About Kivu Choice:

Kivu Choice is Rwanda’s largest protein producer and one of the fastest-growing aquaculture companies in Africa. Founded in 2022, Kivu Choice is the sister company to Victory Farms, East Africa’s leading aquaculture platform based in Kenya. The company operates a fully vertically integrated aquaculture model, encompassing hatchery operations, cage-based grow-out, processing, distribution, and sales. Kivu Choice is also one of the country’s largest employers with over 700 employees, and plans to grow to 1,200 employees within the next three years, reflecting its strong commitment to job creation and inclusive economic development. Over the next five years, Kivu Choice aims to scale into Africa’s largest and most sustainable protein producer, producing and distributing 30,000 tons of fish annually for the Rwandan market and for export across the region.

About the role:

The Hatchery Foreman is responsible for supervising day-to-day hatchery field operations including broodstock spawning support, egg collection, pond environmental management, and hapa/net logistics. The role ensures optimal environmental conditions, proper egg handling, availability of operational nets, and strict adherence to biosecurity and operational standards to maximize hatchery productivity, survival rates, and operational efficiency.

Responsibilities:

Key Responsibilities – Egg Collection Foreman.

1. Egg Collection:

• Ensuring collection of eggs from the brooders on time with less stress on both the eggs and the brooders
• Scheduling egg collection ponds on a weekly basis.

2. Egg transfer and Safety:

• Ensure eggs are moved to the incubation as fast as possible after collection.
• Maintain cleanliness during egg collection.

3. Training and adhering to Protocols:

Training the egg collection team and ensuring protocols are adhered to during egg collection.

4. Brood stock management:

Ensuring the numbers, densities of egg laying brooders are up to date.

Key Responsibilities – Pond Nursery Feeding:

1. Feed Preparation:

• Ensuring correct feed type, size, and quantity is prepared for both frys and fingerlings on a daily basis.
• Ensuring the feed is properly measured and ready before the feeding time.
• Preparation of reversal feed or any other medicated feed.

2. Feeding and monitoring fish:

• Ensure fish feeding is correctly done in all Nursery ponds at the scheduled times.
• Observe fish feeding responses and adjust feeding amounts as need be.
• Observe fish behavior during feeding to identify weak, sick or abnormal fish behavior for immediate action.
• Report unusual mortalities or poor feeding responses.

3. Record feed fed against calculated:

Record the quantity of feed fed per hapa per pond and feeding times as per protocol.

4. Training the team and adhering to feeding Protocol:

• Train the team on feeding, feed types, quality and fish response during feeding.
• Ensure the feeding protocols are adhered to.

Key Responsibilities – Hapa Logistics Foreman.

1. Hapa Washing & Maintenance:

Ensure all the dirty hapas are removed from the ponds to the hapa washing station, counted, thoroughly washed, dried, recounted and recorded on a daily basis.

Ensures washed hapas are checked for holes, weak seams, repaired before being reused for use.

2. Logistic support for Hatchery operations:

Provide hapas for use in areas where there needed (Nursery, brood stock holding, fry collection) on daily basis.

3. Storage, organization and Inventory:

• Ensure safe hapa storage in orderly manner when not in use avoiding mixing the sizes /purpose.
• Keep a record of hapas in use, dirty, being washed, worn out, under repair and new.
• Ensure all the materials for hapa repairs and making hapas are always available.

Requirements

• Diploma or Certificate in Aquaculture, Fisheries, Animal Production, Environmental Science, or related field.
• Minimum 2 years experience in fish hatchery or aquaculture operations.
• Practical experience in fish breeding, egg handling, pond management, and hapa/net management.
• Ability to supervise field teams and coordinate daily hatchery activities.
• Basic data recording, reporting, and inventory management skills.
• Physically fit and comfortable working in outdoor farm environments.

• Ensuring collection of eggs from the brooders on time with less stress on both the eggs and the brooders
• Scheduling egg collection ponds on a weekly basis.
• Ensure eggs are moved to the incubation as fast as possible after collection.
• Maintain cleanliness during egg collection.
• Training the egg collection team and ensuring protocols are adhered to during egg collection.
• Ensuring the numbers, densities of egg laying brooders are up to date.
• Ensuring correct feed type, size, and quantity is prepared for both frys and fingerlings on a daily basis.
• Ensuring the feed is properly measured and ready before the feeding time.
• Preparation of reversal feed or any other medicated feed.
• Ensure fish feeding is correctly done in all Nursery ponds at the scheduled times.
• Observe fish feeding responses and adjust feeding amounts as need be.
• Observe fish behavior during feeding to identify weak, sick or abnormal fish behavior for immediate action.
• Report unusual mortalities or poor feeding responses.
• Record the quantity of feed fed per hapa per pond and feeding times as per protocol.
• Train the team on feeding, feed types, quality and fish response during feeding.
• Ensure the feeding protocols are adhered to.
• Ensure all the dirty hapas are removed from the ponds to the hapa washing station, counted, thoroughly washed, dried, recounted and recorded on a daily basis.
• Ensures washed hapas are checked for holes, weak seams, repaired before being reused for use.
• Provide hapas for use in areas where there needed (Nursery, brood stock holding, fry collection) on daily basis.
• Ensure safe hapa storage in orderly manner when not in use avoiding mixing the sizes /purpose.
• Keep a record of hapas in use, dirty, being washed, worn out, under repair and new.
• Ensure all the materials for hapa repairs and making hapas are always available.

• Supervising field teams
• Coordinating daily hatchery activities
• Basic data recording
• Reporting
• Inventory management

• Diploma or Certificate in Aquaculture, Fisheries, Animal Production, Environmental Science, or related field.
• Practical experience in fish breeding, egg handling, pond management, and hapa/net management.
• Physically fit and comfortable working in outdoor farm environments.