Project Manager Communications Remote

Empanda Pty Ltd; East London; Remote; ZAR 300 000 - 400 000; Full time

Job summary

A consulting firm in East London seeks an experienced Project Manager to oversee project execution, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and effective stakeholder engagement. The ideal candidate will have expertise in both agile and waterfall project management methodologies, along with excellent planning and communication skills. The role includes coordinating project resources, managing budgets, and ensuring quality delivery of projects.

Qualifications

• Experienced project manager familiar with agile and waterfall methodologies.
• Strong planning abilities and detail-oriented.
• Good at motivating performance and managing risks.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate project mobilization and resource onboarding.
• Manage project governance and status meetings.
• Oversee stakeholder engagement.

Skills

Project planning and management

Analytical and detail-oriented

Problem-solving

Interpersonal skills

Budget management

Coaching and onboarding abilities

Education

Certification in project management

Tools

Excel

Smartsheet

MS Project

Job description

Job Purpose

To manage, coordinate, and ensure timely and effective execution of projects within Empanda. The role entails working collaboratively across change, communications, and learning projects to ensure delivery to time, cost, and quality, whilst enabling and supporting consultants. The purpose of this job is to lead project planning, scheduling, monitoring, and reporting activities for all assigned projects. The role will guarantee alignment with the organization’s strategic objectives and will oversee communication with all project stakeholders, promoting effective collaboration and successful project delivery.

Duties & Responsibilities

To be the key catalyst in a project, promoting the project’s vision and benefits, ensuring alignment between Empanda HQ, the Client, and the Project Team.

To inspire and guide project stakeholders, ensuring that everyone works together to deliver on time, within budget, and with high quality, including:

• To coordinate project mobilisation and resource onboarding.


• To baseline the resource planning and project toolkits for the project.


• To ensure that teams are trained and introduced to stakeholders.

Health check and Quality Assurance:

• To run the health check drumbeat to assure project quality.


• To identify gaps in delivery and support needs and resolve them.


• To manage the escalation and management of risks and issues.

Project Governance and Reporting:

• To oversee project governance and status meetings.


• To develop and share understanding of KPIs indicating project success.


• To facilitate decision making and action steps that drive the project forward.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• To oversee project stakeholder engagement and report on quality.


• To ensure engagement with client sponsors and solution providers.


• To assure quality listening and engagement on projects.

Delivery, Resource Management, Budget, and Time Tracking:

• To consolidate project time and budgets, reporting on variances.


• To ensure that forecasts are updated, and commercials negotiated on time.


• To maintain the project and client roles and responsibilities.

Project Delivery Oversight:

• To track the delivery of the statement of work and on time delivery.


• To ensure project resources have a clear vision, objective, and approach.


• To ensure an early, ordered, scoping of project creative services requirements.

Benefit Realisation and Scope:

• To ensure that projects have a clear understanding of benefits and scope.


• To ensure that there is benefit realisation coaching on the approach.


• To identify scope gaps and opportunities for additional services.

Project Close Out and Continuous Learning:

• To manage the close out of projects and packaging of deliverables.


• To oversee lessons learned processes including NPS feedback sessions.


• To plan offboarding and best use of resources rolling off projects.

Coach for Empanda Project Ways of Working:

• Understand and apply the Empanda project management approach.


• Promote process excellence and observe quality standards.


• Adhere to reporting and governance requirements.

Desired Experience & Qualification

You need to be: An experienced project manager familiar with agile and waterfall methodologies. Familiar with change, communications, and learning projects and deliverables.

• Analytical, detail-oriented, and organized, with strong planning abilities.


• Good at problem‑solving, enabling decisions and managing risks and issues.


• Good at motivating for performance, with strong interpersonal skills.


• Experienced managing budgets, plans, status reports, and trackers.


• Adept at learning quickly and coaching, including onboarding and guidance.

Critical Skills:

• Project planning and management skills and certification.


• Able to work efficiently and objectively under pressure.


• Excellent Excel and ability with planning tools such as Smartsheet or MS Project.


• Excellent visual, verbal, and written communication skills.

Package & Remuneration

Consulting