Current Vacancies at UVU Africa

Role Overview:

• Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the Group Human Resources Manager will be responsible for overseeing daily HR operations and implementing HR initiatives aligned with the organisation’s objectives and strategic goals. This role requires a hands-on manager with strong operational skills, who can also contribute and provide input into strategy, HR planning and development.

Responsibilities:

• Manage day-to-day HR operations, including recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, and performance management.
• Implement HR policies and procedures to ensure compliance with labour laws and organisational standards.
• Support business units with HR needs, including employee development, career planning, and performance reviews.
• Handle employee relations matters, including grievances, disciplinary actions, and conflict resolution.
• Coordinate training and development initiatives to enhance employee skills and capabilities.
• Manage employee engagement and enhance workplace culture with collaborative interventions aligned with our culture values.
• Oversee compensation administration, ensuring competitiveness and equity.
• Maintain HR records and prepare reports for management review.
• Manage all aspects of employee data, data integration and data insights.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree with honours, in HR management or related field.
• Minimum 5 years of HR management experience, preferably in an agile organisation.
• Proven experience in managing HR operations and implementing HR programs.
• Strong knowledge of labour laws and HR best practices.
• Proven ability to manage data and create data insights/management information
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

Personal Characteristics:

• Hands-on and proactive approach to HR management.
• Problem solver with a customer service orientation.
• Ability to handle confidential information with integrity.
• Team player with the ability to collaborate across departments.
• Adaptability and resilience in managing HR challenges.

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Job Description

We are recruiting a highly organised and proactive individual to join our team as a Skills Development Administrative Assistant. In this role, you will be responsible for various tasks related to office and general administration, project administration and supporting upper management. Your attention to detail, excellent communication skills, and ability to multitask will be crucial for success in this position. The post is based in Cape Town, Woodstock.

Key Responsibilities:

• Assist with M&E frameworks for the skills development.
• Collect and collate data on the Bioeconomy Skills Centre activities, student’s progress, skills development candidates and laboratory usage.
• Assessing M&E reporting and recommending improvements.
• Support Skills Development Manager and Skills Development Coordinator to compile monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for internal and external stakeholders.
• Support grant reporting and documentation.
• Ensure compliance with data integrity, privacy, and compliance with relevant standards and regulations.
• Participate in periodic training and professional development initiatives.
• Undertake administration tasks as required to ensure the effective delivery of projects.
• Facilitate travel arrangements for UVU Bio staff.
• Attend project meetings when necessary.
• Minute taking and document management and control.
• Manage Skills Development Manager diary and provide admin assistance.
• Ensure all contact databases are accurate and up-to-date information is recorded and evidenced.
• Provide effective team support, assistance and communication to team members to ensure a smooth flow of operational activities and information and effective collaboration between different parties.
• Assist with the routing of contracts and other project documentation to relevant UVU Bio Staff.

Qualifications and Education Requirements

A certificate or diploma in office administration will be an added advantage but not mandatory.

Preferred Skills

• 2-5 years’ experience in a similar or related field
• Strong administration skills with knowledge of MS office suite
• Ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Knowledge of collection and management of data and evidence for reporting
• Ability to check documents and keep efficient records.
• Experience in planning and organizing events, interviews, meetings etc.
• Excellent organizational and coordination skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Great interpersonal skills

Behaviours

• Open and reflective
• Builds good people relationships.
• Good communication skills
• Helpful, friendly, approachable
• Enthusiastic, optimistic
• Consistent, planned and structured
• Willing and able to get involved in multiple activities.
• Agile and Flexible
• Great attention to detail
• Able to work in a methodical and structured way
• Strong work ethic

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Job Description

As the Senior Project Scientist, you will report directly to the Executive Management Team of UVU Bio and be deployed on special initiatives across our Skills Development, Entrepreneurial Development and Laboratory Business units in both Cape Town and Kigali.  The role requires an experienced Science or Engineering platform with experience in a Biotechnology field.  

