About You and The Role  

Are you excited about working closely with our government and regulatory partners in Rwanda to safely bridge the gap between existing regulations and technological innovation?

We are looking for a Government Affairs Manager to support our government affairs activities in Rwanda. You’ll have the opportunity to support regulatory approval processes for cutting edge technology in new markets throughout Rwanda, as well as work with a broad range of government stakeholders – from security agencies and the Civil Aviation Authority to utilities regulators. As a bridge between the global legal, regulatory and policy team and the Rwanda country operations team, you will have full ownership over ensuring Zipline Rwanda is safely serving our customers in seamless coordination with our partners in the government.

You will collaborate cross-functionally, listening and drawing from their expertise, experiences, and needs to drive decisions that impact Zipline’s ongoing development and growth. The responsibilities on day one are big, and your success will help unlock an uncommon opportunity to open skyways for millions of Rwandans to reliable, on-demand access to essential medical supplies.

What You’ll Do

• In partnership with our Global regulatory, policy and compliance, Logistics teams, In-Country operations teams and other relevant Zipline teams, manage the end-to-end  programs, including regulatory approvals and security clearances, to enable us to import, register and operate our Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles and work with these teams to create a path towards un-restricted collaborative Operations within the Rwanda airspace as well as guide the policies regulating airspace and UAS logistics in Rwanda and beyond at all locations that Zipline operates within Rwanda.
• Continuous relationship management and maintenance of  approvals and clearances to enable Zipline to operate smoothly and minimize service disruptions within Rwanda for Zipline and other airspace users.
• Research, analyze and interpret domestic regulatory and security requirements for compliance purposes.
• Support the development and promotion of Zipline’s policy positions through engagement with local stakeholders as well as participation in associations, conferences or other strategic opportunities.
• Submit and follow up on comprehensive applications domestic regulatory and security authorizations, clearance and exemptions.
• Maintain regulatory files, documentation, manuals and databases in good order, along with the system for tracking communication with regulators and other relevant government and security stakeholders.
• Ensure distribution lists are kept up to date and that notifications on renewals of exemptions, permits and authorizations are provided to relevant internal and external stakeholders.
• Determine investigative requirements for self-disclosing, and regulatory queries relating to, regulatory/safety infractions, ramp inspection findings, etc.
• Liaise with various company branches and departments, advising on investigative requirements. Collect and organize investigation details.
• While considering public relations and employee/company privacy, write and submit self-disclosures and requested responses to regulatory/safety infractions.
• Establish, develop, and maintain effective corporate relationships with identified government stakeholders, including but not limited to, regulatory and security stakeholders.

What You’ll Bring

Strategic Planning & Thinking

• Considers customer needs and trends in the development of strategic plans.
• Implements strategic objectives.
• Understands the policy,operational and  regulatory direction of the organization and highlight areas of potential value or risk

Critical Thinking

• Undertakes a complex task by breaking it down into manageable parts in a systemic, detailed way.

Analytical Thinking

• Analyze the data to detect trends and issues in the data and information in a logical and factual manner.
• Makes logical deductions from data sets.
• Identifies a solution for resolving the underlying problem.

Decision Making based on Decision Modeling

• Identifies the core issue in problem solving, considers possible solutions and seeks direction and advice as appropriate.
• Seeks to problem solve effectively by correctly analyzing the issues, seeking expert advice as required and consulting and collaborating with others as appropriate.

Integrated Analytics

• Demonstrates an ability to take a comprehensive approach to insights development, through demonstrating integrated thinking.
• Works with cross functional teams across the business to ensure that the organization is gathering good quality behavioral information and technical data.
• Leads the Divisional insights strategy for the Division and makes a significant contribution to Divisional reporting.

Communication

• Ability to engage a wide variety of stakeholders; including a demonstrated ability to build strong relationships with both internal operational teams and external stakeholders.
• Ability to effectively communicate complex information to different audiences.
• Credibility, professionalism  and judgment to engage directly with a variety of government stakeholders.

Education & Competencies

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a related discipline.
• 5 years + experience in a similar role.
• Must be eligible to work in Rwanda.