Summary
Job title: RLRH East Africa Operations Coordinator
Location: RLRH Office at the British Institute in Eastern Africa in Kileleshwa, Nairobi (with occasional remote interactions)
Salary: 3,000,000-3,566,376 KSH gross yearly, dependent on experience
Hours: Part-time 0.83 FTE (37.5 hours per week)
Contract Type: Fixed term - 12 months (with possible extension)
Reporting to: BIEA Country Director (formally), and working closely with the RLRH Director of Operations and Strategy (functionally).
Closing Date: Friday 10th October 2025, 11:59pm (EAT)
Start Date: 10th November 2025 (desired) but flexible
About the Refugee Led Research Hub:
The Refugee-Led Research Hub (RLRH) is a global initiative based out of the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford and is hosted at the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) in Kenya. Founded in October 2020, RLRH supports individuals with lived experience of forced displacement to become leaders in fields such as humanitarian response, forced migration, human rights, and other areas of interest identified by RLRH researchers and students. RLRH delivers academic bridging programmes to an international cohort of students affected by displacement, facilitating access to graduate degrees and professional development opportunities across the world. RLRH also enables researchers with displacement backgrounds to lead primary and secondary research studies, from inception to completion. Our research agenda, guided by the concerns of forcibly displaced communities, aims to have a direct impact on policy and practice. A majority of RLRH colleagues and scholars identify as current or former refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, and stateless persons. RLRH has offices in Nairobi, Kakuma refugee camp, Kuala Lumpur, and Oxford. Our network of colleagues, researchers, students, and other professional affiliates is comprised of 750+ individuals across 100+ countries.
Overview of the RLRH East Africa Operations Coordinator Position:
The RLRH East Africa Operations Coordinator role based at the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) is a mid-career position responsible for ensuring effective and compliant operations in Nairobi and in the broader East African region. The postholder will coordinate office administration, HR, and finance and compliance processes, while also contributing to organisational culture and learning, office expansion, and donor reporting. The role combines managerial oversight of two junior office, admin and finance roles with hands-on operational delivery, requiring a proactive individual with significant experience in nonprofit operations in Kenya and/or East Africa.
Responsibilities:
Operational Management (20%)
- Serve as the focal point for East Africa operations, liaising with RLRH Oxford-based colleagues, RLRH colleagues in Africa, and British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) counterparts on human resources, finance, logistics, legal and compliance.
- Oversee daily operations of the RLRH Nairobi office, including administrative systems and office resources.
- Maintain and update office and operations manuals, safeguarding and finance policies, and employee handbooks relevant to the RLRH Nairobi office.
- Monitor local operational risks (legal, financial, and security) and staff safety issues in Nairobi/East Africa, escalating concerns to the Director of Operations and Strategy.
- Support implementation of organisational knowledge management practices and digital security protocols, ensuring local compliance and staff uptake.
- Support the management and coordination of operational activities at the current and future RLRH satellite hubs in Kakuma, Kampala, Dadaab, and any other East African locations.
Human Resources (20%)
- Draft, process, and follow up on staff and consultancy contracts with BIEA; ensure contracts are recorded in budget/financial planners and the RLRH HR System (BambooHR).
- Support HR processes including recruitment, onboarding, leave tracking, and performance monitoring.
- Provide staff training and onboarding support on operational systems and tools.
- Act as a staff wellbeing focal point and mediator, ensuring staff have access to wellbeing and DEI resources (training to be provided).
- Track and support the acquisition of visa, permit, and other legal documentation necessary for staff to perform their work (e.g. Class M permits, Convention Travel Documents (CTDs), etc.) and, where necessary, conduct in-person follow-ups with relevant authorities.
Finance and Compliance (20%)
- Line management of the RLRH Administration and Finance Assistant, overseeing financial operations related to East Africa activities while ensuring high-quality deliverables and professional development.
- Liaise with BIEA finance focal point, BIEA Kenya Country Director, and RLRH Finance Officer to ensure timely approvals and processing of payments.
- Ensure RLRH East Africa financial processes are compliant with implementing partner and RLRH finance policies.
- Approve payments, manage procurement approvals, reimbursement confirmations, petty cash reconciliations and planned spending tracking for East Africa operations.