The successful candidate should have a broad national and international network to foster collaborative relationships to progress UVU Bio’s strategic objectives.  

Responsibilities: 

• Manage UVU Bio Skills Development Centre and Laboratory in Cape Town. 
• Supervise laboratory staff, including scientists, technicians, and assistants, providing guidance, training, and performance evaluations. 
• Lead implementation of CEO and COO special projects across South Africa and Rwanda. 
• Design R&D Projects and experiments 
• Design skills development courses and coordinate preparation of detailed course outlines in collaboration with Skills Development Program teams in Kigali and Cape Town. 
• Coordinate laboratory activities for candidates of Skills Development Programmes and staff, ensuring the smooth and efficient execution of experiments, tests, and analyses.  
• Keep Skills Development Program Manager appraised on issues regarding the skills programmes.  
• Maintain and enforce laboratory safety protocols and procedures to ensure compliance with local and international regulations. 
• Manage laboratory inventory, including procuring and maintaining equipment, supplies, and reagents. 
• Collaborate with UVU Bio Cape Town and Kigali Lab Managers in the development and implementation of quality control and assurance measures, including occupational health and safety measures and policies. 
• Monitor and analyse laboratory and equipment usage by trainees, prepare reports, and present findings to stakeholders. 
• Stay updated with the latest advancements in laboratory techniques, equipment, and scientific research to drive continuous improvement and innovation. 
• Foster a collaborative and inclusive work environment, promoting effective communication and teamwork across all UVU Bio departments and sites. 

Qualifications: 

• Minimum Master’s degree in a relevant scientific field (e.g., Bioprocessing, Biology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering or related Biomanufacturing disciplines).  
• Proven experience in mentoring and supervising students or coordination of training. 
• Industry or commercial laboratory experience related to Biomanufacturing is highly preferred. 
• Strong understanding of the R&D value chain and experimental design to answer key research questions. 
• Strong knowledge of laboratory techniques, equipment, and safety protocols. 
• Excellent organizational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously. 
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate and collaborate with diverse teams and stakeholders. 
• A detail-oriented mindset with a focus on quality and accuracy in laboratory operations. 
• Proficient computer skills, including experience with laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and data analysis software. 
• Familiarity with local and international regulations and standards related to laboratory operations and safety. 
• Fluency in English, both written and spoken 

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ROLE PURPOSE

You will provide a professional service while being responsible for a variety of clerical and administrative tasks. These tasks include being the main point of contact for the CAPACITI office, greeting and welcoming clients and guests, managing e-mail and mail correspondences and calendaring, assisting with invoicing, scheduling meetings, managing stock levels and orders of office supplies, and coordinating office activities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Maintain the front desk area
• Provide a professional and efficient front desk service
• Present a warm, welcoming image to all employees and guests
• Answer incoming calls timeously and politely
• Direct calls to the correct department and or ensure accurate messages are delivered
• Manage the coordination of meeting rooms
• Meeting and event planning, including catering, setup, clean-up, and coordination of all additional logistics (e.g. audio-visual requirements, supplies), as needed
• Parking arrangements, communicate directions to guests
• Maintain office and kitchen supplies
• Travel arrangements and bookings, flights, accommodation, transport to and from accommodation
• Administrative functions (staff birthdays, invoices, filing, printing, scanning)
• Coordinate and manage the distribution of office items, as needed
• Ensure that a high level of service is provided by the day cleaners
• Escalate or report any areas of concern with regards to the standards and conditions of the campus
• Ad-hoc tasks for executives including diary management, reporting and expense management as well ad hoc tasks assigned by management and or leadership

PREFERED SKILLS

• Minimum 1-2-years’ experience in a similar or related field
• Strong administration skills and proficiency in Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and MS Teams)
• Excellent language skills (verbal and written) in English, another second official language would be advantageous
• Excellent telephone etiquette and communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Organised with good attention to detail and ability to multi-task
• Customer services focus both internally and externally

BEHAVIOURS

• Empathetic
• Reliable
• Helpful, friendly, approachable
• Professional
• Methodical and structured
• Resilient
• Team player
• Discretion / Initiative

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ROLE PURPOSE

The Talent Development Coach is responsible for providing support to candidates through the implementation of proactive candidate success and human capital development programs. The role is responsible for directing candidate career success efforts, assisting in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of candidate support systems. This includes careers advice, job and career critical success programmes, coaching, workplace familiarisation, wellbeing and HR support, candidate advice and referrals to alternative support options, and development of professional portfolios.

