Project & Operations Coordinator

Pelebox; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 420,000 - 660,000; Full time

Job summary

Pelebox is seeking a Project & Operations Coordinator to drive planning, visibility and follow-through across multiple projects in South Africa. The role supports project owners and the Operations Manager by maintaining plans, schedules, records, logistics and progress reporting, and by coordinating the organisation-wide adoption of a work-management platform.

Based in Johannesburg, the role involves travel across South Africa and regular site coordination, reporting to the Operations Manager.

Qualifications

• Three years of relevant experience in project coordination, PMO support, or operations coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain project plans, trackers, minutes, actions and evidence files.
• Experience with Excel/Google Sheets and basic project lifecycle knowledge (CAPM/PRINCE2 advantageous).
• Experience implementing or configuring a work-management platform (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, Asana, Trello).
• Strong planning, follow-up, and stakeholder-coordination skills.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain project plans, trackers, responsibility matrices, calendars and logs.
• Record accurate minutes, decisions and actions and share within agreed timeframes.
• Coordinate planning, kick-off, progress, readiness, close-out and retrospective meetings.
• Support organisation-wide implementation of a work-management platform as a defined project.
• Manage documentation, reporting and handover packs for project transitions.

Skills

Planning & scheduling

Stakeholder coordination

Excel/Google Sheets

Minute-taking & reporting

Documentation & records

Education

National Diploma/Advanced Diploma or Bachelor's degree in Project Management, Operations Management, Engineering, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Project

Smartsheet

Asana

Trello

Job description

Organisation Description:

Technovera (Pty) Ltd and Pelebox NPC form a mission-driven South African social enterprise that designs, develops, manufactures, installs and supports inclusive technologies that improve last-mile access to quality healthcare. Our PelePoint smart medicine pickup solution enables patients to collect repeat chronic medication in less than 22 seconds instead of spending hours waiting at public health facilities. More than 2.2 million chronic medicine parcels have been collected through our technology. We work with public-sector, implementation and funding partners across South Africa and the wider region, and our ISO 9001-certified quality management system covers manufacturing, installations, commissioning, maintenance, facilities and software development.

We are looking for a Project & Operations Coordinator to create the planning discipline, visibility and follow-through that enable projects and day-to-day operations to run well. The coordinator will support project owners and the Operations Manager by maintaining plans, schedules, actions, records, logistics, procurement follow-up, resource readiness and progress reporting, and will coordinate the organisation-wide implementation and adoption of an approved work-management software platform.

The role is deliberately broader than project administration but is not a Project Manager position. Accountable managers retain authority for scope, budget, technical decisions, people management and approvals; the coordinator makes sure that dependencies are visible, meetings result in action and the practical pieces needed for delivery come together on time.

The ideal candidate enjoys organising complex work, asking precise follow-up questions and closing gaps before they affect delivery. They must be comfortable moving between spreadsheets, meetings, the factory, suppliers, vehicles and public-health sites.

Role Snapshot:

Function Project Coordination and Operations Support

Reports to Operations Manager

Role boundary Coordinates plans, information, logistics and follow-through; does not replace the accountable Project Manager, project owner or Operations Manager

Employment type Full-Time | 24-month Fixed-Term Contract

Primary work base Johannesburg, Gauteng | Office and factory based with regular field coordination

Mobility Frequent project and site travel across South Africa and occasional regional travel; valid driver's licence and passport required

What Success Looks Like:

• Every active project has a current plan, clear milestones, owners, dependencies, decisions and an organised evidence file.
• Operations teams have realistic daily and weekly schedules and the materials, travel arrangements, access and documentation needed to execute them.
• Actions from meetings, site visits, audits and project reviews are tracked and closed rather than repeatedly carried forward.
• Managers receive concise, reliable progress information and early warning of delays, resource gaps, cost pressure or unresolved decisions.
• Project and operational records are complete enough for handover, reporting, audit and organisational learning.
• The approved work-management platform is configured, adopted and used as the reliable source of truth for projects, operational work, actions, responsibilities, due dates and progress reporting.

Duties, Functions and Responsibilities:

Project Planning and Control Support:

• Support project owners to translate objectives and deliverables into work breakdown structures, milestones, activities, dependencies and realistic schedules.
• Create and maintain project plans, trackers, responsibility matrices, calendars, contact lists, issue logs, risk registers and decision logs.
• Confirm that tasks have clear owners, due dates, acceptance criteria and required inputs before recording them as committed.
• Update project status from evidence and owner confirmations rather than assumption; clearly distinguish complete, in progress, blocked and overdue work.
• Coordinate planning, kick-off, progress, readiness, close-out and retrospective meetings and prepare agendas and pre-reading.
• Record accurate minutes, decisions and actions and distribute them within the agreed timeframe.
• Track critical-path activities and elevate dependencies, slippage or scope questions to the accountable manager early.
• Maintain change, approval and acceptance records and prevent informal changes from being treated as authorised scope.

