Chapter Lead - People Development- Led, Mentored, developed Tech teams - Remote - Permanent
(AM/SE/CL/07/05/25)
Overview
Reference
AM/SE/CL/07/05/25
Salary
ZAR/month
Job Location
- South Africa -- City of Cape Town -- Cape Town
Job Type
Permanent
Posted
12 May 2025
Closing date
30 May 2025 20:59
A Global Client of ours are seeking a Chapter Lead who will sit at the intersection of people, practice, and performance. This role will form part of a New Centre of Excellence under the People function. Our client is currently in growth mode across multiple regions (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK) which brings opportunity to evolve and mature their people leadership practices.
While we’ve got strong pockets of technical and delivery capability, we require a more consistent, high-quality people management.
This person will be responsible for building capability and growing individual team members through skills development and career management.
As part of the People function, Chapter Leads understand the functional craft of their people while ensuring our people are equipped to deliver at a high standard across our projects.
This is a people management role - it does not deliver project outcomes directly but is essential to how we drive individual accountability and enable delivery excellence across the business.
The role is responsible for:
- People Management and Leadership
- Skills Development & Capability Building
- Career Development & Progression
This model allows us to centralise accountability for how we grow, lead and manage our talent.
The relationships this position builds will vary depending on the seniority and nature of the chapters they support. For a mid-tier developer, the Chapter Lead will typically engage with:
- Developers
- Relevant Scrum Masters and Project Managers
- Functional leaders in Engineering
For more senior, cross-functional, or strategic roles, the Chapter Lead’s sphere of engagement could widen to include
- Product, Design, or Ops leadership, depending on what’s needed to support that person’s development and remove blockers
Duties and Accountabilities:
People Management & Leadership
- Be the go-to person for your chapter members. Run regular employment and career 1:1s and check-ins.
- Support wellbeing and personal growth, with an open door for career conversations and challenges.
- Build trust through coaching, feedback, and follow-through.
- Identify and remove systemic blockers that get in the way of individuals delivering well.
- Depending on the seniority of the Chapter Lead, the position will work with Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and the People function to escalate issues and land solutions.
- Manage the procedural side of the employment lifecycle for team members (e.g. performance documentation, development plans, exit feedback).
- Ensure accurate, timely updates to HR systems (e.g. changes in role, reporting lines, development milestones, training completed).
- Partner with the People team to ensure team members are supported through onboarding, probation, leave, and offboarding processes.
- Ensure that the business remains compliant with local employment legislation and internal people policies across relevant regions.
- Keep clear records of all people conversations, performance actions, and development progress – no surprises.
- Handle people management issues early (attitude, accountability, underperformance) and escalate when needed providing solid documentation as appropriate.
Skills Development & Capability Building
- Be responsible for improving staff capability in relevant technical areas (e.g. Business Analysis, Development)
- Work with functional Heads and SMEs to identify skill gaps and determine what training, mentoring, or tools are needed to grow individuals and lift performance across the Chapter. Assist in defining what "good" looks like, and action the staff skill development roadmap to get there.
Career Development & Progression
- Support career development conversations and drive meaningful development plans.
- Gather performance data, feedback and context from projects, peers, and self-assessments and run the Annual Review Process.
- Make transparent and fully justified recommendations for promotion, readiness, and areas to grow skill, and follow up to ensure completion of agreed actions
Evolving accountabilities and duties
- There is an expectation that the role accountabilities and duties will evolve over time. It may be necessary to review this job description through a consultative approach and make alterations in response to the changing nature of our work environment, including but not limited to technological requirements or statutory changes.
Resources, Relationships and Authority
- Depending on the seniority the role shall collaborate closely with:
- Engineering and Product teams
- Marketing and sales teams
- Customer support teams
- Executive leadership
- This position requires a high degree of autonomy and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
- This position will work across a very broad cross section of the group's operational staff. Executive leaders with direct reports can expect to engage with the Chapter Lead for people they supervise.
- The role shall liaise with the following external parties:
- Suppliers and vendors of professional development and functional training services.
- Selected Customers
- The role has no authority to incur routine expenditure, commit capital expenditure, approve loans, or extend credit without approval from the Managing Director or the Managing Director’s designated representative
- The role has no authority to bind the Company to agreements with any other party without approval the Managing Director or the Managing Director’s designated representative
Experience and Qualifications
- Proven experience leading people – ideally in a Chapter Lead, Team Lead, or Line Manager role, with a track record of growing individuals and lifting team capability.
- Strong mentoring and coaching skills – you know how to guide and challenge.
- Confident in performance management – from setting expectations and giving feedback, to handling underperformance and development planning.
- Experience running career development conversations – with a focus on real progression.
- Comfortable navigating HR processes and tools – including onboarding, probation, leave management, and performance documentation.
- Clear communication – both up and down the line. You’re not afraid of tough conversations but you handle them with care and professionalism.
- Functional credibility – you may come from the craft (e.g. BA, Dev, etc.) and understand what “good” looks like in your domain.
- Proactive in removing blockers and solving problems.
- Competence to build and manage effective interpersonal relationships at all levels across the group.
- A positive professional approach and presentation.
- Well-developed organisation and time management skills.
- Accuracy and conciseness in written and verbal communications.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office products.
- Experience working in Agile or matrix environments, especially with cross-functional teams or distributed projects.
- Comfort operating in fast-growing or scaling businesses, where structure is evolving, and ambiguity is common.
- Familiarity with global or multi-region people practices, particularly across Australia NZ, the UK, and South Africa.
|