Remote jobs in South Africa

Location: Fully Remote; Cape Town, ZA

Employment Type: Full-Time

Languages Required: English (at least C1 level), other languages an advantage

Experience Required: 5+ years as Executive Assistant or Administrative Assistant

Salary Range: Competitive, based on experience

Reports to: Head of People (as Manager)

Works Closely With: Head of Research & Market Development, Head of Energy Tools & Data, Head of Energy System Modeling (cross‑functional role)

Travel Requirements: Occasional international travel (2 to 3 times per year) may be required

Start Date Goal: October / November 2025

We're a remote‑first, mission‑driven, registered non‑profit, comprising around 50 highly‑skilled and motivated professionals from all around the world! Our culture is built on trust, autonomy, and collaborative professionalism. We thrive in a fast‑paced, distributed environment, where communication is clear, empathy is second nature, and each of us takes full ownership of our work. We work independently, but also collaborate easily when appropriate.

Open Energy Transition (OET) is a non‑profit organisation advancing the global energy transition by developing innovative open‑source tools and data solutions for energy and grid planning. Our vision is to make open approaches the global standard by 2030, enabling energy planning that is more accessible, transparent, and effective. This shift is essential to better guide trillion‑dollar worth public and private investment toward affordable, sustainable, and secure energy systems. This is not a distant aspiration; our work is already being adopted by leading system operators, regulators, and philanthropic partners.

We are currently looking for a shared Executive Assistant to support 3 members of our Senior Leadership Team. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on working autonomously, with a high level of trust, and helping leaders do their best work while juggling multiple priorities with grace and precision.

As an Executive Assistant to 3 of our Directors, you will be the right hand to three very busy members of our senior leadership team—supporting their daily operations, optimizing time management, and ensuring a smooth flow of information across the company. You will be the trusted point of contact between them and a variety of internal and external stakeholders. You will also perform various administrative tasks, sometimes on tight deadlines, and will be required to manage your workflow autonomously across the 3 Directors, prioritizing and reprioritizing as necessary.

This is a remote‑first position that requires a high degree of discretion, initiative, self‑management, professionalism, and confidentiality. Language proficiency in English is required, as our working language is English. Proficiency in other languages, particularly German, French, or Spanish, is an advantage.

We're all about transparency, and want to give you the best possible opportunity to prepare for any potential interviews. To learn a bit more about the people you'll be working most closely with, click here:

• Our Head of People (aka your future Manager), Quintin Coetzee
• Our Head of Modeling Tools & Data, Hazem Abdel‑Khalek
• Our Head of Research & Market Development, Harry van der Weijde
• Our Head of Energy System Modeling, Martha Frysztacki

• Calendar & Time Management: Proactively manage complex calendars across multiple time zones, prioritize and process scheduling requests, and protect leadership focus time.
• Meeting Coordination: Prepare agendas, manage logistics, take comprehensive notes (minutes), and follow up on action items. Sometimes you'll attend meetings on behalf of someone else.
• Communication Management: Draft, translate, and respond to professional correspondence from internal and external stakeholders (emails, documents, memos), liaising with other staff to get input where required. This includes keeping our CRM up‑to‑date, as well as responding timeously to queries and flagging any potential issues to relevant parties.
• Travel Planning: Organize international and domestic travel, accommodations, and itineraries, for things such as conferences, client pitches, and in‑person meetings.
• Documentation & Filing: Keep administrative platforms and records up to date, including presentations, contracts, and other sensitive documents.
• Event Assistance: Helping to organize events that OET may host or take part in.
• General Admin: Help fill in and format applications, project briefs, tenders, internal and external presentations, research documents, grant applications, and historical (archival) documents for internal use.
• Stakeholder Liaison: Act as a communication hub between leadership and internal teams, including our various Heads of Department, Team Leads, and Lead Maintainers.
• Project Assistance: Provide project support (e.g., setting up workflows on tools like Asana, following up on tasks, etc.) This requires oversight of all tasks that are being worked on by the leadership team members in question, so that you have good context with which to make decisions.
• Other Assistance: Various other ad hoc administrative tasks, including those relating to our Business Development activities, e.g., finding the right person at a potential client a business developer should talk to.

