Programme Manager: Non-Revenue Water (Programmes) at Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)

Job Description    

• 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 of 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: Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is to manage the development of a pipeline of municipal NRW projects to be prepared, financed and implemented.

Key Responsibilities    
Programme Development and Management

• Develop strategies and plans for the execution of the programme and to optimise the support provided to municipalities and water boards.
• Maintain the NRW Programme as a standardised programme within the WPO, to support municipalities to address and reduce their nonrevenue water.
• Develop and maintain 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 NRW 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 NRW 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 NRW 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, deliverable, 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 and other legal documents with partners/ service providers and manage the enforcement of agreements.
• Monitor the implementation of safety, health and environmental standards by contractors in compliance to the requirements and guidelines of the DBSA.
• Prepare monthly progress reports that is required by the WPO (for purposes of reporting to the Oversight Committee as well as to the DBSA)

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.

Stakeholder Management

• Establish parentships with private sector role players in the NRW environment.
• Build and manage relationships at various levels with the project stakeholders, partners in accordance with the NWPP and NRW Programme development objectives and stakeholder relations and communication strategy.
• Coordinate efforts and work with the NRW 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 NRW Programme such as a NRW Programme committee, NRW Community of Practice, etc.
• Effectively providing key stakeholders/partners comfort that their investment on agreed projects / programmes will be successfully and timeously completed.

People Management

• Establish, lead and manage a team of specialist resources in the NRW 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.
• Provide transferable skills, frameworks and toolkits to promote empowerment of the team.
• Promote DBSA values and a culture of High Performance within the areas of responsibility.
• Manage, coach and mentor project management resources.
• Perform other strategic, operational and other duties as assigned.

Key Measurements of Outputs

• Successful maintenance of the NRW Programme and Unit/Team within the WPO
• Approved NRW Programme short-, medium- and long-term plan/s
• Number of NRW projects identified, prepared/developed and implemented
• Value of funding sourced for the design, preparation and implementation of the NRW Programme from relevant and applicable local and international institutions
• Number of catalysed opportunities resulting in a robust pipeline of bankable projects
• Successful oversight, management and implementation of agreed NRW projects:
• Percentage of performance targets met as per business plan
• Quality of delivery of projects / programmes
• Investor satisfaction of invested NRW projects / programmes
• Quality of presentations and reports
• Accuracy and quality of presentations and reports
• Effective performance management and strong culture of performance and delivery in NRW Unit/Team
• Good governance and ethical behaviour
• A clean audit

Expertise & Technical Competencies    
Minimum Qualifications

• A Degree in Engineering (preferably Civil Engineering) or Finance

Minimum Experience

• A professional engineering registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) if the candidate is an Engineer
• A minimum of 10 years demonstrated technical work experience (planning, design, implementation) in the field of municipal NRW (including advanced metering infrastructure, innovative technology, etc.) both Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) and Operation & Maintenance (O&M)
• 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
• Experience and understanding of the project preparation cycle and requirements to prepare bankable projects
• 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.)
• Strong knowledge and experience in working with local government planning cycle and processes
• A strong knowledge and experience in Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and PBCs
• A strong knowledge and experience of climate change
• Demonstrable track record of working with high level government stakeholders
• Comprehensive knowledge of the complex regulatory environments of municipalities / metros, state-owned enterprises and other government entities in South Africa
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex strategic initiatives and projects to successful completion

Desirable Requirements

• A qualification in Project/Programme Management.
• Experience in Performance Based Contracting (PBC) for NRW.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Business Acumen

• Reviews own actions against the organisation's strategic plan; includes the big picture when considering possible opportunities or projects or thinks about long-term applications of current activities.
• Understands the projected direction of the industry and how changes might impact the organisation.
• Deep understanding of commercial drivers and can take decisions based on an assessment of alternatives concerning complex business situations.
• Deep understanding of DBSA/WPO economic priorities and how they can be implemented to meet DBSA's/WPO’s strategic objectives.
• Deep understanding of DBSA's/WPO’s core sector role in achieving DBSA's/WPO’s strategic objectives.
• Deep understanding of the need to coordinate efforts with many government entities, private sector, community groups and individuals to ensure effective implementation of new policies and regulations.

Project Management

• Ability to plan, initiate, execute, control and close projects related to a relevant function as well as to track and manage resources, timelines, costs, deliverables and performance, and implement contingency plans, if necessary, to ensure projects are successfully.
• Defines, plans and manages large and/or strategic projects, including those with a high degree of technical complexity, with impacts across the organisation and/or with national implications.
• Assembles and leads diverse and multi-disciplinary teams, ensuring maximum effective resource utilisation.
• Successfully manages substantial project budgets and reports directly to senior managers on the progress and results of projects.
• Identifies complex issues that need escalation and proposes appropriate corrective action by maintaining a respected profile with relevant external organisations and the research community in general.

Solutions Focused

• Identifies complex problems based on a broad range of factors, many of which are ambiguous or difficult to define.
• While remaining guided by organisational values, identifies optimal solutions, thinking first in terms of possible approaches and flexibility in the system vs. blind adherence to rules or procedures.
• Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of solutions after they have been implemented and identifies needed changes.

Planning and Organising

• Coaches’ others on advanced planning and organising skills.
• Plays a role in transferring advanced planning and organising skills and knowledge to others.
• Identifies and acts on opportunities to partner with other units in the department to achieve desired results.
• Develops partnership agreements that ensure win-win outcomes for all parties.
• Develops integrated plans for the work unit and others that interfaces with the function’s budget.
• Uses effectively advance time management processes to deal with high workload and tight deadlines.
• Organises, prioritises and schedules tasks so they can be performed within budget and with the efficient use of time and resources.
• Achieves goals in a timely manner, despite obstacles encountered, by organising, reprioritising and re-planning

Detailed Oriented

• Quickly identifies relevant and irrelevant information to support accurate decision making.
• Maps out all the logistics and details of a situation to ensure smooth and flawless implementation.
• Consistently identifies all relevant details that are not obvious in complex situations.
• Requires the highest standards for accuracy and quality for their work.
• Establishes processes to ensure accuracy and quality of services delivered by the team.

Reporting & Communication

• Designs, reviews and improves reporting processes and provides guidance.
• Leads production of complex environment reports, takes an editorial role, determines content and level of detail, and ensures consistent messaging and branding.
• Is relied on by others to help them write complex technical and non-technical documents and briefs.
• Can determine which aspects of this knowledge area need to be transferred to others in order to achieve organisational goals.
• Coaches’ others and transfers communication skills and knowledge to others.
• Able to communicate complex problems or concepts, by making them simple and understandable for others.
• Adapts language to the level of the audience in order to ensure that the message has a positive impact and is interesting to the audience.
• Is articulate, demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary, and is confident when talking to large/high level audiences.

Presentation Skills

• Knows how to deliver arguments persuasively by employing a range of advanced presentation techniques (e.g., the appropriate use of body language, how to close a presentation so that the audience continues to think about the subject matter etc.).
• Has knowledge of various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.

Deadline:2nd September,2026