Techno Serve (www.technoserve.org) is a non-profit, economic development organization with sustained commitment to its 50-year old founding mission to work with enterprising men and women in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. We are business development specialists, assisting farmers and other entrepreneurs in 29 countries, increasing their access to information, capital and markets. The increased income our clients derive enhances resilience and prosperity for their families and communities.
In recent years, given social and economic pressing challenges, efforts have been taken by governments, corporates and not-for-profit organisations to revitalise township economies, promote job creation and improve the livelihood of the population. The plastic and paper recycling sector in South Africa is a significant contributor, involving over 180,000 workers across the country and annually saving over 3 million tonnes of CO2e. Over 95% of the plastic and paper that are not recycled go to landfills, thus recycling is the greatest drive of landfill diversion. This industry has garnered increasing attention, evidenced by the emergence of Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs), waste reclaimer associations, and governmental initiatives aimed at improving recycling performance and the welfare of workers.
Acting as the interface between the informal and formal sectors, waste recovery businesses are key players in growing the supply chain and improving livelihood of waste pickers. However, market dynamics, lack of supply chain resilience, and limited operational and financial are factors hindering business performance and lasting job creation.
The Anglo American Foundation has partnered with Techo Serve, Rlabs and Green in designing a programme that aims to develop green economic opportunities for youth in the South Africa recycling sector, providing target beneficiaries with access to more, better quality, safe and higher paid jobs (quality livelihoods) in the circular economy, and changing the perception of the contribution that waste workers add to the sector.
The ambition is to develop and demonstrate the long-term viability of an inclusive, end-to-end and collaborative approach to the development of the recycling sector, first piloting in a few targeted geographies, before being able to scale a joint platform across other townships in South Africa and regionally and bring it to an investable level.
The programme has three pillars that aim to create lasting impact: 1) micro businesses creation implemented by Rlabs, 2) direct enterprise support implemented by Techno Serve and 3) strengthening of support ecosystem implemented by Techno Seve and Green Cape.

The initial 15-month Phase A of the programme will focus on the townships of Soweto in the City of Johannesburg municipality and the City of Ekurhuleni. Techno Serve and RLabs will deliver a set of interventions to achieve youth empowerment objectives and address gaps observed in the plastic and paper recycling sector. This first phase will be a learning phase to inform a potential follow-on 36-month programme, contingent on co-financing.

The conceptualization of this programme follows a diagnostic study that was conducted, by Techno Serve in 2023, with the objective to validate the potential to create jobs and improve workers’ livelihoods by building capacity of waste recovery businesses. The diagnostic study identified three priority interventions to create lasting impact in South Africa’s circular economy: 1) direct enterprise support, 2) micro businesses creation, 3) strengthening of support ecosystem.

The role of the M&E Manager of the program, which is funded by Anglo American Foundation, will be a high quality manager who will be accountable to provide the strategic assistance, technical oversight and effective implementation of the monitoring and evaluation framework of the program. Specifically:

• Planning to enable the facilitation of input from the project staff at TNS and other stakeholders involved in the Program
• Development and implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Standards and Framework
• Development and implementation of data collection tools
• Monitoring of all project activities, outputs and progress towards anticipated results
• Working with data platforms, databases and select technologies to capture and organize data

• Conducting or providing support to data quality assessment

The M&E Manager is part of a high-caliber program management that supports the staff to deliver a program of outstanding quality in a consistent way within the time framework as per the contract with our client. To provide the context, the following positions reside in or provide a service to the team:

• Program Manager
• Implementation Manager
• M&E Manager
• Finance Manager (Shared service)
• HR Manager (Shared service)

Key responsibilities will include:

Planning
iii. Qualifications and Experience
We are looking for a seasoned M&E professional who brings the following expertise and attributes to the role.

• Advanced degree in development studies, business studies, entrepreneurship, economics or related discipline
• Demonstrated technical experience in Social Science Research skills, Data Analysis Skills (Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis), Cost Benefit Analysis, Report writing skills, and Data Collection through technology / platforms
• Bachelor's degree with 7 years experience implementing M&E discipline in large projects. Alternatively, a Masters degree with 5 years of experience.
• Knowledge and experience of working in South Africa across private and public sectors. Experience in mining sector a plus
• An effective communicator and negotiator with strong communication skills in all modes in English
• Demonstrated passion for Techno Serve’s mission and desire to work in a dynamic environment
• Long-term commitment to the program

We encourage all qualified individuals who share Techno Serve's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.
With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability, and all other protected classes.
We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.
If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at Techno Serve please contact the Human Resources at recruitment@tns.org or call +1 202 785 4515.