About the Role
The Department of Education is seeking an Assistant Director: PERSAL and Vulindlela Operations to join their team in Pretoria. This key position plays a vital role in the effective management and enhancement of financial management systems that support the educational framework in South Africa. By ensuring the smooth operation of systems like PERSAL and Vulindlela, the successful candidate will contribute to the transparency and efficiency of public service operations, ultimately benefiting educators and learners alike.
This role is essential for maintaining the integrity of the financial processes that underpin the Department’s mission. The Assistant Director will work closely with various internal teams, stakeholders, and service providers to ensure that system configurations and updates align with approved policies and operational needs. Your efforts will directly impact the effectiveness of educational services across the nation, making a difference in the lives of many South Africans.
About the Department
The Department of Education is dedicated to providing quality education and training services to all learners in South Africa. Its mission encompasses the development of policies, systems, and frameworks that support educational institutions and empower teachers and learners. Working for the Department means being part of a team that shapes the future of education, ensuring that it is accessible, equitable, and of high quality for everyone.
What You’ll Do
- Develop, maintain, and enhance PERSAL, Vulindlela, and related financial management systems.
- Translate business and user requirements into functional specifications and implementation actions.
- Conduct system maintenance, modernisation, and patching to keep systems current and effective.
- Validate and maintain system codes, parameters, and workflows to ensure accuracy and compliance.
- Plan and coordinate testing and quality assurance for system updates and new functionalities.
- Monitor service issues and coordinate corrective actions to maintain operational continuity.
- Liaise with stakeholders to resolve reporting and operational issues effectively.
- Maintain comprehensive technical documentation and user guides for system users.
What You’ll Need
- A minimum Grade 12 qualification coupled with a National Diploma (NQF 6) in Information Technology or related fields.
- A Bachelor’s degree (NQF 7) in a relevant discipline is an advantage.
- At least 3 years of experience in an application/system support or operations environment.
- Knowledge of transversal financial management systems and public-sector operations.
- Experience in project management, particularly in IT systems implementation.
- Familiarity with PERSAL operations and HR salary reporting is preferred.
Requirements
A Grade 12 is required coupled with a minimum National Diploma (NQF 6 in Information Technology or Information Systems/Business Analysis.A Bachelor’s degree (NQF 7) in any of the above disciplines is added advantage.
122 A Qualification in Project Management is added advantage.
A minimum of 3 years’ experience obtained in an application/system support or operations environment.
Experience in transversal financial management systems operations and support processes (incident, problem, change and release management).
Experience in Project Management (IT Systems Implementation).
Knowledge and experience of the public-sector financial framework and end-user support in a multi-stakeholder environment.
Experience in HR and Salary maintenance/reporting.
Knowledge and experience of PERSAL and its operations.
Job Duties
System Maintenance, Enhancement and Modernisation: Develop, maintain, configure and enhance PERSAL, Vulindlela, MIS, ad hoc reporting and related transversal financial management systems in line with approved procedures, standards, controls and business requirements.Analyse policy, business and user requirements and translate approved changes into functional specifications, configuration requirements, implementation actions and reporting requirements.
Support maintenance, modernisation, patching, upgrade and enhancement initiatives across current and future financial management system platforms.
Provide functional clarification and technical inputs to internal teams, consultants and service providers during design, development, configuration and implementation activities.
System Configuration, Data Updates and Processing Controls: Create, amend, validate and maintain system codes, parameters, tables, calendars, workflows, salary notch codes, salary key scales, MIS classification codes and other configuration items.
Coordinate approved bulk, programmatic and system- based updates across relevant systems, including payroll, salary adjustment, leave, package-structuring and reporting processes.
Validate control totals, exception reports, adjustment schedules and system outputs to ensure accuracy, completeness and compliance before implementation or distribution.
Investigate and resolve technical exceptions arising from configuration changes, programmatic updates, financial adjustments, interfaces and processing cycles.
Testing, Quality Assurance and Implementation Readiness: Plan, coordinate and conduct testing and quality assurance for new functionality, enhancements, patches, upgrades, interfaces, reports and system maintenance activities.
Validate that implemented functionality meets approved business, policy, technical and operational requirements prior to deployment.
Support defect resolution, business readiness, stakeholder engagement, change and release activities and post-implementation validation.
Prepare implementation communications, system messages, notices, technical outputs and deployment support material for affected users and stakeholders.
Operations, Service Continuity, Access and Risk Control: Provide operational and functional support for transversal financial management systems in accordance with agreed service levels, governance processes and security requirements.
Monitor service issues, incidents, service requests, system availability, processing risks, turnaround times and stakeholder feedback, and coordinate approved corrective and preventive actions.
Support user access management, role/profile maintenance and access review processes in accordance with security and segregation-of- duties requirements.
Apply approved system controls to prevent irregular, duplicate, unauthorised or non-compliant payments and transactions, including the processing of deceased-employee salary freezes and related exceptions.
Reporting, Stakeholder Support, Governance and Documentation: Develop, maintain and enhance MIS, ad hoc reports and related reporting functionality to support operational, management, compliance and stakeholder information requirements.
Liaise with departments, users, internal teams, policy owners, external institutions and service providers to identify, analyse and resolve system, reporting and operational issues.
Ensure that system changes, reports, financial adjustments, support processes and stakeholder communications comply with approved policies, procedures, delegations, standards and controls.
Maintain technical documentation, system rules, metadata, manuals, help functions, standard operating procedures, user guides, knowledge articles and control records.
