O&M Planning & Operations Support Manager

To own and improve the contract management and administrative control system that converts SolarAfrica O&M’s contractual, handover, compliance, maintenance, contractor, warranty and commercial obligations into prioritised work, auditable evidence, timely escalation and verified closure across the distributed onsite and utility-scale portfolios.

Position of the job in the organisation

The O&M Planning & Operations Support Manager reports directly to the Head of O&M, manages one O&M Operations Coordinator and acts as a hands-on manager responsible for administrative readiness, control assurance and higher-judgement contract/commercial work.

Principal responsibilities

Control System, Governance & Exception Management

• Own one risk-based O&M control framework covering sites, contracts, obligations, handovers, compliance, contractors, work orders, warranties, commercial events and evidence.
• Define RACI, stage gates, criticality, approvers, due dates, escalation lead times, evidence standards and exception routes.
• Enforce “no evidence, no closure” and exercise the approved administrative readiness veto when critical insurance, H&S, competence, access, service-authority, warranty or handover evidence is missing.
• Maintain the Head of O&M exception view, quantify financial/control exposure and drive decisions rather than simply reporting overdue items.

Contracts, Warranties & Commercial Protection

• Personally own the authoritative obligation and service-authority control across O&M agreements, SLAs, customer authority, renewals, notices, EPC obligations, warranties, PPAs/funder-derived O&M inputs and contractor agreements.
• Ensure every operating site has documented scope, fee/invoicing profile, expiry/extension status, warranty position and accountable commercial decision owner.
• Control ASRs, quotations, variations, claims, extensions and approved rates; prevent unsupported additional work except under documented emergency authority.
• Lead equipment, workmanship, performance and BESS warranty claims, including notice strategy, evidence quality, OEM escalation, replacements and recovery.
• Validate supplier invoice scope, rates, service receipt and evidence before Finance processing; track disputes and leakage without owning accounting or payment.

Contract Governance & Commercial Assurance

• Own the contract/agreement-renewal strategy and commercial recommendations.
• Review service scope, pricing, amendments and renewal proposals.
• Approve or escalate renewal recommendations in accordance with delegated authority.
• Ensure contractual notices, renewals and extensions are issued within required timeframes.
• Resolve commercial issues requiring management judgement.
• Act as the primary O&M interface with Legal on contract-related matters.

Mobilisation, Handover & Operational Readiness

• Own the administrative readiness framework from pre-COD planning through takeover, final acceptance and 90-day hypercare; the coordinator maintains the working register and dossier.
• Translate contracts, O&M plans, permits and approved checklists into entry/exit criteria covering appointments, insurance, H&S, competence, equipment, spares, access, warranties, manuals, as-builts, defects and reporting.
• Challenge incomplete submissions, recommend accept/hold decisions to the Head of O&M and ensure Projects/EPC or suppliers retain unresolved defects until formal transfer or closure.

Work Management, Contractor & Compliance Assurance

• With input from the technical team, set the rolling maintenance-control calendar and service levels; assure the coordinator’s 14-day/7-day/48-hour dispatch gates, work-order creation, dispatch packs, report-to-action workflow, ageing and evidence closure.
• Own contractor scorecard design and performance reviews covering safety, competence, quality, cost, SLA, repeat attendance, reporting and corrective-action closure.
• Define critical contractor/site compliance requirements and approve or escalate exceptions; technical/HSE owners retain technical approval.
• Review recurring access failures, aged tickets, incomplete reports and unsupported closures; lead corrective-action and control-failure reviews.

Systems, Reporting, Team Leadership & Capacity

• Own O&M administrative master-data standards, controlled records, permissions, versioning, KPI definitions and workflow requirements in Dynamics, Simpro and SharePoint.
• Prepare decision-useful weekly exceptions and monthly control reporting covering readiness, ageing, compliance, SLA exposure, unbilled/additional work and warranty recovery.
• Lead, coach, prioritise and quality-assure the O&M Operations Coordinator; establish leave cover and standard work for a two-person function.
• Use workflow automation and governed AI to remove manual chasing, while preserving named ownership and human approval for material decisions.
• Measure volume, cycle time, rework, exceptions and overtime; escalate a quantified capacity risk when the two-role model cannot sustain critical service levels

Experience & Skills

• 7+ years in maintenance planning, operations support, contract/commercial control, work management or asset-management support in an asset-intensive environment.
• At least 2 years in renewable energy, power generation, utilities, facilities, telecoms or comparable multi-site/mission-critical operations; direct solar PV/BESS O&M experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ownership of contract obligations, warranties/claims, mobilisation/handover, CMMS work management, contractor governance and auditable controls.
• Strong ERP/CMMS/document-management capability; Dynamics 365, Simpro, SharePoint, Power Automate and advanced Excel experience advantageous.
• National Diploma or Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Commerce, Supply Chain, Contract/Commercial Management, Project Management, Finance, Engineering Management or a related field.
• Valid driver’s licence and willingness to travel to distributed and utility-scale sites.
• AI experience is not essential, but a strong technology-savvy, digitally driven mindset is required. .

Specific attributes

• Control-minded and commercially pragmatic; able to identify critical gates without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Hands-on manager who can perform high-judgement contract, warranty and commercial work while directing recurring administration.
• Confident challenging unsupported closure, payment, mobilisation or unauthorised work.
• Clear, candid communicator who turns technical or contractual detail into owners, dates, decisions and evidence.

Desirable attributes

• Direct solar PV/BESS O&M experience.
• Contract management, project management, asset management, maintenance planning or process-improvement certification.
• Power Automate, advanced Excel and workflow automation experience.
• ERP/MS Dynamics experience is advantageous, with the ability to use systems and automation to improve control, reporting and workflow discipline

What Does Success Look Like?

By 3 Months

• I will have mapped every operating site to service authority, O&M scope, fee/invoicing profile, SLA, warranty status and accountable owner.
• I will have implemented one prioritised control queue, the two-role RACI, “no evidence, no closure” and 14-day/7-day access gates.
• I will have established standard work, service levels and quality checks with the O&M Operations Coordinator.

By 6 Months

• I will operate stage-gated mobilisation/handover with an evidence dossier and 90-day hypercare control.
• I will sustain the rolling schedule, contractor-report-to-action workflow, scorecards and controlled warranty/ASR/variation/claim processes.
• I will have reduced aged administrative exceptions and unsupported closures by at least 50% from the 3-month baseline.

By 12 Months

• I will sustain the role KPIs and demonstrate measurable reductions in access failures, missed notices, unsupported work, invoice disputes and aged actions.
• I will provide audit-ready evidence for every material O&M obligation, handover, contractor, warranty and closure decision.
• I will present a quantified capacity and automation review, including any residual risk created by the two-role constraint.

Core Values

We hire, reward, and recognise our team against these values. It is imperative that you believe in these values and demonstrate them consistently.

• We are passionate and proud of what we do.
• We communicate candidly, especially when it is difficult
• We take the initiative, share our mistakes, and grow together
• We are dependable and take accountability
• No one person is bigger than the solution - no egos.

We are currently only considering candidates based in South Africa with valid working rights. Unfortunately, we are unable to consider applications from outside the country at this time.