• 5+ years of experience as an Executive or Administrative Assistant, or supporting senior managers in fast‑paced, highly‑autonomous, fully‑remote environments.
• Bonus points if you've supported multiple such individuals simultaneously, and worked across numerous departments at once. Further bonus points if you've worked at a startup, in the energy sector, have supported business development professionals, and/or in a similarly‑sized team (around 50 people).
• Fluency in English, and, ideally, another language, with excellent professional writing and speaking skills.
• Thrive in a highly self‑managed, remote, transparent work culture, where you don't wait around to be told what to do by your manager but show initiative and ownership, and where you give and receive honest feedback to help all, regardless of their role, grow and develop.
• Are detail‑oriented, proactive, and exceptionally organized.
• Handle sensitive information with integrity and confidentiality.
• Have a strong sense of ownership and the ability to juggle multiple leaders' needs effectively, including prioritizing on the fly, as operational requirements change over time (even daily).
• Are tech‑savvy (and familiar with tools such as LLMs, Google Workspace, Discord, HubSpot CRM, Asana, Microsoft 365, Adobe, DocuSign, and other office and project/task management tools).
• Have excellent interpersonal skills—warm, professional, confident, and diplomatic.

A university degree is not required—your experience, communication skills, and work ethic matter most. However, if you happen to have a degree in business or a similar field, that may be considered a bonus.

• A flexible, fully‑remote work environment where you're trusted to work very autonomously. Zero micro‑management, as that goes against our culture.
• The opportunity to support hardworking, passionate, busy leaders who value and respect your contributions, and are working to create positive societal change in the energy sector.
• A culture that values transparency, empathy, trust, humility, diversity, collaboration, and recognition.
• We have an open‑door policy, and value reciprocal feedback. You'll always know where you stand, and always have the ability to have your voice heard, simply by reaching out.
• A pretty flat hierarchical structure, where titles are not emphasized, and all contributions are valued.
• Competitive salary with growth potential. Any relevant benefits depend on your region of residence.
• Supportive onboarding and training, tailored to your strengths, interests, and career ambitions.
• The ability to be part of our formation! We're still growing, changing, and improving. Anyone who is part of our team now is able to meaningfully contribute towards our culture, and processes. We're open to all suggestions, and take them seriously!

• Candidates apply via Greenhouse, and include as much information as possible and comfortable.
• Various team members of OET will shortlist candidates in our ATS.
• Certain shortlisted candidates will be contacted to arrange a screening call.
• Screening calls are conducted, and feature a max. 30 minute chat with our People Team.
• Certain candidates will go through to a first‑round interview, of max. 1 hour, with our People Team. This interview will screen for a combination of competency and culture fit.
• Finalists will go through to a second‑round interview, of max. 1 hour, with the OETers with whom they'll work most closely.
• Bonus round - there may be a short written assignment, depending on the role.
• The chosen candidate will be provided with an offer letter, and opportunity to ask any questions.
• Onboarding with our People Team begins.
• Your start date arrives!

If you're excited to bring clarity and efficiency to the chaos of the lives of our senior leadership team, we'd love to hear from you!

Please submit an application via Greenhouse (our ATS), and include the following:

• Your CV (in English), including information about prior work and education, and current skills
• A short cover letter explaining why this role is a great fit for you (please add a bit of personality if you wish)
• A link to your LinkedIn profile, and any other social profiles you wish to include
• Any relevant written references or testimonials (optional, but appreciated, and may give your application a boost)
• Your gross salary expectations, annually, in Euros (EUR)
• Your notice period/available start date
• Any special needs requirements that may apply

If you have any questions about OET or the role, we'd be happy to answer them should we invite you to take part in a screening call or interview.

Please note that due to the volume of applications we receive, we are not able to respond to individual emails or LinkedIn requests. Kindly submit your application via Greenhouse, and we will shortlist and reach out to candidates.

If you have not received a response within 3 weeks of submitting your application, please consider it unsuccessful at this point in time. We may, however, still reach out in future. Our team maintains Talent Pools, containing candidates shortlisted for contact for future roles that may arise.

Deadline to apply: None (ongoing, so long as this role is live on our website)

We look forward to meeting the next person who will become an invaluable part of our team! Thank you for your time, and for considering joining OET.

If this role is not for you, feel free to check back later for any future positions that may have been posted.