Overview

Project Officer – South Africa Jobs in Johannesburg Metropolitan Area at Hashtag Nonprofit NPC

Title: Project Officer – South Africa

Company: Hashtag Nonprofit NPC

Location: Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

  • WasteAid

Project Officer – South Africa for WasteAid

  • Deadline:

26 June 2026

  • Region:

Johannesburg (Home-based)

  • Salary:

ZAR 20,350 per month

  • Type of employment:

Full time

Job Description

  • Location: Home-based in Johannesburg, South Africa (with regular fieldwork in Johannesburg and some fieldwork in Mpumalanga Province)
  • Reports to: Project Manager, South Africa Direct Reports: None
  • Key Relationships: Community Facilitators, Programme Manager SA & Uganda, Director of Programmes
  • Gross Salary: GBP 10,560 per annum (equivalent to approx. ZAR 20,350 per month gross depending on exchange rate). Applicants will be salaried in GBP and paid from the UK and required to take responsibility for the deduction and remittance of their own taxes and other statutory payments in South Africa.
  • Contract Duration: One Year – full-time, with potential for renewal subject to funding
  • Applicants are required to have the right to live and work in South Africa.

Background: WasteAid in South Africa

WasteAid began working in South Africa in 2020 with the launch of the Circular Economy Network, a platform uniting industry, academia, and waste practitioners to accelerate circular solutions. What started as an awareness initiative soon revealed a pressing need: supporting thousands of informal waste collectors to grow their micro-enterprises and become “Wastepreneurs” driving pollution reduction, job creation, and circularity from the ground up.

Since then, WasteAid has focused on empowering those at the start of the waste value chain. Through a tailored training and mentorship programme, we help participants develop essential life skills and learn how to run viable waste businesses – from financial management to extracting value from different waste streams. Micro-grants for tools and equipment further enable them to work safely, confidently, and profitably.

Today, WasteAid continues expanding its reach across Gauteng and Mpumalanga, delivering this proven curriculum and supporting a growing network of Wastepreneurs and informal waste workers. Our vision is a world where waste causes no harm, and its value is fully recovered—and empowering informal waste workers is central to achieving it.

We welcome passionate individuals who share this commitment and want to help build a more sustainable future.

Job Purpose

The Project Officer will provide project management and administrative support to the Project Manager in delivering nominated projects in South Africa, initially focusing on the Wastepreneur® project in Cosmo City, Johannesburg, and the First Step Resource Management project in Mpumalanga.

The nature and number of projects to be managed will vary according to organisational needs and available funding. Reporting to the Project Manager (SA), the post- holder will support the day-to-day delivery of high-quality and impactful community-focused projects in the waste management and recycling sectors.

Joining our small but growing team means diving right in. The Project Officer will take a hands-on role across various stages of programme delivery, and will be deeply involved in keeping projects on track and ensuring all project milestones are met on time and aligned with organisational standards.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Project Administration & Delivery
  • Action-Plan Tracking: Support the Project Manager by monitoring weekly progress against the activity plan, scheduling tasks, tracking milestones, and proactively flagging potential delays.
  • Participant Mobilisation: Assist the Project Manager with identifying, engaging, and mobilising project participants, ensuring activities align tightly with community needs and local expectations.
  • On-the-Ground Coordination: Act as the primary point of contact for day-to-day operations, including managing the storage, tracking, and safe distribution of PPE and other essential project materials to participants.
  • Service Provider Liaison: Assist in drafting Terms of Reference (ToRs) for consultants and service providers, coordinate their local schedules, and conduct initial quality checks on their deliverables.
  • Reporting Support: Compile field-level verification sources (such as attendance registers and activity logs) to assist the Project Manager in drafting high-quality, compliant donor progress reports.
  • Training Curriculum Delivery
  • Direct Training Facilitation: Deliver WasteAid’s specialised training curriculum effectively on the ground by facilitating some of the sessions designed to support young waste reclaimers to formalise and grow their businesses.
  • Trainer Schedule Management: Coordinate and manage the master calendar for internal and external trainers to ensure optimal scheduling, avoid calendar conflicts, and communicate timelines clearly.
  • Operational Training Logistics: Take full ownership of end-to-end logistics for all training events, including sourcing and booking venues, organising catering, arranging participant transport, and managing the printing and distribution of training manuals.
  • Training Report Quality Control: Conduct the first-level review of all post-training reports submitted by external facilitators or consultants, checking for completeness and template alignment before escalating to the Project Manager.
  • Participant Readiness & Asset Control: Communicate training schedules and expectations to participants to drive high attendance, while overseeing the setup, teardown, and maintenance of all training equipment and physical resources.
  • Project Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)
  • Data Collection & System Entry: Lead the day-to-day collection of core field indicators (including material recovery volumes, participant demographics, and training attendance) and ensure all data is accurately input into tracking systems on schedule.
  • External Supplier Monitoring: Monitor the field delivery of project activities conducted by external suppliers and trainers, gathering performance data and feeding timely operational feedback to the Project Manager.
  • Feedback & Quality Improvement: Proactively gather qualitative feedback from project participants, informal collectors, and local stakeholders to identify operational challenges and help improve project outcomes.
  • Survey & Assessment Support: Provide critical logistical and enumerator support during external baseline, midline, or endline evaluations managed by independent consultants.
  • Stakeholder Engagement & Field Communications
  • Primary Local Point of Contact: Act as the frontline operational liaison connecting the organisation and the Project Manager directly with project participants, local authorities, and community stakeholders.
  • Community Relations: Maintain strong, consistent relationships with local wastepreneurs, informal waste collectors, and community leaders to ensure project interventions remain transparent and widely supported.
  • Local Representation & Credibility: Represent WasteAid positively in local meetings, working groups, and discussions, contributing to a credible organisational reputation in South Africa.
  • Field Communications & Content Capture: Serve as the visual storyteller on the ground, and routinely gather updates, impact quotes, and high-quality photographs from field delivery to feed into organisational communication channels, social media, and UK communications updates.
  • Partnership & Event Facilitation: Organise and facilitate stakeholder meetings,networking events, and community awareness drives that connect local participants with buy-back centres, municipalities, and private sector waste off-takers.
  • Meeting Administration: Manage the logistics of local stakeholder forums, background briefs for attendees, and document detailed, actionable minutes.
  • Financial Resource Management
  • Expense Tracking & Reconciliation: Collect, verify, and organise all project invoices, receipts, and supporting financial documentation in strict accordance with WasteAid policies.
  • Advance Management: Prepare petty cash and cash advance requests for field activities, maintain meticulous ground-level expenditure records, and compile reconciliation files for the Project Manager's review.
  • Procurement Support: Gather quotes from local suppliers, prepare comparative bid analysis sheets, and assist in ensuring all local procurement aligns with both donor and WasteAid procurement guidelines.
  • Operational Cost Benchmarking & Repository Building: Systematically track and document localised field costs, supplier pricing history, and community operational requirements to build an internal costing repository for future budget forecasting and proposal development

