Detail Project Manager – National Internship Placement Programme

Purpose of the role

The Project Manager owns end-to-end delivery of a national internship placement programme for TVET college graduates: from sourcing and screening candidates to placing them with host employers and overseeing their internship through to completion.

The successful candidate will build the delivery team, systems and controls needed to run the programme across all provinces, making sure interns are placed close to home, properly supported and well documented, on time and within budget.

Key responsibilities

Programme planning and delivery

• Develop and own the national rollout plan, including phasing by province, intake targets, milestones, budget and resourcing.
• Track progress against targets and report weekly to the COO and monthly to programme stakeholders and funders.
• Identify, log and manage risks and issues, escalating where needed.

Intern sourcing, screening and vetting

• Coordinate with TVET colleges nationally to obtain lists of eligible students and graduates.
• Oversee screening of qualifications against programme and host employer requirements.
• Manage vetting, including verification of IDs, qualifications, academic records and background checks.

Placement with host employers

• Map interns to host employers as close as possible to their homes, matching qualifications to available opportunities.
• Oversee the recruitment and onboarding of host employers, including signed host agreements and placement readiness.
• Ensure each intern has a signed internship agreement and a clear workplace induction before starting.

Internship oversight and monitoring

• Oversee interns for the full duration of their tenure, including attendance, conduct and progress.
• Monitor logbooks and workplace evidence to confirm interns are gaining relevant, structured experience.
• Conduct or coordinate site visits and check-ins with interns, mentors and host employers.
• Resolve placement issues, including disputes, absenteeism, early exits and replacements.
• Manage completion processes, including final logbook sign-off, close-out reports and certificates where applicable.

Stakeholder and partnership management

• Act as GrowthArch's day-to-day lead with TVET colleges, host employers, partners, funders and government stakeholders.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with host employers to secure and retain placements.
• Represent the programme in meetings, site visits and reporting to funders.

Team leadership and compliance

• Recruit, lead and develop regional coordinators and support staff.
• Ensure compliance with funder, college outcome requirements, POPIA and labour legislation.
• Maintain accurate intern records and portfolios of evidence for audits and impact reporting.

Minimum requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or National Diploma in Project Management, Human Resource Management, Education and Training, Business Management or a related field.
• A project management certification (PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent) is strongly advantageous.
• Valid South African driver's licence (Code B or higher) and willingness to travel nationally. 

Experience

• At least 5 years of project or programme management experience, including delivery of multi-site or national projects.
• At least 3 years of experience managing internships, learnerships, work-integrated learning or other skills development programmes.
• Proven experience placing and monitoring large numbers of participants with host employers.
• Experience managing budgets, reporting to funders and working with third-party service providers.

Advantageous

• Experience working with TVET colleges and SETAs.
• Knowledge of work-integrated learning requirements, logbooks and portfolio of evidence processes.
• Experience on enterprise development, job creation or socio-economic development programmes.
• Proficiency in one or more South African languages in addition to English.

Skills and competencies

• Strong planning and execution skills, with the ability to manage large intakes across many sites.
• Sound commercial and financial acumen, including budget control.
• Data-driven: comfortable with dashboards, trackers and advanced Excel or BI tools.
• Confident stakeholder manager who can engage colleges, employers, funders and government.
• Hands-on leader who builds and motivates distributed teams.
• Practical problem-solver who stays calm under pressure and resolves placement issues fast.
• High integrity and attention to detail, especially with personal information and funder compliance.
• Genuine commitment to youth development and job creation.