The position ensures positive candidate engagement, retention, certificate completions and other successful job seeker outcomes, such as articulating pathways into higher education or employment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Collaborate with multiples teams at project launch in order to design and implement a professional development plan for the cohort prior to start
• Assist with the recruitment of the right candidates for the specific programme requirements
• Ensure that the candidates undertake their Professional Development in a measured and focused manner that builds their experience step by step by acting as their Talent Development lead
• Coordinate, deliver and supervise all candidate activities for CAPACITI Job Critical Skills programme curriculum
• Develop Professional Skills content aligned with the requirements of specific cohorts or offtake partners; examples include leadership development, critical thinking, problem solving, and customer focus
• Deliver training using participatory and interactive training methodologies
• Deliver the Job Critical Skills Programme through comprehensive workshops and events, ensuring in advance they are well supported with adequate resources
• Run events, interactions and interventions with the candidates (induction, graduation, feedback, mock interviews, world of work presentations/talks, workshops, learning events etc.)
• Implement and manage a candidate evaluation process through the scorecard, measuring candidate’s performance throughout the programme and feeding back their scores weekly
• Accumulate scorecard results into a candidate professional development CV on completion of the programme, using results and understanding of the candidate to inform an insightful report of each individual
• Provide feedback and additional professional development support to candidates through regular one to ones, addressing behavioural issues such as poor attendance, attitude, lack of motivation etc.
• Manage candidates according to CAPACITI’s holistic training model and candidate policies.
• Manage all candidates’ grievances, complaints and candidate policy infringements with support from the Candidate HR team
• Ensure that our Accelerators are a vibrant, safe and fun working environment for our candidates
• Engage with candidates, understand their personal challenges and successes and support them throughout their individual learning journey
• Act as the voice of the candidate in all internal representation, ensuring our key customer is understood and all interventions are relevant to their development
• Deliver and or oversee that accurate attendance and stipend management of candidates
• Manage communications to candidates
• Provide Candidates with encouragement, examples of desirable behaviours, and opportunities for discussion, practice and reflection on newly acquired skills
• Enrich training with guest speakers (employers/key industry figures), site visits to firms, community-based service projects, team sports and arts events where relevant
• Reviewing candidate performance records to assess individual employee performance and coach them on how to improve performance in specific areas
• Coordinating with the career services team to ensure candidates are linked to the best career opportunities

QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

• Qualifications in Industrial Psychology, Human Resource Management or Adult Education are advantageous
• Coaching and mentorship courses or certifications beneficial

PREFFERED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• At least 3 years working experience in a professional environment that translates to relevant experience for candidates
• Proven ability to communicate across professional, age and language barriers
• Able to create detailed delivery plans
• Experience in monitoring and recording successes and provide constructive feedback to team members/reports/other parties
• Demonstrates a passion for imparting knowledge to others
• Excellent people management skills, preferably with young adults/youth at scale (large teams, coaching, training, Sports, Leadership in social groups etc.)
• Experience of facilitating large groups of people preferred
• Learning/Academic curriculum experience ideal but not essential
• Experience working with unemployed youth advantageous
• Share knowledge and experiences, while being able to appreciate differing beliefs, opinions, behavioral styles and habits
• Comfortable using digital tools for rich communication and working across teams and employee bands
• Experience in creating events and interventions that create a positive, collaborative and learning orientated culture
• Has an approach, language and teaching methodology which support the development of a growth mindset in candidates
• Ability to model behaviours required for professional development

