Job Description

The Project Development Specialist is responsible for providing technical support in the development of infrastructure projects from concept through feasibility by conducting research, coordinating technical studies, and ensuring required data, approvals, and documentation are prepared to enable project appraisal and further development.

Key Responsibilities

Project Development and Technical Execution


Prepare pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, including engineering designs, cost estimates, implementation models, scheduling and risk assessments. Develop preliminary design work, including capacity sizing, layout planning, technology selection, and constructability evaluations. Draft the Terms of Reference (ToR) and technical procurement specifications for external consultants, engineers, and technical advisors. Provide technical support in the procurement process in line with DBSA procurement governance. Provide technical inputs to prepare bankable feasibility data packs to enable financial modelling, investment appraisal, and structuring. Collect and organise documentation for regulatory, environmental, and permitting requirements. Track and provide updates on environmental permits, land rights, and licensing progress.

Project Research


Conduct research to identify infrastructure development needs, policy frameworks, sector trends, and market conditions relevant to potential projects. Collect and analyse technical, environmental, social, financial, and regulatory information to inform early-stage project scoping and feasibility. Assess project alignment with national development priorities, government plans, stakeholder interests, and DBSA mandate. Prepare concept notes, opportunity assessments, and preliminary project profiles to support internal decision-making on whether to progress projects to the pre-feasibility stage. Maintain databases, sector intelligence reports, and reference benchmarks to enhance project development knowledge and inform future pipeline opportunities. Provide support for engagements with regulators, utilities, municipalities, and line ministries to secure required permits, licenses, environmental approvals, water use rights and grid connection approvals.

Relationship Management and Stakeholder Relations


Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, global and regional private businesses, banking and multilateral partners and government officials to further develop specific investment opportunities. Facilitate continuous communication with clients/ projects that the DBSA has funded to adequately support the Division's monitoring function. Network and maintain relationships with key internal and external stakeholders to develop specific investment opportunities further. dentify clients' pain points and coordinate DBSA's solution offerings to address them. Undertake other tasks as assigned by the line manager, from time to time.

Key Measurements of Outputs


Value of bankable projects developed Value and number of projects approved and committed. Value of infrastructure catalysed. Reduction in impairments through de-risking technical and commercial risk aspects of projects Management of client relationships and key stakeholders Quality of signed agreements/mandates. Clean Audit.

Expertise & Technical Competencies

Minimum Requirements


Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and/or in the Built Environment

Minimum Experience


A minimum of 5 years' experience in infrastructure project development/preparation in the built environment, public sector management, advisory service or consulting experience. Experience in gathering and analysing project and sector data to support feasibility and development decisions. Understanding of business development and stakeholder management. Understanding of infrastructure project development, feasibility and structuring. Understanding of financial modelling and project finance structuring. Knowledge of regulatory frameworks and industry best practices.

Desirable Requirements


Registration with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) as a professional engineer (PrEng).

TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES



Business Acumen


Deep understanding of commercial drivers and can make decisions based on an assessment of alternatives concerning complex business situations. Deep understanding of economic priorities of South Africa and Africa and how they can be implemented to meet an organisation's strategic objectives. Deep understanding of the need to coordinate efforts with many government entities, the private sector, community groups and individuals to ensure effective implementation of new policies and regulations. Takes actions to fit business strategy. Assesses and links short-term tasks in the context of long-term business strategies or perspectives. Reviews own actions against the organisation's strategic plan; includes the big picture when considering possible opportunities or projects, or thinks about long-term applications of current activities. Anticipates possible responses to different initiatives. Understands the projected direction of the industry and how changes might impact the organisation.

Project Management


Ability to plan, initiate, execute, control and close projects related to a relevant function as well as to track and manage resources, timelines, costs, deliverables and performance, and implement contingency plans if necessary, to ensure projects are successfully. Defines, plans and manages large and/or strategic projects, including those with a high degree of technical complexity, with impacts across the organisation and/or with national implications. Assembles and leads diverse and multi-disciplinary teams, ensuring maximum effective resource utilisation. Successfully manages substantial project budgets and reports directly to senior managers on the progress and results of projects. Identifies complex issues that need escalation and proposes appropriate corrective action by maintaining a respected profile with relevant external organisations and the research community in general.

