Project Administrator at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

About the job:

The CSIR has a vacancy for a Project Administrator in the Sustainable Ecosystems Impact Area within the Smart Places Cluster. The incumbent will provide effective coordination support on all contracts and administration across four research groups within the Impact Area. These include, Coastal Systems and Earth Observations, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Environmental Management Services, and the Sustainability, Economics and Waste Group. The position is based in Durban or Stellenbosch with the extent of operations spread across these regions, as well as Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape town.

Key responsibilities:

• Monitor and alert teams to relevant funding/ tender calls through multiple sources of information and web based interfaces;
• Ensure sound project initiation through routing of tenders, proposals, and contracts for review, approval and final signature;
• Manage the database and reporting on proposal and contracting status and the pipeline of prospective future work;
• Review of project registration and monthly project financial reports, together with the Financial Adminstrators to flag projects for attention or re-planning and tracking progress to the point of successful completion;
• Assist with procurement, payments and invoicing process, together with the Group Assistant, CSIR Procurement office, CSIR Accounts office and project leaders;
• Manage the Sharepoint document repository for relevant Impact Area files, such as contracts, approval routing documents, Memo requests, and approvals;
• Record keeping and tracking of action items from monthly Impact Area leadership meetings and other adhoc or strategic meetings;
• Track and report monthly research group performance against key performance indicators (including, Outputs, Financial, and Human Capital Key Performance Indicators)
• Thorough understanding of CSIR approval processes, protocols and key contacts within the different support portfolios to guide and direct research staff to the relevant support personal or guide them directly to the relevant information repository or templates;
• Oversight of the Impact Area’s central repository of Safety, Health and Environment (SHEQ) documentation and following up on documentation requiring renewal or updating to the point of completion.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A National Diploma in administration or project management with at least three years’ experience in successful management of contracts and administration; budget management; and performance monitoring;
• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) or equivalent is advantageous;
• Ability to adopt, adapt and develop methods to record, track, and report on project and group related measures and identify action items;
• Proficient and experienced in using Microsoft office, especially Excel;
• Proficient and experienced in Microsoft Teams, and management of Sharepoint file repositories.
• Experience using Microsoft Projects or similar software;
• Experience with Oracle- Peoplesoft Financial & Supply Chain Management software is advantageous.
• Experience in Adobe Sign software is advantageous
• Strong numerical skills;
• Excellent attention to detail and interpersonal skills
• Self-motivated and experienced in working and supporting remote teams across multiple regions and projects.