Operational Scheduling and Daily Coordination:

• Support the Operations Manager to compile integrated daily, weekly and monthly schedules across assembly, installation, maintenance, field support and customer activities.
• Collect work plans from responsible team members, reconcile conflicts and highlight capacity, vehicle, tool, material or access constraints.
• Confirm next-day readiness, including people, departure times, routes, site contacts, access, PPE, tools, spares, documentation and approvals.
• Maintain a visible planning and reconciliation rhythm so incomplete work is rescheduled with reasons and follow-up actions.
• Coordinate operational communications before, during and after field activities and elevate material deviations.
• Track open service and maintenance actions that require scheduling, procurement or customer coordination.
• Support delegated operational coordination cover when the Operations Manager is unavailable, within clearly documented authority limits.
• Avoid making technical, safety, employment or financial decisions outside delegated competence and authority.

Logistics, Travel, Vehicles and Site Readiness:

• Plan project and field logistics, including travel routes, accommodation, vehicle allocation, loading, equipment movement and site access.
• Prepare deployment packs containing schedules, contacts, approved scope, checklists, drawings, job cards, safety documents and sign-off requirements.
• Confirm appointments and site readiness with customers and internal teams before travel.
• Coordinate collection and delivery of parts, tools, documents and equipment from suppliers, the factory, partners and project sites.
• Maintain vehicle booking and trip information and ensure required licences, inspections and travel approvals are in place.
• Monitor field-team progress and provide logistical support without distracting the team from safe execution.
• Reconcile returned tools, unused materials, completed documents, photographs, expenses and outstanding actions after each trip.
• Support contingency planning for breakdowns, access failures, delayed materials, weather, staff changes and other foreseeable disruptions.

Procurement, Materials and Supplier Coordination:

• Compile procurement requirements from approved project plans, bills of materials, maintenance needs and operational schedules.
• Obtain and organise quotations, supplier information and approval records in accordance with procurement controls.
• Create and follow up approved purchase requests or orders and maintain expected delivery dates.
• Track long-lead and critical items and elevate risks before they affect assembly, installation or maintenance schedules.
• Coordinate goods receipt, quantity and condition checks and route discrepancies to Finance, Quality or the responsible technical person.
• Maintain project material allocation and issue records and support stock counts and inventory reconciliations.
• Coordinate supplier visits, collections, deliveries and service appointments.
• Do not split purchases, bypass approvals or make commitments outside delegated authority.

Project Documentation, Evidence and Reporting:

• Create and maintain controlled project folders in Google Drive using approved structures, naming, permissions and version practices.
• File contracts, scope documents, plans, approvals, minutes, technical records, reports, sign-offs, photographs and close-out evidence promptly.
• Maintain document registers and follow up missing or incomplete records with accountable owners.
• Compile weekly and monthly progress summaries covering achievements, next steps, risks, issues, decisions, budget inputs and overdue actions.
• Support client, funder, audit and management-review evidence requests with organised, verified records.
• Coordinate handover packs at project transition and close-out so operational ownership, warranties, spares, contacts and open actions are clear.
• Maintain an accessible record of where final project outputs and supporting evidence can be found.
• Protect confidential, employee, customer and project information through authorised access and sharing controls.

Meeting, Action and Stakeholder Coordination:

• Maintain the master action list arising from operational meetings, project meetings, site visits, audits and customer engagements.
• Follow up owners before deadlines, record evidence of completion and elevate repeated non-response or blocked work.
• Coordinate internal and external diaries for project-critical meetings, visits, training and reviews.
• Prepare concise status updates and decision requests so accountable managers can act quickly.
• Ensure stakeholders receive confirmed dates, requirements and changes through approved channels.
• Maintain professional relationships with customers, suppliers and service providers while preserving approval boundaries.
• Support cross-functional coordination between Operations, Customer Success, Field Support, Product Assembly, Software, Finance, Quality and Learning & Impact.
• Close communication loops by recording the final decision or outcome, not only the initial request.