BEHAVIOURS

• Flexible and approachable, enthusiastic and self-motivated
• Open and reflective
• Comfortable working on both tedious and complex tasks
• Builds supportive people relationships
• Good communication skills
• Helpful, friendly, approachable
• Open and easy to get along with
• Great social skills
• Consistent, planned and excellent organization skills
• Nurturing
• Strong public speaker
• Comfortable in delivering events and presenting to large groups
• Able to provide “tough love” when needed
• Deals calmly with conflict
• Epitomize the behaviours, attitudes and skills they will be developing in youth.
• Ability to work independently and to use own initiative
• Good Listening and problem-solving skills
• Committed to excellence and team working

MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESS

• Candidates maintain a running satisfaction score of at least 75%
• Candidate one to ones take place with each individual at least every 3 weeks
• All candidate professional development activity is monitored and recorded
• Evaluation process embedded and candidates receive detailed, evidential feedback
• Candidate professional development CV is up to date and available to use in placement activity
• All candidates sign relevant policies within the first week of commencement on their programme
• Job Critical Skills activities take place each week and achieve a satisfaction score of 70% as a minimum
• Industry speakers, guests and other providers are sourced in advance of the
• Candidate grievances are managed professionally and resolved without further challenges
• Candidate records are kept up to date with easy access to all professional development activity
• All reporting activity is delivered on time and with 98% accuracy
• Programme highlights, success and stories are recorded and documented per cohort and available for use by various internal and external stakeholders
• Develop a cohesive and productive working environment that is harmonious and collaborative

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ROLE PURPOSE

The purpose of this role is to monitor and manage the Talent Development Coach team against project, and CAPACITI specific, Talent Development Curriculum delivery milestones and measures of success. The role is in place ensure that there is parity between the delivery of all Talent Development Coaches and that all project and programme success metrics are met and that candidates are adequately supported on their journey. This role must be underpinned by strong organisational and planning skills and must focus on creating synchronization and harmony between the Talent Development Coaches and impactful collaboration with the Tech Education team.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage, coordinate and oversee all Talent Development activities with the project respective Talent Development Coach
• Support the planning, administration, and documentation for all cohorts in partnership with the respective Talent Development Coach
• Monitor and track candidate performance via the performance measuring and evidencing tools i.e. scorecards, progress trackers, dashboards and overall performance reports
• Review and analyse all candidate survey feedback and develop improvement plans where required in partnership with the Talent Development Coach
• Standardize and streamline all process-oriented activity to ensure that an 80% level of parity is met between all of the Talent Development Coaches and that candidates receive an equitable experience will in training.
• Support, foster and drive a collaborative working environment for all Talent Development Coaches
• Ensure cohesive collaboration and a positive way of working with all CAPACITI teams and divisions
• Ensure that candidates are supported through their training lifecycle through holistic intervention and success initiatives that include internal and external service provision and resources
• Source, develop and review the Talent Development curriculum to ensure that continuous enhancement and peer review is conducted where relevant.
• Measure candidate development against the predetermined industry and international standards
• Review and sign off on the candidate professional portfolio prior to the workplace onboarding period
• Develop and maintain a strong workplace transition plan and activity process that allows for a standardized approach to candidate workplace commencement
• Act as the voice of the candidate in all internal representation and ensure that the appropriate and professional representation of candidates and the CAPACITI model is done in all external candidate centered reporting.
• Develop, maintain and enhance the partner and client networking database insofar as it related to talent development delivery including but not limited to various health and financial service providers, psychosocial and wellness service providers and any additional critical skill support initiative related to candidate development.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

• Qualifications in Industrial Psychology, Human Resource Management or Adult Education are advantageous
• Coaching and mentorship courses or certifications beneficial

