ETHICS OFFICER CORPORATE SERVICES: SHARED SERVICES

Coega Development Corporation; Gqeberha; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

Coega Development Corporation seeks an Ethics Officer within Corporate Services to coordinate the ethics management framework, oversee conflict of interest processes, and provide confidential guidance to staff. The role collaborates with Internal Audit, Compliance, and Legal Services to ensure ethical accountability and risk mitigation.

The successful candidate will design and deliver ethics awareness, manage records, and support governance with reporting to senior management.

Qualifications

• Essential: National Diploma (NQF6) in Public Administration, Law, Risk Management, Internal Audit, or related field.
• Preferred: Bachelor’s Degree or Advanced Diploma (NQF7) in Public Administration, Law, Risk Management, Corporate Governance, or related field.
• Experience: 4 years in ethics, integrity or compliance environment.
• Preferred: cross-functional work across complex organisational units.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate ethics administration and conflict-of-interest management.
• Maintain records for financial disclosures, external work, and gift registers.
• Provide confidential ethics advisory services to staff and management.
• Design and deliver ethics awareness programs and training.
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, Legal, and Audit units for governance.
• Monitor ethics-related procedures and report to senior governance bodies.

Skills

Governance

Ethics management

Advisory skills

Facilitation

Presentation

Discretion

Interpersonal skills

Report writing

Education

National Diploma (NQF6) in Public Administration or related

Bachelor's/Advanced Diploma (NQF7) in Public Administration or governance

Job description

ETHICS OFFICER CORPORATE SERVICES: SHARED SERVICES

MANDATE

ACCOUNTABILITY The Ethics Officer acts as the central specialist for coordinating, administering, and operationalising the Coega Development Corporation’s (CDC) ethics management framework. The incumbent works under the leadership of the Programme Director (Shared Services) and alongside the Risk Manager, focusing on fostering an ethical culture aligned with CDC’s core values, managing conflict of interest declarations, providing confidential advisory services, and facilitating impactful ethics awareness programs. The Ethics Officer serves as a critical integration point and collaborates closely with Internal and Forensic Audit, Compliance, Company Secretarial and Legal Services Units to ensure a cohesive, transparent approach to ethical accountability, consequence management, and risk mitigation across the CDC.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS

Ethics Administration & Conflict of Interest Management

• Administer and maintain accurate records for all conflict-of-interest processes, including the annual Financial Disclosures of CDC employees, applications for external remunerative work, and the corporate Gift Register.
• Pre-screen internal declarations and operational agendas to identify potential conflicts, advising management and relevant committees on appropriate mitigation steps.
• Track and monitor the completion rates of mandatory ethics declarations and learning modules across the organisation.

Ethics Advisory & Reporting Mechanisms

• Serve as the principal, confidential point of contact for ethics-related inquiries, providing safe and objective guidance to employees and management on ethical dilemmas and standard operating procedures.
• Administer and promote the organisation's confidential whistle-blowing mechanism, ensuring that all allegations are accurately recorded.
• Route reported incidents of unethical conduct or fraud directly to the Internal and Forensic Audit unit for investigation, maintaining strict confidentiality and documentation handovers.

Awareness, Training & Culture Building

• Design, coordinate, and facilitate targeted ethics awareness programs, workshops, and communication campaigns that translate CDC’s core values into visible, measurable behaviours.
• Partner with executive leadership and management to ensure ethics awareness initiatives are visibly supported by leadership commitment, maximising their impact on organisational culture.
• Collaborate with the Human Resources Unit to embed ethics and accountability into selection, onboarding, and performance management interventions.

Cross-Functional Coordination & Monitoring

• Work closely with the Risk Manager to coordinate ethics risk and opportunity assessments, contributing data to the operational risk register.
• Collaborate with Compliance, Legal, and Company Secretarial units to ensure that ethics-related procedures are consistently aligned with broader corporate governance and regulatory frameworks.
• Maintain a register of employees under investigation and those disciplined for unethical conduct (in collaboration with Forensic Unit and HR) to monitor consequence management and adherence to ethical standards.

Ethics Reporting & Governance Support

• Compile insightful, user-friendly reports on ethics management performance, tracking trends, risks, and the overall ethical climate of the CDC.
• Provide regular operational updates and statistical reporting to the Executive Manager: Corporate Services and relevant governance structures.
• Review underperforming ethics initiatives and recommend practical, implementable corrective actions to management.

COMPETENCIES AND REQUIREMENTS

Educational Qualifications

Essential

• National Diploma (NQF Level 6) in Public Administration, Law, Risk Management, Internal Audit, or a related field.

Preferred

• Bachelor's Degree or Advanced Diploma (NQF Level 7) in Public Administration, Law, Risk Management, Corporate Governance, or a related field.

Experience

Essential

• 4 years of practical experience operating within an ethics, integrity or compliance environment, including at least 3 years working independently at a specialist level.

Preferred

• Demonstrated experience as an individual contributor working across complex or highly structured organisational departments.

Competencies

Essential

• Knowledge and experience in governance and ethics management.
• Excellent advisory, facilitation and presentation skills.
• High emotional intelligence with the ability to handle highly sensitive and confidential information with absolute discretion.
• Strong interpersonal skills to build collaborative relationships with relevant operational units.
• Analytical mindset with excellent report-writing capabilities.
• Detail-oriented approach to administering registers, declarations, and data tracking.
• Proactive, solution-oriented, and capable of working independently as a subject matter specialist.

Preferred

• Understanding of ethics management challenges specific to State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) or public sector environments.

Licences, Registrations & Certifications

Essential

• None specified.

Preferred

• Professional certification as an Ethics Officer (e.g. TEI Certification).

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance is monitored regularly at both an individual and a team level, in accordance with the CDC’s performance management system and control measures relevant to the position. These may include, for example:

• 100% accuracy and up-to-date maintenance of the Financial Disclosure, External Work, and Gift registers.
• Timely, confidential recording of whistle-blowing reports and seamless, secure handover of investigatory matters to the Forensic Unit.
• Successful design and rollout of ethics awareness campaigns and training sessions for CDC staff.
• Active participation and value-added input during joint risk, compliance, and ethics working sessions or committee meetings.
• On-time delivery of ethics performance and trend reports.

COMPLIANCE AND ETHICS

The incumbent is required to:

• Uphold the CDC’s Code of Conduct and Ethics Policy, demonstrating ethical behaviour and contributing to good corporate governance.
• Actively participate in and adhere to the CDC’s Quality, Safety, Health, Environmental, Information Security and IT Service Management System (SHEMS) policies and procedures. This includes a responsibility for identifying and reporting potential risks and incidents related to safety, security, and quality, and for contributing to the ongoing improvement of the CDC's SHEMS.
• Be familiar with and adhere to the CDC emergency preparedness plans.
• Maintain confidentiality regarding CDC trade secrets and Information Security policies.
• Obtain prior written permission for any business or pursuit outside of the CDC that may conflict with the CDC’s interests, including immediate family members working for a direct competitor, adhering to the CDC’s Conflict of Interest Policy.

This job description outlines the primary responsibilities and key performance areas of the role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and tasks.

Closing Date: 10 November 2026

CDC is an employment equity employer and placement will be in accordancewith our Employment Equity Plan.

The appointment of candidates is subject to the verification of all credentials (employment history, educational, financial, criminal and any other checks as may be necessary). Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted, and if you have not heard from us within one month of submitting your application, please consider it unsuccessful

CDC reserves therightnottomakeanappointmenttoany advertisedposition. No late applications will be considered.