- Reconcile transaction lists, researchers’ fieldwork trackers, and provide oversight of payments and financial reporting.
- Support needs during annual financial audits and ensure compliance with legal and donor financial reporting requirements.
Partnerships, Grants and Programmes (15%)
- Support disbursement and processing of research and fellowship grants alongside the Research and Professional Placements teams, liaising with BIEA HR and finance colleagues for award approvals and grant disbursement.
- Liaise with external organisational partners to establish and manage subcontracts, research partnerships, and collaboration agreements for fund disbursement mechanisms.
- Alongside BIEA legal & compliance manager, draft and manage MOUs with external organisational partners, including financial and logistical terms.
- Support in managing and signposting eligible applications to the RLRH affiliate hardship fund.
Office Management and Culture (15%)
- Line manage the Nairobi-based Office and Events Assistant and provide oversight for and professional development training to any additional operations colleagues or trainees.
- Create a healthy and supportive work environment for all RLRH Nairobi office colleagues, ensuring accountability and positive office culture.
- Support the oversight of office events, logistics, and serve as the operational point of contact for visitors and delegations to the RLRH Nairobi office.
Strategy and Development (5%)
- Document Nairobi and East Africa learnings into global operational and strategic planning.
- Contribute to donor compliance, narrative reporting, and yearly narrative reflections on East Africa operations.
- Support development of new offices and operational structures, with a particular focus on documenting growth strategies for replication of new hubs on the continent.
Other duties as assigned (5%)
- Undertake additional responsibilities aligned with the role's purpose and organisational priorities, as directed by the RLRH Director of Operations and Strategy.
Selection Criteria
Essential selection criteria
- At least 5 years of relevant experience in operations, administration, HR, or finance, ideally in nonprofit or academic/research organisations in Kenya or East Africa.
- Master’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Operations Management, International Development, Refugee Studies or equivalent.
- Strong knowledge of Kenyan legal, HR, and financial frameworks relevant to charitable and/or research organisations.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities across HR, finance, and operations.
- Excellent communication and partnership management skills, with experience liaising across time zones and with diverse stakeholders.
- Strong problem-solving, accountability, and organisational skills.
- Experience leading or line-managing teams.
- Excellent cultural competence and cultural humility.
- Commitment to RLRH’s mission and values, including refugee leadership and inclusive practice.
- Excellent written and verbal English.
Desirable selection criteria
- Lived experience of forced displacement or other migration journeys.
- Interest in International Development, Refugee/Migration Studies, and/or related areas.
- Familiarity with nonprofit, higher education, and/or international development environments.
- Experience working across multiple regions, particularly in LMIC contexts.
- Knowledge of a language spoken by RLRH learners and affiliates, such as Swahili, Arabic, Amharic, Somali, French, and/or Oromo.
Applicants are expected to have the right to work in Kenya. For candidates affected by displacement who do not currently have this, RLRH can provide support for acquiring a Refugee Class M work permit.
RLRH encourages applications from individuals who have been affected by displacement and others who may belong to historically under-represented groups including but not limited to those who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQI+, women, and differently-abled candidates.
How to apply
Please complete the online application form. As part of the form, you will be asked to:
- Indicate your date available to begin work.
- Upload your CV (ideally no more than 2 pages).
- Upload a cover letter (1–2 pages). Your cover letter should complement (rather than repeat) your responses in the application form. While the form questions ask about your motivation and fit for the role, the cover letter is an opportunity to share your broader professional story, highlight key experiences, and explain how your background and values align with RLRH’s mission and approach.
- (Optional) Upload one academic or research writing sample, and/or other professional output, relevant to the position in PDF format (2,000 words maximum each, excerpts welcome, and from work that you independently authored/developed).
- Answer three role-specific questions with up to 250 words each.
- Details of two references (Name, Email, organisation and relationship to the candidate)
- Complete a short set of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) questions. Your answers to the following questions are entirely optional. This information will not be used as selection criteria. If you'd rather not share this information, feel free to select "Prefer not to say".
We are committed to ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to apply and be considered for any role, and our recruitment process is accessible to all candidates. If you would like to request an adjustment (including requests for alternative formats) to our process, please contact our team at opportunities@refugeeledresearch.org
In line with RLRH’s AI Use policy, we kindly ask that you do not use generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) to draft or edit your responses.