Stakeholder & Communication Specialist (PSP Programme) (Fixed Term Contract until 13 May 2030)

Job Profile (Downloadable)

Purpose of the Job

The Stakeholder & Communication Specialist is responsible for designing and executing stakeholder engagement and communication strategies across the PSP Programme. The role facilitates alignment between government, state-owned entities, regulators, investors, and private sector participants through effective communication, stakeholder coordination and reporting across all phases of the programme lifecycle.

Stakeholder Engagement Strategic Focus

• Develop and implement a structured stakeholder engagement strategy aligned to the PSP Programme lifecycle, including RFI, RFQ, RFP, and implementation phases.
• Design and maintain a comprehensive stakeholder mapping framework across government (DoT, NT), state-owned entities (Transnet, PRASA), private sector participants, regulators, and industry bodies.
• Define tailored engagement approaches and communication protocols based on stakeholder influence, interest, and programme impact.
• Implement proactive, sequenced, and milestone-aligned stakeholder engagement across corridor prioritisation and project rollout activities.
• Review and refine engagement strategies based on stakeholder feedback, programme developments, and emerging risks or sensitivities.

Stakeholder Alignment and Institutional Coordination

• Facilitate alignment and coordinate communication across key institutions, including DoT, National Treasury, Transnet, PRASA, and investors.
• Support structured engagement forums, including bilateral meetings, intergovernmental forums, and technical working groups.
• Embed a consistent understanding of PSP Programme objectives, including private sector participation models, project sequencing, and institutional roles and responsibilities.
• Identify and manage misalignment risks, including policy-to-implementation gaps, coordination challenges, and divergent stakeholder expectations.
• Support resolution of stakeholder issues through structured communication, escalation pathways, and follow-up mechanisms.

Procurement Engagement Management

• Coordinate stakeholder and market-facing communication during RFI, RFQ, and RFP processes to ensure transparency, consistency, and compliance with procurement requirements.
• Develop communication components of bid documentation, including bidder briefing materials, clarification protocols, and communication guidelines.
• Manage bidder engagement processes, including briefing sessions, clarification responses, and formal communication channels.
• Verify in collaboration with Supply Chain Management that all bidder communication are consistent, non-preferential, transparent, and fully auditable in line with SCM requirements.
• Maintain complete and structured records of all procurement-related communication for governance and audit purposes.

Communication and Reporting

• Develop high-quality executive presentations, briefing

Minimum Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Communication, Commerce, Marketing, Public Relations, Public Administration or related field.

Minimum Requirements

• A minimum of 8 years’ experience with a proven track record of successful implementation of stakeholder engagement and communication strategies in a programme or related environment.
• In-depth experience in working with Supply chain and procurement processes in the public sector and procurement-related communication processes (RFI, RFQ, RFP).
• Demonstrated experience in public sector engagement, infrastructure programmes, or large-scale transformation initiatives.
• Extensive experience working with government institutions, SOEs, regulators, and private sector stakeholders.
• Proven experience preparing executive-level presentations, reports, and governance documentation.
• Experience managing stakeholder risks, reputational issues, and sensitive communication in complex environments.

Desirable Requirements

• A postgraduate Communication, Commerce, Marketing, Public Relations, Public Administration or a related field
• Experience in infrastructure, transport, logistics or public-private partnership programmes.

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

Communication (Written and Verbal)

• 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 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 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.

Marketing and Communication Skills

• Strong understanding of Marketing and Communication principles and best practices, and of the full range of Marketing and Communication activities.
• Ability to contribute to the development and implementation of a Marketing / Communication strategy.
• Ability to take a lead role in Marketing and Communication activities, such as collecting and analysing market insights, user feedback, content creation, producing marketing collateral, planning
• Editorial planning and strategy experience.

Digital Marketing Skills

• Digital channel strategy and management experience
• SEO knowledge and experience
• Keeps up with the latest trends as it relates to industrial sectors key to DBSA.
• Aligning the brand to the changing needs and challenges of the organisation and economic environment.

Project Management

• Initiates project plans and secures resources for projects that span area or department boundaries.
• Uses estimating techniques and develops project risk management approaches.
• Has an in-depth and practical understanding of how to maximise the effectiveness of project teams.

Planning & Organising

• Is relied on to help others plan and organise their workload.
• Uses effective 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

Financial Acumen

• Makes sound financial decisions after having analysed their impacts on the organisation, partner agencies, and community.
• Effectively prepares budgetary submissions and forecasts for own department.
• Knows the internal and external factors that impact resource and asset availability.
• Can interpret management account reports in an operational/commercial context and take action as appropriate to maximise revenues and control costs.

Reporting & Communication

• Designs / customises reports to meet user needs.
• Prepares complex or tailored reports, gathers information from a variety of sources, analyses and includes in a report.
• Keeps standard reports under review and proposes improvements to meet user needs

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.).
• Knows various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.

Negotiation

• Has an appreciation of cultural sensitivities and differences.
• Effectively employs a variety of advanced behavioural/interpersonal competencies to control the negotiation situation.
• Is able to take the lead in a variety of sensitive negotiation situations requiring high levels of tact and diplomacy.
• Is able to place a discrete negotiation situation within the context of a broader long-term relationship and is not threatened by conceding ground to protect the longer-term interests of DBSA.