257 Jobs in Mpophomeni

BACKGROUND

A vacancy exists for the position of Business Development Officer for the above-mentioned incubator to support its current intake. The incubator, located at Mpophomeni, Howick, develops, supports and nurtures emerging, small and medium-sized township-based businesses (a mix of industries: tourism, services, agriculture, other).

The desired candidate, working closely with the Centre Manager, will be responsible for the provision of targeted and needs-based business support to township-based SMME clients of the incubator. The Business Development Officer will be responsible for exposing, upskilling and disseminating business and entrepreneurial skills to any start-up, entrepreneur or enterprise through nurturing, mentoring, coaching, facilitation of access to linkages (markets and funding), and monitoring and evaluation to achieve sustainable SMMEs.

This position is full-time, contract-based (5 months), renewable annually subject to performance and funding.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

· Reporting directly to the Centre Manager of the Incubator

· Servicing all beneficiary businesses (incubatees) of the incubator in an effective, and impactful manner to drive their growth and sustainability

· Initiate, support and grow SMMEs within the tourism, agri, services, other key industries

· Align key and effective business support interventions for SMMEs, and based on need of the business/ entrepreneur

· Facilitate relevant beneficiary trainings and business mentorship sessions at the incubator

· Help achieve the vision of the Incubator

· Providing needs-based business mentorship and coaching services to the participating SMMEs

· Relevant knowledge dissemination to SMMEs participating in the incubator, that contribute to their growth and sustainability

· Tracking (monitoring and evaluation) of incubatee business performance on a monthly basis for assessment and reporting

· Collecting, collating and uploading incubatee business development interventions MoVs (Means of Verification), onto reporting system

· Assist SMMEs with the use of the Incubator facilities

· In person visits/ meetings to incubatee premises on a regular basis and where needed

· Incubator and Incubatee documentation management in an accurate, consistent, safe and confidential manner, in line with Centre policies and procedures and POPI Act

· Support the Centre Manager in management of the Centre operations and facilities, as well as on staff supervision (Admin support and Maintenance staff)

· Knowledge of and compliance to all statutory regulations, including the Public Finance Management Act, Basic Conditions of Employment, Health and Safety acts, as well achieved SABS SATS 2234:2020 (Business Incubator) and ISO 9001:2015 standards for the Incubator

· Continuously and consistently strive towards the achievement of the Organizational and Own KPIs

· Stakeholder engagements and identification of potential partnership opportunities, as is relevant

· Participate at business seminars/ webinars if and where relevant and practical

· Report-writing on progress of the beneficiaries and reporting to funder requirements (including the collation of evidence of support)

Experience and Qualifications

The successful candidate will:

· Be in possession of a suitable financial/ business management qualification, (honours level preferred)

· An experienced (all-rounder) enterprise development practitioner is required (who can work independently), with a proven track record in business development support for SMMEs (across a spectrum of industries) (experience in development of township-based business/ entrepreneurs a plus)

· Be in possession of minimum 5 years business development/ business advisory/ mentorship/ coaching experience (particularly community/ rural business development experience)

· Must have strong experience in advising both start-up and established business alike, with strong understand of the local SMME development landscape

· Be a Team Player and work closely with the Centre Manager

· Ensure compliance to SATS 2234:2020 standards for Incubators, ISO 9001:2015 and PFMA policies and procedures

· Be Multilingual (Proficient in English and isiZulu)

· Preferably locally-based

· Use of AI tools, such as MS Copilot and ChatGPT will be beneficial

Other Attributes:

· Strong report-writing and able to write business/ funding plans for start-up/ existing businesses or assist with funding applications collation for the Centre

· Excellent financial acumen skills

· Deadline-driven and results orientated

· Excellent interpersonal and communication skills

· Be in possession of very strong report-writing, reporting and presentation skills

· Very strong computer literacy (MS Office) skills

· Be willing to travel to meet stakeholders and clients, as and when required (driver's licence and own vehicle mandatory)

· Build effective relations with the local community

· A strong knowledge of funding opportunities for small businesses by National Government and other agencies.

Please submit applications, including:

· A cover letter

· Your most recent CV demonstrating the above requirements

· Examples of business report writing

· Three contactable references

· Applications must be submitted by close of business 24th October 2025 to

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you have not received a response by 31st October 2025, please regard your application as unsuccessful.

NOTE

All shortlisted candidates may be subject to both a credit, reference check and a police clearance check.

Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held virtually (via Zoom or MS Teams) in November 2025

Job Type: Full-time

Work Location: In person

Application Deadline: 2025/10/24