Senior Technical Advisor: Inclusive Hiring Lead (PYEI)

Why You:

The Presidential Youth Employment Intervention (PYEI) was launched in 2020 to address South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis and support young people in moving successfully from learning to earning.

In its next phase, the PYEI will scale a focused national strategy aimed at reducing youth unemployment by 10–20% by 2030. This strategy is driven through five youth employment levers, including Inclusive Hiring, which focuses on ensuring that new entry-level jobs are accessible to young people across the public and private sectors.

GIZ supports the PYEI in implementing its strategy to expand income-generating opportunities and employment pathways for young people.

This role will support the delivery of a key Presidency priority initiative and will involve high-level engagement with senior government, private-sector and development partner stakeholders.

What We Need From You

Qualifications:

• An advanced degree in Public Policy, Development Studies, Economics, Education or Skills Development, Social Sciences, or another relevant discipline.

Professional Experience

• At least 10 years’ experience in public policy, management consulting, and/or economics.
• A strong understanding of government, labour market dynamics, youth employment policy, and employer behaviour.
• Experience working across government, business, and delivery partners.
• Proven ability to manage complex, cross-cutting coordination processes.
• Strategic thinking and policy-to-implementation capability.
• Experience producing high-quality briefs, reports, and presentations for senior leadership.
• Demonstrated experience working in a high-pressure team environment.

What You Will Be Doing

The Senior Technical Advisor: Inclusive Hiring Lead will oversee the implementation of Lever 1: Inclusive Hiring by driving systemic changes in hiring practices across the public and private sectors.

The objective of this lever is to ensure that all new entry-level jobs added to the economy are accessible to young people, without displacing older workers.

In this role, you will focus on:

• Working with industry to reduce structural and behavioural barriers to youth hiring.
• Strengthening and aligning government incentives and regulations to favour inclusive hiring.
• Mobilising employers to adopt youth-inclusive recruitment and retention practices.

Your key responsibilities will include:

Policy and Incentive Alignment

• Support the review and reform of government incentive instruments, including DTIC incentives, Employment Tax Incentive, BBBEE codes, and YES, to maximise youth employment and inclusive supply-chain outcomes.
• Work with National Treasury, DTIC, DPSA, DHET and DEL to align fiscal, regulatory and administrative levers in support of inclusive hiring.
• Provide technical inputs into Cabinet, cluster and interdepartmental processes related to inclusive hiring reforms.

Employer Mobilisation and Behaviour Change

• Support the design and rollout of targeted employer mobilisation initiatives, including the Business-Government Partnership on Employment and related advocacy campaigns.
• Engage large employers, sector bodies and SMMEs to identify barriers to youth hiring and co-design practical solutions.
• Promote evidence-based inclusive hiring practices, including alternative assessments, work-readiness support, proximity-based recruitment and onboarding support for youth.

Public Sector Inclusive Hiring

• Support audits of entry-level vacancies below level 6.
• Support centralised youth recruitment and placement mechanisms.
• Support pathways for interns, National Youth Service participants and graduates into permanent roles.
• Work with DPSA and line departments to align workforce planning, retirement policies and graduate recruitment with youth employment objectives.

Enabling Platforms and Intermediaries

• Strengthen the role of SA Youth and the National Pathway Management Network as primary recruitment and matching platforms for inclusive hiring.
• Support the scaling of intermediaries that reduce hiring risk for employers and improve retention outcomes for youth.
• Promote alignment between inclusive hiring efforts and demand-led skilling, work-integrated learning and outcomes-based funding mechanisms.

Monitoring and Learning

• Track progress against inclusive hiring targets across sectors and programmes.
• Identify implementation bottlenecks and escalate systemic risks to the Presidency Project Management Office.
• Capture lessons learned and support the replication of successful inclusive hiring models across sectors.

Additional Information:

• The position will run until 31 May 2027.
• The successful candidate will be based one day a week at the GIZ offices in Hatfield, Pretoria, and one day a week at the NYDA offices. Flexible working arrangements are possible.
• The incumbent will be required to attend all relevant Project Management Office and Lever-related meetings.
• Performance management and assessments will be jointly undertaken between the PYEI and GIZ.
• Monthly reports will be required for GIZ management and stakeholders, highlighting progress, challenges and strategic direction to monitor the secondee’s activities and outputs.
• PYEI reporting must be completed as required.
• At GIZ, you will be part of a global network and an environment characterised by diversity, respect and genuine equal opportunities. Gender equality promotion is a matter of course for GIZ.
• GIZ is a signatory of the Diversity Charter. Recognition, appreciation and inclusion of diversity are important to GIZ. All employees are valued, regardless of gender and gender identity, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, social background, age or sexual orientation.
• GIZ would like to increase the proportion of employees with disabilities. Applications from people with disabilities are most welcome.

Application Process:

To ensure your application can be considered, please submit the following:

• A Cover Letter / Motivation Letter in PDF format, maximum 1 page, sharing why you are the preferred candidate, the value you will bring to the work of the PYEI project, and how your experience aligns with this role. Please quote the job title in the subject line as follows: Application for Senior Technical Advisor – PYEI Inclusive Hiring Lead
• A detailed CV in PDF format, maximum 4 pages, indicating your nationality
• Proof of eligibility to work in South Africa, being a copy of your South African ID.

Closing date for applications: 10 July 2026

Please note that applications submitted without a motivation letter cannot be considered.

Only shortlisted applicants who meet the above requirements will be contacted.