Work-Force
Listing live now. Role: Industrial Relations Officer. Location: Mthatha, Eastern Cape. The team is hiring and seeks a candidate who can step in and deliver from week one.
The Role
The Industrial Relations Officer position is part of an ongoing recruitment drive across Eastern Cape. The brief has been shaped carefully, with a focus on delivery in Mthatha and across the hr jobs space.
Day-to-day, the role balances focused delivery with the kind of collaboration that keeps things moving. The successful candidate is trusted to make sensible decisions inside the agreed scope, with line-management support whenever a sounding board is useful.
Stakeholders for this position include line managers, peers across the hr jobs team and trusted external partners. Building those relationships early makes the next twelve months in Mthatha much easier.
Internal documentation, process notes and shared playbooks make it easier for the Industrial Relations Officer to step into the hr jobs workflow quickly. Institutional knowledge is well-organised, so people are not reinventing the wheel from one week to the next.
Working in Mthatha
Working in Mthatha means a place in the growing Buffalo City Metro, with a steady flow of activity and a strong local economy. The team has built solid relationships across the Eastern Cape region, and the Mthatha office benefits from those long-standing connections.
Many candidates already living within reach of Mthatha cite the location as one of the role’s quiet wins, with shorter commutes and a real sense of being plugged into the local Eastern Cape economy.
Accessibility is taken seriously: where the role allows, the team works toward a balance of in-office presence and flexibility for candidates based in and around Mthatha.
If you are relocating, the team can share practical pointers on neighbourhoods, transport and the typical pace of life in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diverse teams build stronger workplaces. Applications are welcome from candidates of every background, language and community across Eastern Cape, and recruitment is fair, transparent and aligned with the EE Act.
Inclusive hiring extends through onboarding and into how teams operate every day. Respectful, fair conduct is expected from every team member in Mthatha.
Practical steps back the words. Structured EE reporting, transformation initiatives and learnership programmes give real opportunities to candidates from across Eastern Cape.
B-BBEE compliance is more than a scorecard here. It informs how the business invests in skills development, supplier diversity and community engagement across the country.
Meet the Team
You will join a tight-knit, collaborative team that knows the hr jobs side of the business inside out. The Mthatha group is a healthy mix of experienced operators and newer joiners, all of whom share a strong commitment to delivery and to one another.
Collaboration is the default working mode. Whether picking up a quick query or working through a complex project, you will find colleagues willing to lean in and help.
Beyond that, the team mix in Mthatha reflects a balance of experienced operators and emerging talent, with deliberate space for diverse voices and backgrounds.
Line management is hands-on without being heavy. Expect regular one-to-ones, honest feedback and the support needed to do good work consistently.
Day in the Life
Your day is people-shaped from the moment you log in. You move between recruitment screens, manager calls, payroll queries and the occasional sensitive conversation that needs your full attention. Mid-morning you might be running an onboarding session for new starters, and by the afternoon you’re back at your desk preparing EE or B-BBEE reports. Through it all, you balance compliance with care, making sure that policies are followed and people are heard.
No two days look exactly the same — and that variety is part of what keeps the role engaging for the right candidate in Mthatha.
Equally, the rhythm rewards people who plan ahead but also pivot quickly when Eastern Cape operations throw up the unexpected.
On top of that, the Mthatha office buzzes through peak hours and settles into focused, productive lulls in between, giving you time to plan and reset before the next stretch of work.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Champion transformation and inclusion across all people processes
- Support organisational design, job evaluation and grading processes
- Manage relationships with unions and prepare for wage negotiations
- Run exit interviews and feed insights into retention strategies
- Manage benefits, pension or provident fund and medical aid administration
- Roll out HR policies and procedures and train managers on application
- Support managers with disciplinary, grievance and incapacity processes
What You’ll Need
- Coaching mindset with the ability to support line managers
- Commitment to fairness, transformation and ethical conduct
- 3-5 years’ generalist HR experience in a structured environment
- Comfortable in a unionised environment where applicable
- Sound understanding of EE and B-BBEE compliance reporting
- Bachelor’s degree or diploma in Human Resources or Industrial Psychology
- Hands-on experience with HRIS and payroll systems
Potential is considered alongside experience, so candidates who tick most of these boxes should still be considered.