NLA Graduate Fellowship for Boundary Correction

The Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) on behalf of the National Land Authority (NLA), with support from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), invites applications from qualified Rwandan graduates to participate in a 12-month Graduate Fellowship for Boundary Correction. Graduate will be working with skills NLA staff who will guide and supervise their work during the programme.

The assignment aims to strengthen institutional and human capacity in boundary correction, spatial planning, land value capture, and Gender Inclusion and Social Equity, and climate-sensitive development in support of the GIZ project “Climate Sensitive Socially Just Planning and Housing (CSPH) through the NDC Partnership”.

As part of this initiative, IHS is recruiting ten (10) Fellows to be placed at NLA for a period of one year. Fellows will support NLA in implementing core activities related to land-use planning and land boundary correction, involving both office-based and field-based work. The fellowship is scheduled to commence in April 2026, and a monthly allowance per fellow will be provided.

Job description
A Graduate Fellow is a recent graduate selected to participate in the Graduate Fellowship Programme and placed within NLA departments or district land offices to gain practical experience while contributing to boundary correction and related land administration functions.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Carry out assigned tasks responsibly, professionally, and in line with agreed work plans.
• Attend all required meetings, trainings, supervision sessions, and field activities.
• Produce and submit reports, technical outputs, and reflection notes within agreed timelines as required.
• Actively engage in learning, feedback, and reflection processes throughout the programme.
• Comply with NLA institutional procedures, codes of conduct, and reporting lines.
• Maintain confidentiality and ethical standards in handling land records, spatial data, and sensitive information.

These responsibilities allow the fellows contribute to NLA’s operational work while developing technical, professional, and institutional competencies.

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Rwandan nationality
• Fluent in English and Kinyarwanda
• Hold a Bachelor’s degree (BSc) or Masters’s degree in one of the following disciplines: Land Surveying, Geomatics Engineering, Urban and Regional Planning (with specialisation in Urban Planning) or any urban related fields with GIS
• Graduation within the last five (5) years, with First Class or Second Class upper division
• Demonstrated experience in applying GIS and Remote Sensing in land administration/management or related fields, and strong communication skills
• Currently unemployed and fully available for the full duration of the fellowship
• Completed their degree within five (5) years
• Should have health insurance

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. All applicants who meet the requirements will be invited for an interview.

Required skills and competencies

• Ability to read and interpret cadastral maps, land use plans and parcel data
• Ability to identify boundary irregularities
• Ability to understand survey plans and physical drawings
• Ability to work with MS Word, Excel/ PowerPoint, Graphic Design like Photoshop and InDesign, etc.
• Ability to write reports and take meeting minutes
• Willingness and ability to visit different districts and neighbourhoods

Soft skills

• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Good attention to detail
• Good time management
• Quick learner and easily adaptable
• Patience with bureaucratic processes
• Ability to work in a team

Programme: 12 months

Appointment: Full-time

Number of Fellows: 10 (5 male and 5 female)

Host Institution: National Land Authority (district deployments)

Implementing Partner: NLA (in collaboration with IHS and GIZ)

Application period: 16 February – 1 March 2026

Announcement of selected candidates: 20 March 2026

Start Date: 1 April 2026

The Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS), Erasmus University Rotterdam, on behalf of the National Land Authority (NLA) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), is implementing the project “Capacity Development for Staff of the National Land Authority in Rwanda”.

The NLA run Graduate Fellowship for Boundary Correction is conceived as a practice-oriented, capacity-building programme that simultaneously:

1. Strengthens NLA’s operational capacity at national, departmental, and district levels.
2. Builds a pipeline of highly skilled young professionals for Rwanda’s land sector
3. Contributes to system-wide learning on boundary correction processes, tools, and bottlenecks in Rwanda.

The team will consist of NLA Fellows, Supervisors, and Programme Coordinators.

Department
The Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) will support the coordination and quality assurance of the National Land Authority Graduate Fellowship Programme (NLA-GFP).

For more information about IHS, please visit our website www.ihs.nl. More information about the positions can be obtained from Ore Fika via land@ihs.nl.