Geographic Information System Specialist

Red Cap Energy (Pty) Ltd; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 420,000 - 680,000; Full time

Job summary

Red Cap Energy in Gqeberha is seeking a GIS Specialist to join our GIS team and deliver spatial analyses, datasets and mapping for wind, solar PV and battery storage projects across the project lifecycle.

You will handle exclusion and constraints analysis, turbine layout inputs, route options for grid connection and cadastral work, using ArcGIS Pro, QGIS and Python automation to create a reliable spatial data framework.

Qualifications

• Around five years of applied GIS experience.
• Advanced ArcGIS Pro with Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst.
• Proficiency in Python and arcpy automation.
• Working knowledge of QGIS.
• Familiarity with SA environmental/spatial data sources.

Responsibilities

• Constraints and exclusion analysis across environmental, heritage, agricultural, hydrological, aviation, infrastructure and dwelling setback layers.
• Desktop screening of new project areas, covering terrain, slope, access and buildability.
• Build exclusion surfaces for turbine layout and test proposed positions, access tracks, cabling and hardstands against constraints and land parcels.
• Route options and servitude mapping for grid connection.
• Cadastral work: parcel boundaries, landowner mapping and affected properties along servitude routes.
• Figures and map annexures for environmental authorisation applications and related amendments/appeals.
• Maintain a single spatial source of truth with structure, metadata, versioning and archiving.
• Python and arcpy automation for recurring work.

Skills

ArcGIS Pro

Spatial Analyst

3D Analyst

QGIS

Python

arcpy

Automation

AI fluency

Data interpretation

Education

GIS/Geography degree

Honours or postgraduate

Tools

SANBI BGIS

SAHRIS

WinDeed

Cadastral data

Job description

Red Cap Energy is looking for a GIS Specialist to join our GIS team in Gqeberha. You will produce the spatial analysis, datasets and mapping that our wind, solar PV and battery storage projects depend on, from the first screening of a site through to grid connection.

This is a hands‑on technical role. You will work across many projects at once, at different stages and in different parts of the country.

What you will do

Constraints and exclusion analysis across environmental, heritage, agricultural, hydrological, aviation, infrastructure and dwelling setback layers, built from the right South African source data.

Desktop screening of new project areas, covering terrain, slope, access and buildability.

The spatial inputs to turbine layout. You will build the exclusion surfaces that define where turbines can and cannot stand, and test proposed positions, access tracks, cabling and hardstands against constraints and land parcels. Energy yield optimisation sits elsewhere in the business. Your work is the spatial side of layout.

Route options and comparative analysis for grid connection powerlines, and servitude mapping in the format Eskom and NTCSA require.

Cadastral work in support of our land team: parcel boundaries, farm portions, landowner mapping and affected properties along servitude routes.

Figures and map annexures for environmental authorisation applications, together with the amendments and appeals that follow them, and the mapping used in public participation.

A single spatial source of truth across the portfolio. That means structure, naming, metadata, versioning and archiving, kept to a standard that holds up when an authorisation is appealed two years later.

Python and arcpy automation for the recurring work, documented so that others in the team can use it.

What we are looking for

Good judgement about data. You know which layer to trust, how current it is and what it cannot tell you, before you build an analysis on top of it.

Automation and AI fluency. You already use AI assistants to write and debug your code, and you check what comes back. We treat this as normal practice in GIS work today.

Around five years of applied GIS experience. We have put a number down as a guide. Your portfolio and the scripts you have written yourself will count for more, along with how you handle a short practical exercise.

Advanced ArcGIS Pro, including Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst, and working QGIS.

A relevant tertiary qualification in GIS, Geography, Geomatics, Environmental Science or a related field. Honours or postgraduate is advantageous.

Helpful but not required: familiarity with South African environmental and spatial data sources such as SANBI BGIS, SAHRIS, cadastral data and the national screening tool. Also useful is an understanding of the environmental authorisation process, and property search experience such as WinDeed.

Permanent and full-time, based in our Gqeberha office alongside the rest of the GIS team. A Cape Town based candidate working from our Hout Bay head office may be considered, though Gqeberha is preferred.

No routine travel. There will be occasional trips for team or project meetings.

Remuneration is market related and negotiable.

Applications close on Monday 16 November 2026. Apply through LinkedIn.

How we work

Red Cap Energy has been developing renewable energy in South Africa since 2009. We are 100 percent South African owned. Kouga, Gibson Bay and the Impofu wind farms are operational, with over 500 MW on the grid, and the pipeline runs to over 3.8 GW.

We run a flat structure with little process. Our internal decision framework is Pilot in Command: the person closest to the work holds the controls and is accountable for the call. For this role, your analysis is expected to stand on its own without line by line review.