Foundation Lead
ALU · Rwanda
ABOUT ALU
At the African Leadership University (ALU), we're more than just an institution—we're a catalyst for transformation. Our mission is to develop a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders who will shape Africa's future. Through our innovative curriculum, focus on experiential learning, and vibrant pan-African community, we empower students to become changemakers, problem-solvers, and innovators. At ALU, we're not just teaching; we're nurturing the leaders who will drive Africa's progress and prosperity in the 21st century
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
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 Foundation Lead supports the Foundation Manager in ensuring the coherent design, quality and delivery of the Foundation and Leadership Core learning experience. The
postholder provides academic and operational leadership across entrepreneurship, Responsible Enterprise, project-related learning and other foundational courses, while
managing and supporting faculty to deliver consistent, rigorous and learner-centred experiences. The role connects curriculum, people and programme operations. It ensures that course content remains relevant, assessments are well designed and moderated, Canvas course environments are ready, faculty are equipped to facilitate effectively, and students receive timely academic support. The Foundation Lead also contributes to continuous improvement, cross-programme alignment and the development of scalable experiential learning.
Responsibilities
Academic Leadership and Curriculum Stewardship
- Lead the planning, coordination, delivery and continuous improvement of assigned Foundation and Leadership Core courses, with particular responsibility for entrepreneurship, Responsible Enterprise and project-related learning.
- Review and refine curricula, learning outcomes, session guides, Canvas materials, assessments and rubrics to ensure academic coherence, appropriate challenge and alignment with the institution's learning model.
- Ensure that entrepreneurship learning develops opportunity recognition, customer and stakeholder understanding, experimentation, business modelling, resourcefulness and ethical value creation.
- Ensure that Responsible Enterprise learning integrates ethics, sustainability, stakeholder responsibility, governance and the social and environmental consequences of enterprise decisions.
- Strengthen project-based learning by establishing clear project briefs, milestones, supervision processes, feedback cycles, presentation standards and authentic assessment practices.
- Support the integration of critical thinking, managing complex tasks, self-directed learning, reflective practice, collaboration and communication across the Foundation experience.
- Maintain definitive course documentation for programme handbooks, quality assurance reviews, accreditation processes and institutional reporting.
People Management and Team Support
- Manage, coach and support a team of faculty, facilitators and associate faculty, setting clear expectations for preparation, delivery, assessment, learner support and professional conduct.
- Lead faculty onboarding, induction and re-induction, ensuring that team members understand course intent, learning outcomes, facilitation approaches, assessment requirements and operational processes.
- Hold regular one-to-one and team check-ins; provide timely feedback; agree development goals; and contribute to probation, performance review and other people-management processes.
- Observe teaching and facilitation, review course evidence and learner feedback, and provide practical coaching that strengthens inclusive, experiential and discussion-based pedagogy.
- Build a collaborative team culture in which faculty share resources and challenges, calibrate academic judgment, solve delivery issues collectively and learn from one another.
- Plan faculty allocation and workload with the Foundation Manager, identify capacity or performance risks early, and coordinate appropriate support or escalation.
- Promote staff wellbeing and sustainable working practices while maintaining accountability for agreed standards, timelines and learner outcomes.
Delivery, Assessment and Learner Support
- Coordinate trimester readiness, including course-shell verification, publication of learning materials, faculty allocation, delivery schedules, assessment calendars and learner
communications. - Monitor the quality and consistency of in-person, blended and online delivery, and address gaps in preparation, facilitation, accessibility or learner engagement.
- Lead assessment briefing, moderation, grading calibration and results review processes, ensuring fairness, transparency, academic integrity and timely feedback.
- Use attendance, participation, assessment and student-feedback data to identify learners or cohorts requiring support and coordinate appropriate academic interventions with relevant teams.
- Guide undergraduate projects and applied learning activities, helping students translate ideas into disciplined inquiry, responsible action and demonstrable outputs.
- Support academic orientation, programme induction and learning-transition activities for new and continuing students.
Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement
- Conduct regular course audits and contribute to annual and periodic programme reviews, using evidence from learner outcomes, faculty reflections, student evaluations and stakeholder feedback.