Project Preparation


Demonstrates a sound understanding of limited recourse and balance sheet funding, the process required to prepare projects, and financing documentation required to present projects for investment decisions. Leads an internal team of sector specialists and analysts to appraise and present transactions to internal committees. Appoints and leads a team of external consultants/advisors (technical, environmental, financial and legal) to prepare and present the Project Information Memorandum (PIM) to prospective financiers. Analyses sponsors' financial statements, understands and reviews financial models. Demonstrates a sound understanding of the water, transport and energy sectors to identify potential fatal flaws generally associated with these sectors in projects presented and key risks to be mitigated

Solution Focus


Identifies broad, highly complex problems based on a multitude of factors, many of which are complex and sweeping in nature, difficult to define and often contradictory. Creates procedures to articulate the nature of problems and to identify and weigh alternate solutions. Evaluates the effectiveness of solutions using approaches tailored to the situation.

Financial Analysis


Serves as subject matter expert. Evaluates and determines fiscal, operational, and service impacts; analyses and evaluates legislation; and implements and evaluates statistical models in their subject areas. Demonstrates in-depth technical and administrative knowledge of the rules and regulations in the subject area and to defend analyses, testimony, and recommendations relating to a variety of issues before management and commissions.

Risk Management


Drives integration and standardisation of risk management processes across the organisation. Advises on the application of the organisation's risk management policies, industry best practices and constructs organisation guidelines. Analyses trends in risk management and internal control, evaluates implications, defines, and implements organisation-wide response.

Negotiation


Has an appreciation of cultural sensitivities and differences. Effectively employs a variety of advanced behavioural/interpersonal competencies to control the negotiation situation. Can take the lead in a variety of sensitive negotiation situations requiring high levels of tact and diplomacy. Can place a discrete negotiation situation within the context of a broader long-term relationship and is not threatened by conceding ground to protect the longer-term interests of DBSA.

Commercial Awareness


Deep understanding of commercial drivers and can make decisions based on an assessment of alternatives concerning complex business situations. Deep understanding of DBSA economic priorities and how they can be implemented to meet DBSA's strategic objectives. Deep understanding of DBSA's core sector role in achieving DBSA's strategic objectives. Deep understanding of the need to coordinate efforts with many government entities, the private sector, community groups and individuals to ensure effective implementation of new policies and regulations.

Communication and Reporting


Able to communicate complex problems or concepts by making them simple and understandable for others. Adapts language to the level of the audience to ensure that the message has a positive impact and is interesting to the audience. Is articulate, demonstrates a wide range of vocabulary, and is confident when talking to large/high-level audiences. Designs / customises reports to meet user needs. Prepares complex or tailored reports, gathers information from a variety of sources, analyses and includes in a report. Keeps standard reports under review and proposes improvements to meet user needs.

Presentation Skills


Knows how to deliver arguments persuasively by employing a range of advanced presentation techniques (e.g., the appropriate use of body language, how to close a presentation so that the audience continues to think about the subject matter, etc.). Has knowledge of various feedback mechanisms to check levels of audience understanding.

Required Personal Attributes

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES



Achievement Orientation


Focuses on new or more effective ways of improving own work and meeting targets. Focuses on raising quality, customer satisfaction and revenues. Makes specific changes to systems and processes to improve efficiency and quality. Formulates own objectives and action plans to achieve a measurable improvement in the future.

Analytical Thinking


Identifies multiple elements of a problem and breaks down each of those elements in detail, showing causal relationships between them. Uses several analytical techniques to identify several solutions and weighs the value of each.

Conceptual thinking


Creates new concepts that are not obvious to others and not learned from previous education or experience to explain situations or resolve problems. Looks at things in a significantly novel way, breakthrough thinking.

Strategic and Innovative thinking


Recognises opportunities or problems emerging in patterns and trends, and their impact on the business and profitability drivers. Applies learning from previous situations and experiences. Sees underlying causality in the current situation. Applies business acumen to make sound decisions. Recognises opportunities or potential problems, before they become obvious, by seeing the connections in a range of sources of information, including insights from outside DBSA. Restates complex knowledge in a way that makes it easier for others to understand.

Commercial Business Acumen


Understands business fundamentals. Analyses and comprehends organisational goals and strategies. Understands tactical business fundamentals in the public sector environment and incorporates them into decision-making.

Teamwork


Acts to promote a friendly climate and good morale and resolves conflicts. Creates opportunities for cross-functional working. * Encourages others to network outside of their own team/department and learn from their experience.