10% of global education interventions. This role offers an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to this proven success.
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Rising is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, national origin, family or parental status, veteran or disability status.
Rising is committed to creating a culture within the organisation, and its schools, that recognises the importance of safeguarding children and prioritising their rights and needs. We strive to uphold international safeguarding standards, and keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to have the same level of commitment to protect children from harm. Safeguarding questions are part of every interview process and all Rising employees undergo reference checks before joining the organisation.
