Specialist: JET Investments Register (JET PMU)

Background
The African Climate Foundation (ACF) is the first and only African-led climate change re-granting organisation on the continent. Through a combination of grant making, fellowships, transformational research, technical assistance, coalition building and advocacy the ACF seeks to support interventions at the nexus of climate change, and development that have the greatest potential to deliver long-term socio-economic transformation and inclusive development.

The JET PMU

The JET PMU operates as a high-impact delivery unit, driving the Just Energy Transition (JET) through strategic coordination, agile execution, and results-driven implementation. Focused on accelerating project pipelines, mobilising resources, problem solving and fostering collaboration, the PMU bridges policy and action.

About the role

As part of the MOU signed between the African Climate Foundation (ACF) and the Just Energy Transition Projects Management Unit (JET PMU); the ACF agreed to provide resources to the JET PMU to enable the JET PMU to fulfil its mandate pursuant to the JET PMU’s terms of reference. This includes the secondment of technical experts across all relevant disciplines to support the agenda of the JET PMU.

South Africa's just energy transition involves public and private investments from dozens of institutions — government departments, SOEs, municipalities, DFIs, commercial banks, international donors, and private developers. Right now, no single system brings all of that investment data together reliably. The JET Investments Register is being built to change that.

The Specialist: JET Investments Register will design, build, operate, and continuously improve this system — making it the definitive national source of investment intelligence for the JET. This is a technically demanding and institutionally significant role that combines data systems expertise with high-level stakeholder engagement across government, finance, and the private sector.

The JET Investments Register does not yet exist in its final form. The Specialist will lead its design, procurement, operationalisation, and ongoing management — taking it from a concept through to a live, authoritative, and trusted national data system.

This requires two quite different capabilities working together. First, the technical depth to define data architecture, write user requirement specifications, govern data quality, manage security, and drive continuous system improvement. Second, the stakeholder skills to build working relationships with the range of institutions — from National Treasury and Eskom to municipal utilities and international partners — whose data the Register depends on.

Key Deliverables:

Design and Operationalisation

• Support the Manager: JET Finance in establishing the appropriate technology architecture, taxonomy, and data standards for the JET Investments Register by engaging with the relevant sources and users of JET data to ensure a fit-for-purpose system design.
• Formulate user requirement specifications and terms of reference for procurement of a technical service provider.
• Translate the design outputs of the service provider into an operational register embedded within JET PMU systems and workflows.

Analysis, Reporting, and Decision Support

• Produce routine analytical reports, graphics, and other communications materials (on investment trends, pipeline tracking, financing gaps, portfolio composition, amongst others).
• Prepare Register reports for JET governance bodies — including the Government Steering Committee, Inter-Ministerial Committee, Parliament, and the International Partners Group.
• Produce evidence-based inputs to the JET IP Quarterly Report and subject-specific reports for stakeholder engagements.

Ongoing Data Management

• Maintain and update data on public and private JET investments — including capex, sources of capital, financing instruments, and project status.
• Administer quarterly and bi-annual update cycles with contributing institutions.
• Flag actual versus planned investment flows and identify data gaps or inconsistencies.

Continuous Improvement and Institutionalisation

• Identify and propose opportunities to improve data automation, system integration, and analytical functionality.
• Support institutionalisation of the Register as a long-term national JET intelligence asset.
• Ensure continuity between consultant-led design phases and in-house operational ownership.

Data Governance, Verification & Security

• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures for Register management.
• Implement data governance protocols, including version control, audit trails, and verification.
• Triangulate reported data against financier records and public expenditure information.
• Manage confidentiality arrangements, non-disclosure agreements, and access controls.
• Maintain a Risk Register and implement measures to mitigate cybercrime, data security, contamination, and software failure risks

Stakeholder Engagement and Data Collection

• Serve as the technical JET PMU focal point for data collection from National Treasury, line departments, SOEs, provinces, municipalities, DFIs, commercial banks, private developers, and international partners.
• Design, roll out, and refine structured data collection instruments and survey tools.

Who we are looking for

This is an unusual profile — we are looking for someone who combines genuine data systems expertise with the interpersonal range to engage effectively across a very wide institutional landscape.

Investment data systems experience

• You have at least 10 years of experience in data management, financial analysis, or data analytics — with a specific track record of building or significantly improving data systems that draw on multiple sources to track and report on large-scale financial flows. You have designed data architecture, written specifications, managed quality, and governed data at an institutional level.

Financial fluency

• You have strong working knowledge of investment and financing mechanisms — including blended finance, project finance, grant management, and concessional instruments. You can read and interpret financial data from government, DFIs, and private sector sources, and you understand how different financing instruments flow through a programme.

Stakeholder engagement range

• You have experience engaging with a wide range of institutional types — from national government departments to commercial banks to municipal utilities — and building the trust and working relationships needed to get them to prioritise accurate, timely data reporting. You know how to navigate institutional politics without being captured by them.

Data governance and security

• You have implemented data governance frameworks, including access controls, audit trails, version control, and confidentiality arrangements. You take data security seriously and have experience managing the risks associated with sensitive financial data systems.

Systems design and procurement

• You have written user requirement specifications or terms of reference for data system procurement, and you have managed the relationship between an organisation's operational needs and an external technical service provider's delivery.

Qualifications

• A Master's degree in Finance, Economics, Data Management, Data Analytics, Development Finance, or a related field. Professional certifications in data, finance, or information security are valued. Equivalent senior professional experience will be considered alongside formal qualifications.

Start date: Position available immediately

Location: South Africa

Contract duration: 12 months, consisting of 2 x 6-month renewable contracts

Closing date: 20 March 2026

For further information about the ACF, visit www.africanclimatefoundation.org.

Should you not hear back from us by 30 April 2026, please consider your application to be unsuccessful.

The ACF strives to be an equitable organisation with a team which reflects the diversity of Africa.

In compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), The ACF assures all applicants that any personal information provided during the recruitment process will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and used solely for recruitment purposes. Your privacy and data security are of paramount importance to us. By applying for this position, you consent to the collection, processing, and storage of your personal information for recruitment-related activities only. The ACF is committed to safeguarding your privacy and maintaining the trust you place in us.