Position – Contracts Scheduler; Readvertisement

Contract type: Permanent
Job Level: Skilled / Middle Management
Work Location: Cape Town, Western Cape
Closing Date: 14 October 2026

The National Research Foundation (NRF) supports and promotes research and human capital development through funding, the provision of National Research Facilities and science outreach platforms and programmes to the broader community in all fields of science and technology, including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities.

The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) spearheads South Africa’s activities in the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope, commonly known as the SKA, in engineering, science and construction. SARAO is a National Facility managed by the National Research Foundation and incorporates radio astronomy instruments and programmes such as the MeerKAT telescope in the Karoo, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in Gauteng, the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry (AVN) programme in nine African countries as well as the associated human capital development and commercialisation endeavours.

The contracts scheduler is in charge of creating, managing, and updating the project contracts schedule (i.e. programme), as well as progress reporting, highlighting risks or issues, and administering the contractor schedule. The scheduler will also be in charge of creating, maintaining, and optimizing internal project control schedules to ensure efficient resource allocation, on-time task completion, and adherence to key integrated schedule timelines.

The scheduler will collaborate closely with project and contract managers to ensure that resources are allocated effectively, contractual timelines are met, contractual changes are assessed and implemented, and potential delays or issues are identified and mitigated.

• Develop, maintain, and update Level 1 – Level 3 integrated project schedules in Primavera P6 Professional.
• Coordinate with the project team to provide schedule inputs and obtain resource loading details for the schedule.
• Create baseline resource-loaded schedules
• Assist Program/ Project Managers and Functional Managers on matters related to planning and scheduling issues.
• Prepare tender schedules in response to tender proposals.
• Prepare and/or evaluate Basis of Schedule (BoS) documents.
• Develop comprehensive contractual schedules based on specific contractual requirements.
• Schedule assessment reports, including claim assessment reports, baseline management & audit reports.
• Oversee schedule progress update, updating material and activity tracking sheets.
• Manage productivity reports, including planned, actual man-hours and earned allocated to activities.
• Daily planning support: oversee the production of short-term schedules.
• Conduct schedule analysis for requested changes and ensure the implementation of all approved change requests.
• Review and approve Contractors-schedules to be integrated into the master project schedule.
• Review schedule performance against baselines on a regular basis.
• Participate in reviewing scope changes such as carrying out schedule impact analysis when required.
• Conduct forensic planning to understand the impact of key events.
• Identify potential risks related to schedules, contracts, and project scope and develop strategies to mitigate them.
• Prepare regular reports on project schedules, including critical path analysis, scenario schedules, schedule trend reports, and executive milestone reports.
• Schedule meetings with all Key Project Stakeholders to obtain accurate information for schedule development.
• Provide the latest forecast dates to Project Controller for cost planning on the project.
• Maintain effective communication with clients (internal & external…