Consultant (Generalist) — Public Sector Transformation
Contract / TempJob Overview
Allied Talent Partners (ATP), a Three Cairns Group initiative, is a mission-driven, not-for-profit talent marketplace focused on solving the human capital bottlenecks slowing down sustainable development efforts in emerging economies, with an initial focus on Africa. ATP connects vetted, experienced, context-relevant professionals to high-impact opportunities in energy access and sustainable development – strengthening local capacity and fuelling economic vitality. We specialize in fixed-term, deliverable-driven engagements – from interim leadership and generalist projects to niche technical expertise – handling project scoping, talent vetting and matching, contracting, payroll, and compliance so that our clients can focus on impact.
High-Level Overview
The client is a South African management consulting firm that helps institutions deliver meaningful transformation. It primarily serves the public sector, including municipalities and municipal-owned entities, tackling complex service delivery challenges. The firm works in lean, senior-led teams that focus on apprenticeship, capability building, and delivering results in real-world contexts.
The client is replacing a departing consultant and requires a generalist Consultant to join its municipal transformation team. The consultant will independently manage a defined workstream, from diagnostics and business requirements through to implementation support. Immediate assignments include a digital transformation program within a municipal entity, where the consultant will assess maturity, define future-state processes, and support system enablement on a department-by-department basis; and a productivity transformation across eight districts, helping to standardize operating models, processes, and technology.
The role requires strong problem-solving, execution and process management skills, comfort working in the public sector, and the ability to engage directly with client stakeholders. Candidates should bring depth in either digital, strategy, or operating model work, with the flexibility to grow across all three.
Role and Responsibilities
Role: Consultant (Generalist) — Public Sector Transformation
Direct Report: Engagement Manager (day-to-day), with oversight from Associate Partner and Managing Director
Candidates Required: 1
Key Deliverables:
The consultant will take ownership of a workstream and collaborate with colleagues, leadership, and clients to conduct diagnostics, design recommendations, drive implementation, and engage stakeholders across diverse contexts, projects, and topics. While the project pipeline is expected to evolve, initial projects include:
Direct Report: Engagement Manager (day-to-day), with oversight from Associate Partner and Managing Director
Candidates Required: 1
Key Deliverables:
The consultant will take ownership of a workstream and collaborate with colleagues, leadership, and clients to conduct diagnostics, design recommendations, drive implementation, and engage stakeholders across diverse contexts, projects, and topics. While the project pipeline is expected to evolve, initial projects include:
- Digital Transformation (Municipal Entities): Manage implementation of digital transformation within assigned departments.
- Onboarding & Workstream Setup: Review maturity tools, BRD frameworks, and prior assets; agree scope, metrics, and review cadence; and develop workplan
- Diagnostics & Maturity Assessment: Conduct interviews and artifact reviews; map current processes/systems; deliver maturity assessment and gap analysis.
- Business Requirements & Operating Model Alignment: Facilitate requirements gathering, draft BRD, and align to-be processes with governance and reporting structures.
- Solution Definition & Vendor Coordination: Package requirements for solution design; liaise with vendors/developers; validate designs against BRD and to-be processes.
- Implementation Support & Project Management: Manage RAID log, timelines, and dependencies; lead stand-ups and Steering Committee reporting; coordinate SIT/UAT testing and sign-off.
- Change Management & Enablement: Draft SOPs, quick guides, and training materials; prepare stakeholder comms; embed sustainability and benefits tracking.
- Performance Tracking, Handover & Rotation: Deliver dashboards and closure packs; capture lessons learned; rotate to next department or pivot to productivity program.
- Productivity transformation (Eight Districts): Manage implementation of process and operating model standardization across districts.
- Onboarding & Workstream Setup: Define scope for the assigned district; confirm success metrics; align with PMO governance cadence; and finalize workplan
- Diagnostics & Maturity Assessment: Map people, processes, and technology; identify inefficiencies, redundancies, and district-level variations.
- Business Requirements & Operating Model Alignment: Apply firm templates to re-engineer processes; harmonize policies, governance, and reporting lines across districts.
- Solution Definition & Tools: Contribute to technology selection and integration; ensure process alignment with chosen platforms.
- Implementation Support & Project Management: Manage RAID log, timelines, and dependencies; consolidate district inputs into the central PMO for oversight
- Change Management & Enablement: Develop comms, SOPs, and training to support adoption of new processes and systems.
- Performance Tracking, Handover & Rotation: Stand up dashboards/KPIs to track productivity gains; deliver closure packs; support PMO scaling across districts.
Requirements
Experience Required:
- ~2–3 years’ experience in management consulting.
- Demonstrated ability to own a workstream end-to-end with guidance from a team lead.
- Comfort operating across strategy, digital transformation, and process/operating model; a spike in any one area is welcome.
Technical Requirements:
- 4-year degree in any discipline (minimum requirement)
- Core consulting toolkit: problem definition, structuring, analysis, recommendation, synthesis, and presentation.
- Strong PowerPoint and Excel skills for analysis and communication.
- Strong end-to-end process management, orchestrating and coordinating across all stakeholders to deliver milestones on time
Other Skills:
- Structured problem-solver; concise communicator (written decks and verbal updates).
- Strong stakeholder management skills (internally and with department-level clients)
- Learning mindset; able to switch contexts and maintain momentum under hybrid ways of working.
- High ownership, reliable follow-through, and attention to detail
Working Arrangement
Location: Based in Johannesburg – on-site at client locations across the metro as required
Language: English
Travel: TBD
Terms of agreement:
Start Date: ASAP - Mid-October
Contracting Period: 18–36 months
Location: Based in Johannesburg – on-site at client locations across the metro as required
Language: English
Travel: TBD
Terms of agreement:
Start Date: ASAP - Mid-October
Contracting Period: 18–36 months