Water jobs in South Africa

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is mandated by the National Water Act, 1998 and Water Services Act 1997 to be responsible for national water resource infrastructure and supporting municipalities with the provision of water services. To support the implementation of the National Water & Sanitation Masterplan, DWS has designed and implemented the National Water Partnerships Programme (NWPP) comprising several sub-programmes within the water sector that will address specific challenges facing the sector.

The DWS has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the South African Local Government (SALGA) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to jointly implement the programme. To give effect to the NWPP, the parties have established the Water Partnerships Office (WPO) which includes the following:

• The development of a standardised programme for the preparation, funding and implementation of projects within the water sector.
• Providing support to municipalities and water boards to prepare, fund and implement projects according to a standardised approach.
• The development of innovative and blended finance funding solutions, that will unlock and enable private sector investment in the water sector.
• Facilitating partnerships with the private sector and other key stakeholders.

The role of the Programme Manager: Wastewater Treatment (WWT) is to manage the development of a pipeline of municipal WWT projects to be prepared, financed and implemented.

1. Programme Development and Establishment
   • Develop strategies and plans for the execution of the programme and to optimise the support provided to municipalities and water boards.
   • Develop and establish the WWT Programme as a standardised programme within the WPO, to support municipalities to address their sanitation treatment challenges.
   • Develop a “toolbox” of standardised documentation, best practice approaches, methodologies, models and mechanisms to support the preparation, funding and implementation of projects.
   • Engage with municipalities and water boards to introduce the programme and the Unit/Team as the “centre of excellence” for municipal WWT interventions in the country.
   • Conduct a needs analysis to identify project opportunities and develop a pipeline of projects to be prepared, financed and implemented.
   • Identify sources of project preparation funding for WWT projects and work with the Head: WPO to secure the funding.
   • Manage the preparation, design, development and structuring of projects according to the clients and funders agreements.
   • Design and review the implementation of projects/programmes including:
     • The preparation estimates and detailed programme plans for all phases of the programme.
     • Implementation plans with outputs, activities, responsibilities and time frames.
     • Programme budget and report against budget.
     • Resource plan and allocate responsibilities.
   • Manage, coordinate and monitor a portfolio of WWT infrastructure projects and programmes involving multiple stakeholders from cradle to completion in line with the overarching policies, frameworks and master plans in the Local Government structures and the Department of Water and Sanitation’s strategy.
   • Facilitate project costing and cost control methodologies and procedures to ensure that projects are completed within budget.
   • Map key programme dependencies and the interfaces between projects and facilitate cohesive project interfaces and collaboration.
   • Manage challenges, risks and programme change requests and implement risk mitigating measures to prevent adverse impact on the project deliverables.
   • Provide status reporting regarding programme milestones, deliverables, dependencies, risks and issues, communicating across leadership and identified stakeholders.
   • Develop and support the implementation including improvement of project management methodologies, tools and standards.
   • Provide inputs to contracts, agreements, MOAs and other legal documents with partners/service providers and manage the enforcement of agreements.
   • Ensure implementation of safety, health and environmental standards by contractors in compliance with the requirements and guidelines of the DBSA.
   • Prepare monthly progress reports that are required by the WPO (for purposes of reporting to the Oversight Committee as well as to the DBSA).
2. Procurement
   • Establish and maintain service provider panels to ensure there are adequate resources to achieve programme objectives in planned timeframes.
   • Procure, appoint and manage service providers for the preparation, funding and implementation of projects.
   • Support the procurement of contractors and operators for the implementation and operation and maintenance of projects, potentially on a Performance Based Contracting model.
   • Support the procurement of contractors and operators for the implementation and operation and maintenance of WWT projects, potentially using the Private Sector Participation (PSP) Model.
3. Stakeholder Management
   • Establish partnerships with private sector role players in the WWT environment.
   • Build and manage relationships at various levels with the project stakeholders, partners in accordance with the NWPP and WWT Programme development objectives and stakeholder relations and communication strategy.
   • Coordinate efforts and work with the WWT teams within the DWS, City Support Programme, SALGA, Water Research Commission (WRC), Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) and others.
   • Participate in structures created to support the WWT Programme such as a WWT Programme committee, WWT Community of Practice, etc.
   • Effectively provide key stakeholders/partners comfort that their investment in agreed projects/programmes will be successfully and timeously completed.
4. People Management
   • Establish, lead and manage a team of specialist resources in the WWT Unit/Team.
   • Provide direction and guidance to the direct reports to enable the execution and management of their portfolios and responsibilities effectively.
   • Facilitate team development while holding teams accountable for their commitment to ensure strong team delivery.
   • Conduct performance management for all direct reports, managing their performance in relation to quality standards and agreed benchmarks and objectives, in line with sound performance management principles.
   • Manage, coach and mentor project management resources.

Perform other strategic, operational and other duties as assigned.

1. Successful establishment of the WWT Programme and Unit/Team within the WPO.
2. Approved WWT Programme short-, medium- and long-term plan/s.
3. Number of WWT projects identified, prepared/developed and implemented.
4. Value of funding sourced for the design, preparation and implementation of the WWT Programme from relevant and applicable local and international institutions.
5. Number of catalysed opportunities resulting in a robust pipeline of bankable projects.
6. Successful oversight, management and implementation of agreed WWT projects:

• Percentage of performance targets met as per business plan
• Quality of delivery of projects/programmes

Minimum Requirements

1. A Degree in Engineering (preferably civil engineering).
2. A professional engineering registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa.
3. A minimum of 10 years’ demonstrated technical work experience (planning, design, implementation) in the field of municipal wastewater treatment, both Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and Operation and Maintenance (O&M).
4. A minimum of 5 years’ post-accreditation experience in a similar job function as well as the skills and experience to manage teams of professionals.
5. Experience and understanding of the project preparation cycle and requirements to prepare bankable projects.
6. Knowledge and understanding of all legislation relevant to the business of DBSA/WPO as well as the water sector (i.e. PFMA, MFMA, PPPFA, NWA, WSA, etc.).
7. Strong knowledge and experience in working with local government planning cycle and processes.
8. A strong knowledge and experience in Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and funding models.
9. Knowledge and experience of climate change.
10. Demonstrable track record of working with high level government stakeholders.
11. Comprehensive knowledge of the complex regulatory environments of municipalities/metros, state-owned enterprises and other government entities in South Africa.
12. Demonstrated ability to lead complex strategic initiatives and projects to successful completion.

Desirable Requirements

1. A qualification in Project/Programme Management