Chief Financial Officer at The National Student Financial Aid Scheme(NSFAS)

POSITION OVERVIEW:

• The Chief Financial Officer will provide strategic financial leadership and safeguard NSFAS resources, ensuring sustainable funding, sound governance, effective controls and accurate reporting. The role advises the Chief Executive Officer, Board and oversight authorities on financial sustainability, risk and performance ensure compliance with financial management legislation, policies, and regulations.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:
Financial strategy and sustainability:

• Develop and execute an integrated financial strategy aligned with the NSFAS mandate, ministerial priorities and approved plans.
• Lead medium- and long-term modelling for bursaries, loans, administration costs and recoveries, and advise on affordability, funding gaps, emerging liabilities and corrective action.
• Bursary and loan financial management:
• Provide financial oversight across the student funding value chain, from allocation and commitment to disbursement, institutional settlement, reconciliation, reporting and close-out.
• Oversee loan accounting, collections, recoveries, impairment methodology and portfolio performance.

Budgeting, treasury and liquidity:

• Lead annual and medium-term budgeting, cash-flow planning, banking, investments, working capital and liquidity management.
• Ensure allocations are aligned with policy, enrolment assumptions, operational capacity and Treasury requirements.

Financial reporting, controls and audit:

• Ensure complete, accurate and timely monthly, quarterly and annual reporting in accordance with GRAP and applicable frameworks.
• Maintain audit-ready records, lead year-end close and drive sustainable resolution of internal and external audit findings.

PFMA governance, risk and compliance:

• Support the Board as accounting authority and the CEO in discharging financial-management responsibilities under the PFMA, Treasury Regulations and the NSFAS Act.
• Ensure financial risks, control breaches and irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure are detected, assessed, reported and remediated.

Supply chain and value for money:

• Provide executive oversight of procurement planning, contract financial controls, supplier payment and value-for-money analysis.
• Promote procurement that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective.

Finance systems, data and transformation:

• Own the integrity of financial master data, interfaces, reconciliations and reporting across student funding, institutional, banking, procurement and general-ledger systems.
• Lead standardisation, automation, analytics and system modernisation.

Leadership and stakeholder management:

• Build a capable, ethical and performance-driven finance function.
• Provide decision-ready reports to executive and governance structures and manage relationships with DHET, National Treasury, Auditor-General South Africa, institutions, funders, banks, the National Credit Regulator and other relevant parties.
• Board Committee reporting
• Develop reports on the Finance value chain practices to the Office of the CEO, Board Committeeand the Board.
• Submit policies for review and adoption
• Report on audit and risk issue identified in Finance and controls put in place.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Minimum requirements:

• NQF Level 8 qualification in relevant field.
• Chartered Accountant (South Africa) designation, with current SAICA membership in good standing
• 10 years’ experience managing the Finance division/unit of a large-scale entity responsible for financial strategy, budgeting, treasury, reporting, supply chain management, audit, internal controls and enterprise financial systems
• 5 years as a Chief Financial Officer or equivalent in a large, complex or regulated organisation.
• Strong public-sector or public-entity experience, with practical knowledge of the PFMA, Treasury Regulations, GRAP, governance requirements and audit remediation.

Preferred

• NQF Level 9 qualification in relevant field.
• 15 years’ experience managing the Finance division/unit of a large-scale entity responsible forfinancial strategy, budgeting, treasury, reporting, supply chain management, audit, internal controls and enterprise financial systems
• 10 years as a Chief Financial Officer or equivalent in a large, complex or regulated organisation.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic and visionary leadership
• Operational excellence and business acumen
• Sound judgement, decision-making and problem-solving
• People leadership and performance management
• Financial and resource management
• Stakeholder engagement, influence and negotiation
• Data-driven analysis and performance oversight
• Innovation, adaptability and change leadership
• Emotional intelligence and strong interpersonal effectiveness