Training Manager

Why Siyazisiza Trust?

Siyazisiza Trust is a South African non-profit organisation committed to strengthening rural livelihoods, improving food security, and enabling inclusive economic participation for smallholder and emerging farmers. Through integrated agricultural training and development programmes, the Trust equips rural communities with practical skills that support sustainable farming, entrepreneurship, and long-term economic resilience.

A core focus of the Trust’s work is the structured training and development of new community farmers and learners entering partner-funded programmes. Through accredited and field-based practical training, Siyazisiza supports learners to build agricultural, technical, and enterprise skills that translate into real economic opportunities. Training programmes are designed to move participants from foundational learning into practical application, work placement, and active participation in agricultural value chains.

Our work is rooted in partnerships with farming communities, training institutions, funders, and development stakeholders. We operate in diverse rural environments where professionalism, accountability, cultural sensitivity, and practical problem-solving are essential. Siyazisiza Trust offers a purpose-driven environment where professionals can directly contribute to meaningful skills development and sustainable community impact.

We are seeking an experienced and systems-oriented Training Manager to lead and strengthen the organisation’s training function and ensure the delivery of high-quality, compliant, and impactful learning programmes.

Role Overview

The Training Manager leads the full training and development function of the organisation. Reporting to the Executive Director, the role is responsible for the design, coordination, delivery, accreditation, quality assurance and performance oversight of accredited and non-accredited training programmes across all organisational initiatives.

The Training Manager plays a central role in designing and delivering structured training pathways for new community farmers and learners recruited into donor-funded programmes. The role ensures that training interventions are practical, accessible, and responsive to the needs of rural communities, supporting learner progression from entry-level skills development to applied agricultural competence, work placement, and enterprise readiness.

This role requires a structured, quality-focused leader who can translate organisational strategy into effective training systems and measurable learner outcomes. The Training Manager ensures curriculum excellence, operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, and strong stakeholder engagement while managing facilitators, training resources, and departmental performance.

The position oversees a team covering facilitation, accommodation, catering & logistics, and is accountable for maintaining high standards of training delivery across all programmes.

Primary responsibilities:

Training Development & Programme Management - The Training Manager designs, reviews, and continuously strengthens training curricula and instructional materials to ensure alignment with programme objectives, organisational strategy, and the developmental needs of community farmers and learners. The role sets and enforces clear quality standards for curriculum development, ensuring that content is technically sound, pedagogically robust, grounded in adult learning principles, and practically relevant to rural farming contexts. Accredited programmes must comply with national quality standards, while non-accredited programmes meet rigorous internal benchmarks. Responsibilities include standardising training content and learner documentation, ensuring consistency of delivery across sites, overseeing learner recruitment and onboarding processes, and implementing improvements informed by evaluation and feedback. The Training Manager ensures that training pathways promote active participation, practical problem-solving, and meaningful skill transfer that contributes to measurable community impact.

Training Operations & Resource Management

The role coordinates all operational aspects of training delivery, including facilitators, venues, equipment, and logistics. The Training Manager develops and maintains departmental systems, policies, and standard operating procedures that support efficient and scalable programme execution. This includes managing training schedules and delivery plans, maintaining learner and stakeholder databases, and ensuring accurate record-keeping and reporting systems that support accountability and operational continuity. The role ensures that delivery standards are consistently upheld across sites through structured oversight and quality control mechanisms.

Accreditation, Compliance & Reporting - The Training Manager oversees accreditation processes and ensures compliance with relevant regulatory and sector bodies. The role manages the accreditation status of facilitators, assessors, and moderators and ensures that training venues meet Occupational Health and Safety requirements.

The Training Manager prepares training performance inputs and documentation for internal management and funding partners, working in coordination with the MEL Manager on formal donor reporting requirements.

Stakeholder Management & Networking -The role builds and maintains strategic partnerships with colleges, universities, sector bodies, funders, and agricultural stakeholders. The Training Manager represents the organisation at meetings and industry platforms, ensuring professional engagement with partners and supporting the expansion of training opportunities for community learners.

***Work Placement & Internship Management -***The Training Manager coordinates internship, learnership and work placement programmes by managing relationships with partner institutions, overseeing onboarding processes, monitoring learner progress, and facilitating meaningful practical skills development opportunities that support employability and enterprise development.

Leadership & People Management - The Training Manager provides direct line management to facilitators, the Training Administrator, and associated support roles, setting clear performance expectations and maintaining high professional and instructional standards. The role conducts regular classroom observations and structured performance reviews, providing timely, evidence-based feedback to strengthen facilitation practice and learner engagement. The Training Manager actively develops facilitators’ capacity in adult education methodologies, participatory approaches, and practical skills training, while addressing underperformance decisively where required. The role fosters a disciplined, accountable, and respectful team culture aligned with organisational values and focused on continuous improvement.

Essential Qualifications, Experience and Operational Requirements

The successful candidate will bring a strong combination of training leadership expertise, operational management capability, and sector awareness appropriate to delivering high-quality agricultural and community-based training programmes.

A. Qualifications

* Agricultural qualification relevant to rural or community farming environments

* Relevant tertiary qualification in Education, Training & Development or a related field

* ETDP Assessor/Moderator qualification (advantageous)

* Exposure to accreditation processes and sector quality assurance frameworks (advantageous)

* Qualification in Project Management or Monitoring & Evaluation (advantageous)

B. Experience

* Minimum 5 years’ experience in training management, coordination, or adult education.

* Demonstrated experience managing facilitators and training teams, including setting clear performance standards, conducting classr