Perform other duties as assigned. The duties and responsibilities listed in this document are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and not necessarily all-inclusive.

Qualifications And Requirements

Knowledge, Qualifications & Experience

  • Bachelor’s Degree in a related field; or equivalent combination of qualifications and practical experience. (Essential)
  • Proven experience in project coordination, administration, or field-level delivery within the development, NGO, or environmental sectors. (Essential)
  • Experience in delivering training curricula, facilitating workshops, or hosting community-level learning sessions, preferably working with youth or informal sector groups. (Essential)
  • Proven experience working directly with grass-roots communities, informal waste reclaimers, or micro-entrepreneurs to implement locally led initiatives, with a deep understanding of local dynamics and a strong focus on participation, capacity-building, and sustainability. (Essential)
  • Practical experience with data collection, conducting field surveys, and maintaining tracking sheets or digital monitoring tools. (Essential)
  • Experience handling petty cash, tracking field expenses, and collecting/organising compliant financial receipts and invoices. (Essential)
  • Sector Knowledge: Prior experience working specifically within the waste management, recycling, or circular economy sectors in South Africa (Desirable)

Skills & Abilities

  • Fluency in any local languages with good spoken/written English (Essential)
  • Exceptional organisational skills with a proven track record of managing complex event logistics (booking venues, coordinating transport, managing catering, and material distribution). (Essential)
  • Outstanding interpersonal and verbal communication skills; ability to build trust and maintain positive, respectful relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, from informal waste reclaimers to local authorities and businesses. (Essential)
  • Good written communication skills with the ability to compile accurate data trackers, write clear meeting minutes, and draft detailed post-training or field activity updates. (Essential)
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word) and comfort utilizing digital tools for data entry, schedule management, and field data collection. (Essential)
  • Ability to interface with local suppliers, gather competitive quotes, and accurately document supplier pricing history. (Essential)

Personal Qualities

  • A flexible, practical, and solution-oriented attitude toward managing field activities and resolving operational bottlenecks in logistically challenging environments. (Essential)
  • Self-motivated, with the ability to manage daily task lists, meet deadlines, and keep the Project Manager informed of progress without needing constant supervision. (Essential)
  • High level of empathy, cultural awareness, and respect for community needs, ensuring that WasteAid is always represented positively and credibly on the ground. (Essential)
  • Demonstrates an uncompromised sense of professional integrity, with a deep commitment to upholding WasteAid's core values, ethics, and safeguarding policies during all community and supplier interactions. (Essential)
  • Highly collaborative with a strong team orientation; possesses the ability to work cohesively within a multi-disciplinary team, support colleagues, and contribute to a positive, unified working environment. (Essential)
  • Possesses a mature, professional understanding of organizational reporting lines; respects established workflows and internal hierarchies while maintaining open, transparent, and constructive upward communication with the Project Manager. (Essential)

WasteAid is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage applications from candidates from historically underrepresented groups.

How to apply

To apply, please send your CV and covering letter (no more than 2 pages) explaining your interest in the role and how your profile aligns with the criteria laid out in the person specification by email to [email protected] with Project Officer – South Africa in the email subject box.

Deadline for applications is Friday, 26 June 2026 – 11:59 pm. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Please note that WasteAid may review, shortlist, and interview candidates before the closing date, so we encourage all candidates to apply as soon as possible. If we receive a very high response, we may close the vacancy early and will not accept further submissions.

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  • Date posted:

03 June 2026

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