ABOUT ALU

ALU provides higher education for a higher purpose. Our students declare missions, not majors.
They develop the real-world skills to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. And they take ownership of their learning from day one through our peer and student-led approach – because ALU believes in the power and agency of young people to start shaping the future right now.
Together with a world-class faculty and staff, our students are igniting a ripple of positive impact across Africa and the world.

We are dedicated to fostering an open yet secure environment, balancing the safety of students, staff, and visitors with respect for individual rights, and safeguarding responsibilities.

HOW WE WORK

As a high-growth start-up, the ALU Team works in starkly different ways to traditional academic bureaucracies. We approach education from first principles, empower individuals to design, test, and implement creative new ideas, and work closely together to craft transformative learning experiences. We are deeply passionate about our students and excited by the challenge of building something entirely new.

The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Academic Operations Lead is critical in supporting the Dean of Undergraduate Programs to ensure top-quality student experience at ALU Rwanda by project managing key initiatives that cut across our Campus, to improve deliverables of the academic, non-academic, and facilities management departments. This will include, projects that involve shared services across the university. The Academic Operations Lead will consolidate and analyze data from all departments to drive improvements in academic and non-academic experience.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Data

• Collate, track, and analyze data from across ALU Rwanda in collaboration with Student Life, the Academic team, the Operations team, and the central data team to define trends and recommend actions for improvement.
• Monitor Key Performance indicators of quality across all quality pillars, including templating and analysis.
• Create periodic reports on ALU Rwanda for key stakeholders, including The Rwanda and Foundation Boards, the Higher Education Council, and the Quality Assurance team.

2. Project Implementation and Coordination:

• Implement and coordinate academic projects as directed by the Dean.
• Ensure timely and effective execution of project deliverables by working with the PMO and relevant teams within the Business unit and verticals.
• Gather requisite data, timelines and project resources from multiple departments to ensure projects do not conflict and/or compete for similar resources and timelines within the remit of ALU Rwanda Undergraduate projects.

3. Academic Operations Management:

• Documentation, data collation, and tracking status updates against set plans for academic improvement initiatives and plans in collaboration with internal teams.
• Facilitate and manage a central calendar for all activities on the Rwanda campus.
• Support the preparation for each semester, including ensuring faculty readiness and resource availability for scheduled modules in collaboration with the Academic Associate Director.
• Coordinate with program leads and the operations manager to optimize available space and equipment.
• Project manage academic events within all programs to optimize resources and meet academic objectives by liaising between the academic departments and the various event owners.
• Ensure ALU initiatives and actions have a clear consolidated budget, monitoring spending against the approved budget for items.

4. Student Experience Improvement:

• Support the Dean with resolving aspects of the student journey that consistently deliver below expectations.
• Track action plans to enhance the student's academic and non-academic experience as measured by the key indicators, including Net Promoter Scores (NPS), faculty and course ratings, and Customer Satisfaction scores for student-facing teams.
• Track implementation of strategies based on feedback and data analysis.

5. Academic Communications Management:

• Draft, manage, and coordinate academic communications, including informing students about new policies, faculty changes, program updates, and academic committee decisions.
• Ensure clear and timely dissemination of information to all internal and external stakeholders, including but not limited to students, alumni, parents, regulators, student-facing teams, marketing and outreach teams.
• Consolidate and reroute students' Academic queries to program leads, Registrar’s Office, and faculty ensuring they are addressed promptly in alignment with set Service Level Agreements.
• Oversee the help desk operations and manage the traffic of student queries.
• Ensure the safety and well-being of all young persons and vulnerable adults with whom we deal, by adhering to ALU’s comprehensive safeguarding policy, maintaining a zero-tolerance approach to any violations of safeguarding standards.

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's degree in Education, Business Administration, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred).
• Proven experience in academic operations, project management, or a related field.
• Strong organizational and multitasking skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities.
• Proficiency in data analysis and preferably using academic management systems, including Canvas, Salesforce, and Freshdesk.
• Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, students, non-academic staff, and administrative staff.
• Experience with regulatory compliance and quality assurance processes is a plus.