Advisor: Trading Services (Electricity and Energy) at South African Local Government Association

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE 

• A Degree in Energy/Electrical/ Sustainability or related, an Honours Degree will serve as an advantage
• 3 years’ relevant experience of which at least 1 years have been at an equivalent level within a medium to large sized organization
• A Valid Driver’s License and frequent travelling
• Demonstrates a sound understanding of the Local Government Sector and issues relating to area of specialty
• Ability to manage in a broad scoped environment is essential

KEY PORTFOLIO AND PERFORMANCE FOCUS AREAS 

• Research and Benchmarking: Assist in conducting analysis on municipalities and provide guidance in respect of possible improvements; Assist in conducting and interpreting research in an area of specialisation such as Water, Sanitation, Solid Waste Management ,Electricity, Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy sources and create a learning and sharing platform to improve municipal efficiency in these areas; Be a key repository of knowledge and information on local government and matters relating to the area of specialisation and support the strengthening of municipal profiles in the central repository under the guidance of Senior Advisor and management, provide ongoing analysis of the key challenges, needs and trends in area of specialisation, to ensure that local government strategies and programmes are appropriately implemented.
• Representation at IGR & Other For a (lobbying and Advocacy): Assist with providing technical support and advice to the Chairs of working groups and facilitate tracking and implementation of resolutions; Provide inputs to and develop content on a number of complex issues relevant to a SALGA position for mandating; Under the guidance of Senior Advisor represent SALGA and municipalities at various IGR and other Fora to protect the interests of municipalities/ Sector; and to disrupt structural form, policy or legislative frameworks in a particular sector, where it hinders municipal performance; Identify policy and legislative gaps and develop solution proposals that would promote better municipal performance in delivering the basic services. Engage sector departments in leveraging technical support to municipalities. Source municipal comments on the relevant industry proposals. Contribute to the municipal infrastructure grant reforms to reduce the co-funding requirements. Understand the national and provincial governance structures of SALGA and the institutional structures of the Sector/ Professional discipline and key role players in the area of specialisation.
• Support Advice and capacity building: Assist with guiding, supporting and providing professional advice to municipalities in the areas of focus/ professional discipline – refer issues of strategic importance to the Senior Advisor: Trading Services / Director of Operations in the Province; Provide hands-on support to strengthen municipal capacity/ improve programme implementation; Assist with facilitating the implementation of the capacity building strategy and associated programmes in municipalities; Assist with facilitating training programmes/ peer learning sessions in the areas of focus/ professional discipline. Provide the platform to promote the technology and innovation uptake in solving the municipal infrastructure and service delivery challenges. Share best engineering industry practice in the areas of municipal trading streams.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: Assist with creating a high performance culture on all projects and report on progress against milestones; Maintain records as per SALGA policy and ensure that all project records are uploaded into the company knowledge management system; Prepare audit files for each project prior to audit; Support the development and Implement monitoring and evaluation process to track the progress on implementation of policies, legislative compliance and programmatic implementation in municipalities.
• Programme / Project Management: Assist with the implementation of appropriate project management methodologies and disciplines; and manage full project cycle on assigned projects including M&E; Assist with planning and integrating programme roll-out to municipalities; Assist with developing terms of reference for identified programmes; Ensure that projects are implemented against contract specification and payments are based on agreed milestone; Identify spin-off projects and opportunities from the programme.
• Stakeholder Management: programme success and to increase SALGA’s capacity to make an impact; Assist with creating reports to communicate about the programme and provide updates for website; Assist with identifying key role players to create a link to sustainability and handover of programmes; and implementation; Ensure appropriate and timely communications with all stakeholders; Within the scope of area of accountability build and maintain relevant stakeholder relationships/ partnerships in the area of responsibility