Environmental Expert (m/f/d) - Greener Municipal Services South Africa

The Greener Municipalities project aims to support selected municipalities in South Africa in improving municipal service delivery through greener, more climate-resilient, and inclusive solutions. The technical assistance will focus on strengthening municipal performance and governance, facilitating green investments, and supporting projects in the areas of water, energy, waste management, and sanitation. 

In addition, the programme seeks to promote sustainable urban development, climate resilience, digital and smart solutions, as well as community participation and gender-responsive approaches. The assignment is funded by the European Union and implemented in close cooperation with South African public institutions and municipalities. 

The Environmental Expert will support the design and implementation of climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable municipal initiatives, particularly in the areas of water, energy, sanitation, waste management, and green urban development. The role includes advising municipalities on environmental planning, resilience-building measures, and sustainable infrastructure approaches, while ensuring alignment with climate change and environmental objectives. 

The expert will further contribute to the development of green and inclusive solutions by supporting stakeholder engagement, gender-responsive approaches, and community participation activities. In addition, the role involves supporting project preparation processes, cooperation with development finance institutions and public stakeholders, as well as contributing to capacity building and knowledge sharing activities throughout the assignment. 

Required: 

• Masters in any one of the following fields: Environmental Studies, Urban Development. In place of the master’s, 5 years additional professional work experience will be required in addition to a bachelor’s degree.  

• Fluency in English 

• At least 6 years working experience in the drafting and implementation of plans that have a focus on Climate-resilient and sustainable urban environment or Renewable Energies or Disaster risk reduction mechanisms or resilience enhancing mechanisms. 

• At least 1 experience as long-term expert working with development financial institutions on projects that have to do with either water, energy, sustainable waste management or sanitation from concept stage to bankability.  

• At least 1 experience implementing an environmental project that had a gender, social inclusion and stakeholder engagement focus in a lower/middle income country similar to South Africa. 

• At least 1 experience as short-term expert for at least 12 months in implementation of a project that is either solid waste disposal and treatment installations or Water supply and sanitation networks or Renewable Energies in a lower/middle income country similar to South Africa. 

 

Desired: 

• Proven knowledge of the South African legislative environment in the local government would be an added advantage. 

The main place of performance will be at the offices of the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) in Centurion, South Africa, with regular missions to the four selected municipalities located in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga. 

For the Environmental Expert up to 120 working days may be home-based. The proposed home-based location must be indicated at the beginning of the assignment and is subject to approval by the Contracting Authority. 

The project is currently foreseen to have a duration of 48 months.

This position is suited to a part time position.

We would furthermore appreciate it if you could share your updated CV in English and in EuropeAid / European Commission format (EU format). 

Please understand, that we can only accept and process applications via our E-recruiting system. Following the confirmation of your successful application, kindly check your spam / junk mail folder on a regular basis, since some provider classify emails from our recruiting system as spam.

Important information: This vacancy is part of a tender procedure by an international donor. GIZ International Services (InS) is participating in the tender as a bidder and must therefore submit a binding staffing proposal as part of its offer. If you are interested in this position, please consider before applying:

GIZ has to select a candidate for this position before submitting the offer to the donor. The award decision by the donor will then take up to several months. An employment contract for the position can only be offered to the selected candidate if GIZ’s bid is successful. Otherwise, the position will be cancelled, and the recruiting process will be closed without any contractual obligation arising for either party.

Scope, tasks and requirements as well as the full-/part-time percentage of the position are determined by the donor and cannot be changed by GIZ. 

Unless stated otherwise, all requirements are mandatory and must be fulfilled at the time of submitting the offer. As per the donor’s procurement rules, a specific amount of time of experience refers to full-time experience. Part-time assignments will be taken into account on a pro rata basis.

Applications can only be considered if they fulfil all mandatory requirements entirely.

GIZ preference rules for internal candidates, follow-up candidates et al. do not apply for this position. 

Everyone has the same opportunities in our company, regardless of gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or physical disability. We recruit based on specialist expertise and social skills. Transparency and fair opportunities for career advancement are just as much a matter of course for us as gender not being a barrier to taking up a management position., We are a provider of international cooperation services for sustainable development and work to build a future worth living around the world. We support projects in over 130 countries to achieve goals sustainably together with our partners., Extensive check-ups and preventive measures (e.g. on appointment, before the outward journey, during the stay in a country of assignment, in an emergency) are provided to our staff and the family members accompanying them as a matter of course., You will receive various additional benefits during your stay abroad that will depend on your country of assignment., We reward staff who achieve their agreed annual targets with a variable remuneration component.

Your professional and personal development is important to us. At GIZ, you will be offered global work opportunities and an atmosphere that is characterised by diversity, respect and genuine equal opportunities. Gender equality promotion is a matter of course for us. Our benefits are also impressive in terms of work-life balance and family friendliness. Flexible working hours that fit your life situation, comprehensive onboarding and internal health management are an integral part of our corporate culture, along with the opportunity to use childcare facilities and parent/child offices.

GIZ is a signatory of the Diversity Charter. Recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity in the company are important to us. All employees shall be valued - regardless of gender and gender identity, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, social background, age or sexual orientation.

We support equal opportunities and welcome applications from people with disabilities.

Hannah  Metz
+49 6196 79-3034