Assistant Director: Data Quality Assurance Officer: EMIS Sub-Directorate at Free State Department: Education

Requirements:

• The candidate must have: Applicants must have a SAQA-recognised three-year post-matric qualification (NQF6 or higher) in Data Management, Information Systems, Statistics, Social Sciences, M&E or related field. A postgraduate qualification in a relevant field will be an added advantage.
• 5 years’ experience in data management, data quality assurance, monitoring or system support. Experience in the education sector data (e.g., EMIS) or ECD programmes is beneficial. A valid driver’s licence and willingness to travel provincially.

Duties:

• The successful candidate will be responsible for monitoring and improving accuracy, completeness and consistency of ECD data in the Early childhood Administration and Reporting System -eCares. Supporting district and provincial users with data entry, uploads, corrections and troubleshooting. Conducting data quality checks and implementing improvement measures. Maintaining records of discrepancies, resolutions and reporting artefacts. Supporting preparation of routine provincial and district reports.
• Conducting and supporting user training and capacity-building. Promoting the utilisation of dashboards and reports for planning and service delivery. Supporting user access management and assisting with system usage queries. Collaborating with national, provincial and district stakeholders to drive improved data quality practices. Conduct or support training sessions (virtually and in-person) for provincial and district users on data quality requirements (working with provincial training team). Reinforce importance of accurate data entry and maintenance. Share tips and guidance for improving data quality.
• Design and implement data quality and completeness reviews. Advocate for use of eCares reports and dashboards to support ECD operations and planning. Advocate and train province and district users in using reports and dashboards to support their operations and planning for ECD, including data collection where appropriate (initialisation of eCares usage to support ECD business processes and ECD related Data usage and reporting practices). Ensuring that reports and new plans are prepared with enough lead time to get the necessary approvals. The candidate will report to the provincial EMIS head and work closely with the ECD Directorate.