Application Guide

How to Apply for People Operations Manager

at Lafiya

🏢 About Lafiya

Lafiya is a mission-driven startup making contraception accessible to women in hard-to-reach communities in northern Nigeria, having already supported over 650,000 women. The company combines social impact with scalable operations, offering a unique opportunity to build HR systems from scratch in a high-growth, remote-first environment.

About This Role

As People Operations Manager, you will own the full employee lifecycle from recruitment to offboarding, building scalable systems that support Lafiya's transition from startup to scale-up. Your work directly enables the team to focus on impact by ensuring efficient hiring, smooth onboarding, and robust HR operations across multiple countries.

💡 A Day in the Life

Your day might start with reviewing candidate applications from overnight and updating Airtable, then a video call with the Nigeria team to finalize an offer. Afternoon could involve designing a new onboarding checklist, followed by a Slack discussion with the CEO on compensation benchmarking for a new role. You'll wrap up by analyzing time-to-hire metrics and planning next week's sourcing strategy.

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🎯 Who Lafiya Is Looking For

  • You have 5-9 years of experience in people operations or full-cycle recruiting, ideally in an NGO, INGO, or mission-driven startup context.
  • You are self-directed and evidence-driven, comfortable working remotely across time zones and using tools like Google Workspace, Slack, Airtable, and LLMs.
  • You have experience recruiting in Sub-Saharan Africa or a strong willingness to learn the regional context.
  • You thrive on building processes from scratch and are excited about creating scalable systems for a growing organization.

📝 Tips for Applying to Lafiya

1

Highlight specific examples of how you've built or improved HR processes (e.g., onboarding, performance reviews) in a startup or NGO setting.

2

Mention any experience recruiting in Sub-Saharan Africa, or explain how your skills translate to that context.

3

Show your proficiency with Airtable or similar tools by describing a database you built for tracking candidates or employees.

4

Tailor your resume to emphasize full-cycle recruiting for multiple open roles simultaneously, not just one-off hires.

5

Include a brief note on why you're passionate about reproductive health access or working in northern Nigeria.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

["Your passion for Lafiya's mission of expanding contraception access in underserved communities.", 'Your experience building scalable HR systems from scratch in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment.', 'Your ability to work independently and manage remote teams across time zones.', "Specific examples of how you've used data to improve hiring or retention."]

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Read Lafiya's website and recent blog posts to understand their current scale, team structure, and challenges.
  • → Look into the reproductive health landscape in northern Nigeria, including cultural and logistical barriers.
  • → Review Lafiya's job postings on LinkedIn to see how they describe their culture and current team.
  • → Check if Lafiya has been featured in any news articles or podcasts for insights into their growth story.
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💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 How would you design a recruitment pipeline for a new role in a remote, multi-country setting?
2 Describe a time you improved an HR process (e.g., onboarding) and what metrics you used to measure success.
3 How do you handle HR compliance across different countries (Nigeria and international)?
4 What tools would you use to manage leave, performance reviews, and compensation benchmarking?
5 How do you prioritize when juggling multiple open roles and HR operations tasks?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Sending a generic cover letter that doesn't mention Lafiya's mission or specific challenges in northern Nigeria.
  • Overemphasizing corporate HR experience without showing adaptability to a startup/NGO environment.
  • Failing to demonstrate proficiency with Airtable or similar low-code tools, which are critical for this role.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to Lafiya!

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