- Implement approved modifications to learning materials, assessments and delivery approaches in response to internal and external quality assurance findings.
- Support consistent academic standards across cohorts, programmes and campuses through shared templates, moderation, documentation and communities of practice.
- Prepare concise reports and recommendations for the Foundation Manager on delivery performance, learner progress, faculty support needs, risks and improvement priorities.
- Ensure that course design and delivery comply with institutional policies on assessment, attendance, accessibility, safeguarding, data protection, academic integrity and the responsible use of AI.
Partnerships, Applied Learning and Institutional Contribution
- Develop and maintain relationships with entrepreneurs, enterprises, community organisations and other partners that can enrich projects, cases, guest sessions, field experiences and learner feedback.
- Work with the Foundation Manager to assess partnership opportunities, draft concept notes and translate relevant external engagement into well-scaffolded learning experiences.
- Contribute to student-staff consultative forums, faculty working groups, committees and other institutional service activities as requested.
- Undertake other reasonable duties assigned by the Foundation Manager in support of successful Foundation and Leadership Core delivery.
Key Working Relationships
- Internal: Foundation Manager; Foundation and Leadership Core faculty; programme managers and leads; Registrar and academic operations; quality assurance; student success; Centre for Applied Learning and Innovation (CALI), Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) learning design and technology teams.
- External: entrepreneurs, responsible businesses, community partners, guest practitioners, project clients and learning-content partners.
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
Essential
- A master's degree in entrepreneurship, business, education, sustainability, project management, leadership or another field relevant to the role.
- At least three years of relevant professional experience, including a minimum of two years in higher education, training, learning design or academic programme delivery.
- Demonstrable subject knowledge and practical experience in at least two of the following: entrepreneurship, Responsible Enterprise, sustainability, business ethics, project-based learning or project management.
- Experience designing and delivering experiential, applied or project-based learning for undergraduate learners or adult professionals.
- Experience guiding student projects, assessing complex outputs and providing developmental feedback.
- Experience managing, supervising or coaching faculty or multidisciplinary delivery teams, including setting expectations and supporting performance and development.
- Strong curriculum and assessment design capability, with an understanding of constructive alignment, rubric design, moderation and quality assurance.
- Ability to interpret academic and engagement data, identify risks and determine appropriate learner or faculty support interventions.
- Excellent written and spoken English, facilitation, presentation, interpersonal and stakeholder-management skills.
- Strong planning, judgement and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver reliably in a fast-moving environment.
- Commitment to inclusive, learner-centred education, ethical leadership and high standards of professional practice.
- Confidence working with digital learning platforms such as Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or Google Classroom, as well as collaborative productivity tools.
Desirable
- Experience in programme management or academic leadership within a higher education institution.
- Experience developing entrepreneurship education, venture-building programmes, enterprise challenges or incubator/accelerator learning experiences.
- Experience integrating sustainability, ethics, governance and stakeholder responsibility into business or entrepreneurship education.
- Experience coordinating multi-course delivery across cohorts, programmes or campuses.
- Experience teaching in online, blended or challenger-university environments and using learning analytics to improve delivery.
- A strong network among entrepreneurs, responsible businesses, incubators, accelerators, community organisations or higher education partners in Rwanda or across Africa.
Core competencies
- Academic leadership: Translates programme intent into coherent courses, assessments and learner experiences, while maintaining academic standards and delivery discipline.
- People leadership: Creates clarity, trust and accountability; coaches faculty constructively; and responds to team needs without losing sight of learner outcomes.
- Entrepreneurial and responsible-enterprise thinking: Connects opportunity and innovation with ethics, sustainability, stakeholder responsibility and the realities of African enterprise contexts.
- Project-based learning: Designs authentic projects with clear milestones, appropriate scaffolding, useful feedback and credible evaluation of process and outcomes.
- Continuous improvement: Uses evidence, reflection and stakeholder feedback to diagnose problems, test improvements and institutionalise effective practice.
- Collaboration and execution: Works effectively across academic and operational teams, anticipates dependencies and converts plans into timely, high-quality delivery.