Job title: Youth Development & Livelihoods -
Program Manager I
ConsultancyOpportunities
Department: Programming
Salary Grade: 9
Reports to: Country Manager
Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Catholic Relief Services is the official international
humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works
to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100
countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and
development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV,
health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.
Job Summary
You will manage CRS Rwanda's youth economic development and
livelihoods programming, including projects that promote youth
entrepreneurship, employment pathways, access to finance, enterprise
development, and rural livelihoods. You will manage all activities throughout
the project cycle and provide technical and operational oversight to project
staff and implementing partners. You will also coordinate project-level
engagement with government technical counterparts, implementing partners,
private sector actors, financial service providers, and youth-serving
organizations. Your management skills, technical knowledge, and understanding
of market-oriented youth programming will ensure that the Country Program
delivers high-quality, inclusive programming and continuously works towards
improving results for rural and underserved youth. You will provide technical
evidence and implementation input to program development, organizational
partnerships, and external engagement processes.
RwandaPolicy Research
Roles and Key Responsibilities
- Manage
and implement all activities throughout relevant project cycles - project
design, start-up, implementation, monitoring, and close-out - to ensure
efficient and effective implementation in line with CRS program quality
principles and standards, donor requirements, and good practices. Ensure
project teams and partner staff use the appropriate systems and tools.
- Provide
technical and operational oversight for youth economic development and
livelihoods programming, including youth entrepreneurship, employability
and employment pathways, access to finance, rural livelihoods integrating
life skills, social and emotional wellbeing, positive youth development
approaches. Ensure approaches are market-responsive, inclusive, and
relevant to the realities of rural and underserved youth.
- Effectively
manage talent and supervise. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being.
Provide coaching, strategically tailor individual development plans,
contribute to the recruitment process of project staff, and complete
performance management for direct reports.
- Manage
program-level relationships and implementation arrangements with partner
organizations. Review and monitor partner workplans, budgets, forecasts,
reports, deliverables, and performance; conduct regular review meetings
and field visits; and ensure timely follow-up on agreed actions.
- Champion
learning with project staff and partner teams. Analyze and evaluate
project performance data following CRS MEAL policy. Proactively identify
issues and concerns, facilitate reflection and adaptive management, and
use participatory processes to overcome obstacles to implementation
- Coordinate
the identification of staff and partner capacity and technical assistance
needs and the design and delivery of capacity-strengthening interventions
required to support quality project implementation, financial stewardship,
reporting, and accountability.
- Coordinate
and monitor financial, material, and operational resources relevant to
project needs. Through work planning, budgeting, forecasting, expenditure
monitoring, procurement coordination, and oversight, ensure efficient and
accountable use of project resources.
- Coordinate
technical and project-level engagement with district authorities, relevant
government technical units and Ministries, private sector actors,
financial institutions, business development service providers, and
youth-serving organizations. Represent CRS in relevant technical working
groups, project coordination meetings, and implementation forums, as delegated.
- Act as
a key technical resource person in project design and proposal development
in the youth programming area, providing implementation evidence,
technical content, realistic delivery arrangements, partner input,
workplans, and budgets, and taking on program growth responsibilities as
needed.
- Help
identify, assess, and strengthen partnerships relevant to youth projects,
applying appropriate partnership concepts, tools, and approaches.
Coordinate with the Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives Manager and
Country Manager on opportunities requiring organizational-level
partnership development, business development, strategic positioning, or
high-level engagement.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor’s
degree in international development, Economics, Business Administration,
Project Management, Rural Development, Social Sciences, or another field
relevant to youth economic empowerment and livelihoods required.
- Minimum
of 5 years of relevant field-based experience, including at least 3 years
coordinating or managing moderately complex development projects,
preferably with an international NGO.
- Demonstrated
experience managing project workplans, budgets, forecasts, implementation
schedules, risks, and donor deliverables, and working with implementing
partner organizations.
- Experience
working in youth development, economic empowerment, livelihoods,
employment, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, rural development, or a
related program area required.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's
Degree in a relevant field.
- Experience
in two or more of the following areas: youth entrepreneurship, employment
and workforce development, access to finance, enterprise development,
rural livelihoods, or market systems development.
- Experience
engaging private sector actors, employers, financial institutions, or
business development service providers in support of youth programming.
- Experience
working with rural youth and applying inclusive approaches for young
women, youth with disabilities, and other underserved groups.
- MEAL,
adaptive management, program learning skills and experience
preferred.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Strong
project cycle management skills, including work planning, budgeting,
forecasting, risk management, partner oversight, reporting, and
coordination of operational requirements.
- Demonstrated
project management depth combined with a broad understanding of youth
economic empowerment, private sector engagement, financial inclusion, and
rural programming.
- Good
understanding of the opportunities and constraints affecting rural and
underserved youth and the importance of linking youth programming to
viable markets, employers, finance, and enterprise support services.
- Experience
using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint,
Outlook), Web Conferencing Applications, and information management
systems.
- Experience
engaging with and managing partner organizations, including reviewing
workplans, budgets, reports, and performance and supporting partner
capacity strengthening.
- Experience
in technical-level engagement with government institutions, private sector
actors, financial service providers, and youth-serving organizations.
- Experience
contributing to the development of technical proposals, concept notes,
project budgets, and implementation arrangements.
- Strong
analytical, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving skills with
the ability to make sound judgment and use program and financial data to
inform decisions.
- Strong
relationship management, facilitation, and negotiation skills
- Strong
written and verbal communication skills with the ability to prepare clear
reports, presentations, and technical documents.
- Proactive,
agile, results-oriented, service-oriented, and able to learn new technical
areas, systems, and processes quickly.
Required Languages: Excellent written and spoken
English and Kinyarwanda required. Knowledge of French is desirable.
Travel: Must be willing and able to travel up to
40% within Rwanda, including rural project locations.
RwandaPolicy Research
Supervisory Responsibilities: Yes - Youth Policy
and Partnerships Advisor and Youth Digital Programming Officer.
CRS is an equal opportunity employer. Applications from
women and youth are highly welcomed.
How to apply
Interested and qualified candidates should Fill out form,
the Self -DeclarationClause and submit them together
with one page Cover letter plus updated CV (maximum
three pages) all in/as one PDF document - via email only
to: RW_HR@crs.org not
later than August 4th 2026, at 5:00pm.
Also include your full names and title “Youth
Program Manager I in the subject line. Due to anticipated
high interest in this post and the expected number of applicants, only
short-listed candidates will be contacted.
Please, include the statement below in your cover letter: “By
applying to this job, I understand and acknowledge that CRS requires its staff
to treat all people with dignity and respect and to actively prevent
harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Further, I understand
that if I am a successful candidate, I will be subject to a comprehensive
background check, and my personal/professional references will be asked to
evaluate my behaviors related to the above safeguarding-related topics.”
Kigali, July 22nd, 2026
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