PREFFERED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Able to create detailed delivery plans
• Strong understanding of career pathway, development plans and educational progression
• Experience in monitoring and recording successes and provide constructive feedback to team members/reports/other parties
• Has an aptitude for motivating job seekers, and a toolkit of resources to help those job seekers set goals, as well as find, obtain, and stay in a career
• The ability to translate plans into action with measurable outputs
• Demonstrates a passion for imparting knowledge to others
• Excellent people management skills, preferably with young adults/youth at scale (large teams, coaching, training, Sports, Leadership in social groups etc)
• Experience of facilitating large groups of people preferred
• Learning/Academic curriculum experience ideal but not essential
• Experience working with unemployed youth advantageous
• Share knowledge and experiences, while being able to appreciate differing beliefs, opinions, behavioural styles and habits
• Experience in student engagement within a school/higher education environment or talent development programme.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, comfortable using digital tools for rich communication and working across teams and employee bands
• Experience in creating events and interventions that create a positive, collaborative, and learning orientated culture
• Has an approach, language and teaching methodology which support the development of a growth mindset in candidates
• Experience in delivering soft skills/employability interventions
• Experience in implementing new tools, processes, or systems to improve communication and operational running of office, including strong Microsoft Office skills

BEHAVIOURS  

• Flexible and approachable, enthusiastic and self-motivated
• Open and reflective
• Comfortable working on both tedious and complex tasks
• Builds supportive people relationships
• Good communication skills
• Helpful, friendly, approachable
• Open and easy to get along with
• Great social skills
• Consistent, planned and excellent organization skills
• Nurturing
• Strong public speaker
• Comfortable in delivering events and presenting to large groups
• Able to provide “tough love” when needed
• Deals calmly with conflict
• Epitomize the behaviours, attitudes and skills they will be developing in youth.
• Ability to work independently and to use own initiative
• Good Listening and problem-solving skills
• Committed to excellence and team working

MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESS

Candidate Performance

• Ensure that all candidates maintain a running satisfaction score of 70% and above and ensure improvement plans are available and evidenced after each survey issued
• Document, support and lead candidate performance rectification with evidenced HR interventions at all times
• Ensure that all scorecards, progress trackers and dashboards are correctly, and timeously, up to date as of Fridays 12:00 pm
• Quality Assure and approve all candidate professional portfolios prior to the completion of the training period
• Provide accurate and thorough workplace handover reports to the workplace team prior to the commencement of the workplace journey
• Develop and submit monthly programme reports with at least 98% accuracy
• Create strong, useable candidate success stories and case studies to support the client, funder, impact and overall activity reporting of CAPACITI

Collaboration and team management

• Ensure that positive work environments and ways of working lead to cohesive and valuable collaboration within the team
• Ensure that collaboration, positive engagements and informed approaches lead to successful collaboration and harmony with the wider CAPACITI teams and divisions
• Engage with each Talent Development coach at least weekly in a one on one
• Engage with the Talent Development team at least weekly in a team sprint with documented agenda, actions, and forward planning
• Implementation and utilization of systems that support team planning, meetings and activity tracking

 Data, reporting and analysis

• Ensure that all reports are adequately completely by yourself or the Talent Development Coach in a way that exceeds expectations and tells successful stories
• Review, analyse and report back on candidate experience, progress and performance in weekly, monthly and quarterly reports for various internal and external stakeholders

Content and workshops

• Hosting a series of supportive and complimentary workshops and masterclasses as a layer on top of the existing talent development curriculum
• Supporting, guiding and developing new talent development curriculum and courses that align to current and forecasted trends and skills requirements at a quarterly and annual interval
• Review and improve existing curriculum content areas to the benefit of all CAPACITI stakeholders
• Ensure a standard of measurement is in place that allows for all of the Talent Development Coaches to be benchmarked against

Education and career planning

• Collaborating with the career and workplace team to ensure that career education and career centre activities are successful.
• Sharing critical client requirements and/or feedback as to inform the career planning.
• Running feedback campaigns routinely against the candidate lifecycle and/or the client placement requirements
• Developing various feedback tools to ensure that receipt of feedback is frequent and fit-for-purpose
• Evaluating the candidate lifecycle and areas of improvement based on feedback received from the clients, hosts and/or industry