Project Manager - Software & ERP Implementations (RELEX)

Have you taken an ERP or enterprise software implementation to go-live? Want to do it with one of the leading platforms in retail and supply chain planning?

About Us

At Embelo, we help founders of consulting businesses start and scale efficiently. Backed by our UK-based investors and clients, we deliver exceptional client services to a growing group of UK businesses, combining technical expertise, South African spirit and the latest in AI-powered services.

One of our key UK partners, Inference Chain, is a leader in supply chain transformation. It is building a specialist team in Cape Town to deliver RELEX implementations for retail customers across Europe, helping them optimise demand forecasting, replenishment, inventory and supply in fast-moving retail environments.

The Role

This is the first Project Manager hire into our RELEX retail delivery team, with more roles expected as the programme grows. You'll own RELEX implementations for retail customers from signed commitment through to go-live and handover into support, delivering to the agreed scope, timeline, cost and quality.

You'll also own the customer relationship at project level. You'll be the central point between the customer and our internal delivery team, making sure everyone shares the same view of progress, priorities, risks and decisions.

You don't need RELEX experience. If you've delivered SAP, Oracle Retail, Microsoft Dynamics, Blue Yonder, Manhattan, o9 or another ERP, WMS or retail planning platform implementation, you already have the skills that matter most. We'll teach you the rest.

Training and Development

• A structured 6–8 week onboarding programme in RELEX methodology and tooling
• Shadowing and supporting a live customer project during onboarding
• Independent project delivery from early 2027, sooner for experienced PMs
• We're open on seniority. We'll consider a sharp PM with a few implementations behind them who wants to grow, as well as an experienced 8–10 year PM ready to take over projects quickly. Compensation will reflect experience.

What You'll Be Doing

• Build and maintain the project plan, agree it with the customer and keep it an accurate reflection of reality.
• Lead project governance: status meetings, steering committee updates, decision-making and escalation routes.
• Manage scope and change through a controlled process, including change requests and commercial variations.
• Proactively manage risks, issues and dependencies, with clear owners, actions and dates.
• Forecast and report accurately on progress, effort and cost, including raising bad news early.
• Coordinate the internal delivery team (consultants, solution specialists and technical resources) against the plan and quality standards.
• Lead go-live preparation, cutover and transition into ongoing support.
• Own day-to-day planning, sequencing and delivery trade-offs within agreed scope, budget and contract.
• Work with solution leads on design decisions that affect timelines, cost or resourcing.
• Escalate changes to scope, contract, budget or dates, and any risks that can't be mitigated within the project.

What Success Looks Like

• Projects delivered to the agreed scope, schedule, cost and quality.
• Strong customer relationships: expectations set clearly, challenges raised early, trust maintained.
• Scope and change under control, with variations identified, priced and agreed rather than absorbed.
• Risks and issues actively managed, not just logged.
• Transparent, accurate reporting of progress, effort and cost, both internally and to the customer.
• A well-coordinated team with clear priorities and ownership.

What You'll Bring

• End-to-end delivery of at least one software, ERP or SaaS implementation through to go-live, ideally customer-facing.
• Solid project planning, RAID (risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies) and change control practice from real implementation projects.
• Confidence with senior customer stakeholders, including delivering difficult news early and keeping the relationship strong.
• Commercial awareness: you understand how scope, effort, cost and margin interact.
• A recognised project management certification (e.g. PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent).
• A relevant degree, or around 3–4 years of equivalent delivery experience.

Advantageous

• Implementation experience with retail, grocery, fashion or wholesale customers.
• Knowledge of retail planning processes such as demand forecasting, replenishment, merchandise or assortment planning, S&OP, or business analytics.
• Experience with cutover, hypercare and handover into a support organisation.
• Exposure to contract management or change-request negotiation.
• Experience with international or European customers.
• Additional languages at a high level.

Location and Hours

Hybrid, Cape Town. The contract is 3 days in the office and 2 from home, with 4 days in the office during onboarding. Core hours are 08:00–17:00, adjusted to project needs; you'll work with European customers, so hours currently align with CET. If you're applying from outside Cape Town, you'll need to relocate, and relocation is self-funded.

Start Date

We're looking for someone to join during October 2026, or as soon as possible after that.