OD & Talent Manager (Port Elizabeth) needed at Aspen Pharma Group

Overview:

• To design, lead and deliver Aspen SA Operation’s OD & Talent strategy, ensure strong leadership capability and succession, and embed a high-performance, inclusive culture that supports the company’s strategic objectives. You will work closely with business leaders, HC Business Partners, and stakeholders to identify talent gaps, implement development programs, and ensure the organisation is future fit.

Organisational Development (OD)

• Lead OD strategies and interventions that enhance organisational effectiveness, agility, and culture alignment with Aspen’s purpose and values.
• Drive organisational design and restructuring initiatives to support business transformation and growth.
• Conduct culture diagnostics and develop action plans to embed desired behaviours and values.
• Partner with business leaders to manage change, drive engagement, and improve team effectiveness.
• Develop and implement employee engagement strategies and oversee engagement surveys, insights, and follow-up actions.

Talent Management & Succession Planning

• Design and execute Aspen South African Operations talent management framework, ensuring alignment with current and future business needs.
• Lead annual talent reviews, succession planning, and talent calibration processes.
• Identify critical roles and develop robust pipelines through talent analytics and workforce planning.
• Manage high-potential and leadership development programmes to build future-ready capabilities.
• Partner with business units to create personalised development plans and internal mobility strategies.

Learning and Leadership Development

• Oversee the design and delivery of learning strategies and interventions that build technical, professional, and leadership capability.
• Collaborate with HC and business leaders to identify learning needs and design blended learning solutions.
• Curate and manage leadership development programmes for different leadership levels (emerging, middle, senior).
• Track learning effectiveness and ROI through performance improvement and capability assessments.

 Performance Management

• Drive the performance management process, ensuring fair, consistent, and developmental application.
• Train and coach managers on goal setting, feedback, and performance conversations.
• Analyse performance data to identify organisational trends and inform talent decisions.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

• Ensure OD and talent initiatives support DEI objectives and comply with relevant legislation (Employment Equity Act, etc.).
• Participate and lead transformation strategy implementation, ensuring inclusive hiring, retention, development, and progression of underrepresented groups.
• Monitor, report, track progress on EE and diversity metrics.

Metrics Reporting & Insights

• Develop and report on KPIs for talent & OD: e.g. talent pipeline health, succession readiness, turnover of high potentials, performance distribution, time to fill critical roles.
• Use HC analytics / dashboards to inform decision- making.
• Provide insights to leadership about risks, opportunities, trends in talent and organisation capability

Stakeholder Management & Coaching

• Coach, advise, influence line managers on OD / talent topics (succession, career paths, performance, feedback, etc.)
• Build strong relationships with leaders to understand business needs.
• Communicate OD / talent programmes effectively: build buy‑in, manage change, ensure clarity of roles & expectations.

Requirements:

Background/experience

• An Honours degree in Psychology plus completion of an HPCSA-accredited BPsych Equivalent Programme (psychometrist) / Registered Industrial Psychologist or,
• Master’s in Industrial Organisational Psychology (HPCSA Registered Psychometrist)
• Minimum 5 – 8-years’ Human Capital experience in Organisational Development / Talent Management roles, ideally within FMCG, pharmaceutical or manufacturing, and unionised environments.
• 5 – 8 Years Experience leading leadership development, succession planning, organisational development and design, and change management initiatives.

Specific job skills

• 5 – 8 Years Proven leadership capability and managerial experience at a senior management level
• 5 – 8 Experience implementing succession planning, competency frameworks, performance management systems.
• 5 – 8 Years Experience with employment equity and/or transformation business processes.
• 5 – 8 Experience in conducting psychometric assessments using assessments, psychometrics, feedback tools.

Competencies

• Strong business acumen and strategic thinking.
• Excellent facilitation, coaching, and consulting skills.
• Ability to manage multiple stakeholders and influence senior leaders.
• Strong analytical and data interpretation capability.
• Exceptional communication and change management skills.
• Innovative mindset with the ability to design impactful people solutions.