Work Management Software Implementation and Adoption:

• Coordinate the organisation-wide implementation of an approved work-management software platform as a defined project with scope, milestones, owners, dependencies, risks, decisions and acceptance criteria.
• Gather and document requirements across projects, operations, maintenance, installations, Customer Success, Product Assembly, Quality, Finance, Software and Learning & Impact.
• Map current workflows and translate them into practical system structures, including workspaces, projects, tasks, owners, dates, statuses, dependencies, forms, templates, dashboards, notifications and approval routes.
• Coordinate configuration, pilot testing, issue resolution, phased rollout and transition from fragmented spreadsheets or trackers without losing active commitments or historical evidence.
• Develop and maintain system conventions, access permissions, naming rules, status definitions, minimum data requirements, user guides and operating procedures.
• Prepare and deliver role-based training, onboarding and hands-on support so team members can plan, update, elevate and close work consistently in the platform.
• Monitor adoption, overdue updates, incomplete records, duplicate systems and data-quality issues and coordinate corrective support with managers and users.
• Establish a controlled process for configuration changes, new templates, automations, user access and system administration in consultation with the accountable software owner and Leadership Team.
• Produce implementation and adoption reports showing progress, usage, risks, unresolved decisions, improvement opportunities and whether the platform is delivering the intended management visibility.

Process Improvement and General Responsibilities:

• Identify recurring planning, documentation, procurement and handover failures and support root-cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Improve templates, checklists, trackers and routines without creating unnecessary administrative burden.
• Prepare a personal daily and weekly plan, report progress and keep priorities current.
• Participate actively in team, project, operational, quality, safety and reflection meetings.
• Support onboarding and training of new team members on planning, recordkeeping and coordination routines.
• Follow organisational policies, quality procedures, safety requirements and delegated authorities.
• Assist colleagues during project mobilisation and peak operational periods while maintaining controlled priorities.
• Undertake other duties reasonably consistent with the role's grade, competence and organisational needs.

Experience & Qualification:

• National Diploma, Advanced Diploma or Bachelor's degree in Project Management, Operations Management, Engineering, Supply Chain, Business Administration or a related field [Minimum NQF Level 6 | Preferred NQF Level 7].
• At least three years' relevant experience in project coordination, PMO support, operations coordination, field-services administration, logistics or technical-project delivery.
• Demonstrated experience maintaining project plans, trackers, minutes, actions, risks, schedules and evidence files.
• Working knowledge of project life-cycle practices; CAPM, PRINCE2 Foundation or equivalent training is advantageous but not essential.
• Strong Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets capability and proficiency with Word/Docs, PowerPoint/Slides and shared document repositories.
• Demonstrated experience implementing, configuring or administering a project-management or work-management platform such as Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, Asana, Trello or an equivalent system is strongly preferred.
• Excellent planning, follow-up, minute-taking, written communication and stakeholder-co-ordination skills.
• Ability to manage several workstreams without losing detail, while recognising decisions that require management escalation.
• Experience in engineering, manufacturing, healthcare technology, installations, maintenance or multi-site operations is advantageous.
• Valid South African driver's licence with at least two years' active driving experience and confidence driving for work.
• Valid passport by the start date and willingness to undertake frequent national and occasional regional travel.
• Legal right to work in South Africa and ability to complete role-relevant verification and reference checks.

Working Conditions and Mobility:

• The role combines office, factory, supplier and field coordination and requires regular physical presence where operational work is prepared and reconciled.
• Travel may involve early starts, long driving days, loading environments, public-health facilities and overnight stays.
• The coordinator must be available during critical project activities and service deployments while working within approved hours and escalation arrangements.
• Success depends on persistent follow-through and accurate records; incomplete actions may not be treated as complete merely because a meeting or visit occurred.

Note: Only applications submitted through the Pelebox careers portal will be considered. CVs or applications sent to organisational email addresses will not be considered and will be deleted or discarded in accordance with our recruitment process.

Questions and Enquiries:

For application support, contact [e-mail] . Applications may not be submitted by email.

Closing Date:

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Early applications that meet the role requirements have the strongest likelihood of being shortlisted and interviewed. The advert may be closed once a suitable candidate has been selected.

Hiring Policy:

We are committed to employment equity, diversity and inclusion. Appointments take account of our employment equity goals, the inherent requirements of the role and demonstrated capability. We encourage women, young professionals and people with disabilities to apply, and will consider reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process.

think inside.

Johannesburg Office

The Innovation Factory,
6 Mark Shuttleworth Street,
The Innovation Hub, Lynnwood,
Pretoria, 0087
South Africa