Special Projects Manager – Johannesburg 194 views1 applications

Nal’ibali (isiXhosa for “here’s the story”) is a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign. It seeks to spark and embed a culture of reading across South Africa, so that reading, writing, and sharing stories – in all South African languages – is part of everyday life.

Children who are surrounded by print and immersed in great and well-told stories – in languages they understand – are more curious, confident and motivated to learn. They develop vocabulary, strengthen memory, and nurture imagination. They’re more likely to become readers themselves, and to do well in school across all subjects.
Since 2012, Nal’ibali has worked with state, civil society and business partners to make sure every South African child has opportunities to fall in love with books and stories. This includes founding partners DGMT, PRAESA (the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa) and Tiso Blackstar (formerly Times Media). Through advocacy, training, and high-quality reading material, Nal’ibali is helping to nurture a reading nation.

We are looking for an experienced Project Manager, with a passion for people and literacy development to manage multiple projects within our national reading-for-enjoyment campaign.

Requirements:

• At least 5 years of solid technical project management experience background
• Excellent team development and leadership experience
• Excellent partner-facing and internal communication skills
• Excellent partner engagement experience and track record
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Solid organizational skills including attention to detail and multi-tasking skills
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office and Excel
• Driver’s license and willingness to travel
• NPO/NGO experience a plus
• Ability to speak an African language is an advantage

Responsibilities:

• Coordinating internal resources, teams and partnerships to efficiently and effectively implement a number of special projects within the broader campaign
• Ensuring that all projects are delivered on-time, within scope, within budget at the correct quality
• Developing project scopes, plans and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility
• Develop a detailed project plan to track progress
• Being a practical quick thinker to manage changes in project scope, schedule and costs
• Measure project performance using appropriate systems, tools and techniques
• Report and escalate to management as needed
• Manage the relationship with all stakeholders
• Perform risk management to minimize project risks
• Create and maintain comprehensive project documentation
• Interface with other departments, such as communications and M&E to ensure a holistic behavior change model is implemented within your unit
• Lead a team comprising predominantly of field workers, most of whom work remotely
• Support and inspire your team through demonstrating the organisational cultural values, such as integrity, professionalism, joy, and participation

This position is based in Johannesburg, South Africa

Should you meet the above requirements, please email your motivational letter and CV to [email protected] with your name and surname, position title on the subject line, (e.g. Joe Soap: Special Projects Manager).

Please note that feedback will be provided to shortlisted candidates only.