Project Officer: O&M (Renewables) - Cape Town

Activities

• This position requires a highly organized and proactive Project Officer to support the Operations and Maintenance team in the Renewable Energy sector. The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring the smooth execution of administrative, coordination, and reporting tasks across a portfolio of renewable energy assets, including solar PV, storage and wind projects.

Key Responsibilities

Project Coordination & Support

• Assist in the day-to-day administration of renewable energy projects under operations.
• Coordinate meetings, prepare agendas, take minutes, and follow up on action items.
• Maintain project documentation, schedules, trackers and O&M team action lists. 
• Assist the O&M teams with the coordination and management of O&M contractors across Hydra, SAL PV and SAL Wind.
• Implement gap analysis markers in collaboration with HQ, and each project lead, during each stage of each asset’s lifecycle.
• Coordinate interfaces between O&M contractors, site teams, Asset Management, Engineering, HSE and other internal functions.

Data Management & Reporting

• Lifecycle data collection to ensure investment durability.
• Be involved in projects from early development and construction phase.
• Support the O&M teams in collecting and managing all related data during the operational phase of each asset’s lifecycle.
• Support the preparation of monthly, quarterly, and annual O&M performance reports for internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure data accuracy and integrity across asset management systems.
• Maintain accurate records of Maintain accurate records of outages, defects, work orders, incidents, performance improvement plans, corrective actions and other deliverables from the O&M Contractors.
• Support reporting to Asset Management, Management, Shareholders and other stakeholders.

Compliance & Documentation

• Maintain up-to-date records of O&M contracts, permits, warranties, procedures, manuals and compliance documentation.
• Assist in ensuring compliance with regulatory, environmental, HSE and technical requirements.
• Support environmental and social compliance monitoring in line with O&M contract requirements.
• Maintain operational readiness and handover trackers for SAL PV and SAL Wind, including documentation, training, spares, warranties, systems and outstanding works.
• Implement the predetermined methods to store these documents, considering the applicable legal and internal requirements.

Stakeholder Engagement and Contractor Management

• Liaise Liaise with internal teams including Asset Management, Engineering, Finance, Legal, Procurement and HSE. 
• Support communication and coordination with O&M contractors, OEMs and other service providers. 
• Assist the O&M teams in tracking contractor obligations, deliverables, actions, reports and due dates. 
• Follow up on overdue actions, incomplete submissions and outstanding close-out evidence, and escalate material delays to the Head of O&M and O&M Managers
• Assist in liaising with offtakers, lenders, landowners, local communities, and other external stakeholders when required. 
• Participate in site visits, inspections, audits and operational readiness reviews to the extent required. 

Financial & Administrative Support

• Track operational budgets and assist in reviewing O&M Contractor and service provider invoices.
• Support contract administration, including O&M agreements, OEM agreements and land leases.
• Assist with variations and contractor correspondence, as well as warranty processes.
• Manage document control and filing systems in Share Point
• Support procurement processes, including purchase orders and invoice tracking.
• Assist with onboarding of new team members and contractors
• Any other tasks and responsibilities that may be reasonably required from this position

Candidate Profile
Qualifications & Experience:

• Diploma or degree in Project Administration, Project Management, or a related field.
• 2–4 years of experience in a project administration or coordination role, preferably in the energy, infrastructure, or engineering sectors.
• Experience in renewable energy or O&M is a strong advantage.

Skills & Competencies:

• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Technically astute, particularly in MS Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and MS Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
• CoPilot applications (willing to learn)
• Experience with document control tools (e.g. New Prodom)
• Experience with project management tools (e.g., MS Project, Primavera, SAP or similar) is a plus.
• Attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Team player with a proactive and solution-oriented mindset.

Desirable attributes

• Diligence, determination, resilience and agility.