CEO

1. Role Objective

 

The CEO Designate has a dual-impact role. It is responsible for the commercial growth of the organisation’s ESD portfolio (selling and structuring programmes for corporates) and the operational integrity of the lending and grant systems that deliver those programmes.

 

1. Primary Commercial KPIs

 

Executive Leadership & "CEO-Type" Functions

 

While the role is technically a CEO Designate, the successful candidate must operate with the autonomy and responsibility of an executive director, overseeing the following critical business functions: 

 

• People & Staff Management

 

• Culture Architect: Build and maintain a high-performance culture aligned with the organisation’s vision of "social collateral" and empowerment.
• Talent Development: Responsible for the recruitment, mentoring, and succession planning of the ESD team, ensuring the department is capacitated to handle high-volume lending.
• Performance Accountability: Setting and monitoring departmental goals and KPIs for both front-office (sales) and back-office (admin) staff. 

 

• Financial Stewardship & Capital Allocation

 

• Budgetary Oversight: Ultimate accountability for the division's profit and loss (P&L), including the management of the overall ESD budget and internal operating expenses.
• Resource Allocation: Making strategic decisions on where to invest limited resources—whether to upgrade lending technology, hire more field staff, or expand marketing efforts—to achieve the best ROI for the organisation.
• Risk & Compliance Management: Assessing and mitigating financial, operational, and strategic risks, ensuring the company remains compliant with both B-BBEE regulations and national financial laws. 

 

• Marketing & Brand Ambassadorship

 

• The "Face" of ESD: Acting as the primary spokesperson for the organisation’s ESD offerings at industry conferences, media interviews, and government forums.
• Strategic Go-to-Market: Overseeing the development of innovative marketing campaigns that position the organisation as the premier partner for corporate B-BBEE spend in South Africa.
• Public & Stakeholder Relations: Managing high-level relationships with corporate donors, government entities (like SEFA or the NEF), and the general public to maintain the company’s "Social Licence" to operate. 

 

• Strategic Vision & Innovation

 

• Future-Proofing: Identifying market trends and new industry developments to ensure the organisation’s lending and grant models remain "best of breed" and competitive.
• Operational Excellence: Continuously evaluating and improving the efficiency of the "lending engine" to ensure seamless execution of corporate mandates.
• Fund Design & Sales: Ability to "sell" the organisation’s ESD solutions to Blue Chip corporates, ensuring their B-BBEE spend is optimised.
• Portfolio Growth: Increasing the volume of managed funds under the Enterprise and Supplier Development pillars.
• B-BBEE Scorecard Delivery: Ensuring 100% compliance and maximum point claims for clients across all four ESD sub-pillars.
• SME Sustainability: Tracking the conversion of "Enterprise Development" beneficiaries into "Preferential Procurement" ready suppliers.

 

• Business Development

 

• The CEO Designate will be directly accountable for driving new business development across the organisation's service offerings.
• This includes identifying, cultivating and converting new corporate client relationships, expanding the organisation's footprint beyond its existing mining-sector base, and growing the pipeline of ESD mandates and managed fund portfolios.
• The role requires someone who can actively open doors at C-suite and board level within blue-chip corporates, mining houses, and other large employers, positioning the organisation as a preferred partner for B-BBEE spend and enterprise development programme delivery.
• Beyond winning new business, the CEO Designate must also focus on deepening existing client relationships to increase retention, expand scope, and unlock cross-selling opportunities across the organisation's full suite of capabilities.
• Revenue growth targets and new client acquisition metrics will form a core part of this individual's performance scorecard.
•  

 

 

 

 

1. The Four Pillars of the ESD Mandate

 

The candidate must demonstrate a mastery of these specific mechanisms:

 

1. 1. Preferential Procurement: Identifying and vetting 51% black-owned (and black-female-owned) businesses to integrate into corporate value chains.
   2. Supplier Diversity: Specifically targeting and "upskilling" youth, women, and PWD-owned businesses to broaden the economic landscape.
   3. Supplier Development: Managing the high-touch "S" in ESG - providing mentorship, market access, and funding to existing suppliers to make them more competitive.
   4. Enterprise Development: Nurturing "pre-supplier" SMEs through grant management and training to build a sustainable pipeline of future talent.

 

1. Technical & System Requirements (The "No Banker" Rule)

 

While this is a commercial role, we are not looking for a traditional banker or “lender”. We require an ESD Systems Specialist who understands:

 

• Lending Mechanisms: Managing the organisation’s unique, high-volume lending cycles and "social collateral" models.
• Grant Administration: The rigorous tracking of grant-to-loan conversions and blended finance models.
• Operational Grit: This person must be able to "look under the hood" of the lending system to ensure disbursements and recoveries are seamless and transparent for corporate audit purposes.

 

 

 

1. Candidate Profile Summary

 

We are looking for a Commercial Strategist who is also an Operational Expert. They need to be able to walk into a boardroom and sell an ESD solution, then return to the office and ensure the lending and grant systems execute it perfectly.