Skills Development Partner at Mukuru

About the Role

• As the Skills Development Partner, you will design, execute, and govern our skills development strategy across the organisation. You’ll be the custodian of our learning compliance processes while partnering with internal and external stakeholders to build business-critical capabilities. This role is central to driving impactful initiatives—from learnerships and internships to strategic upskilling—and ensuring our reporting, SETA engagements, and BBBEE contributions reflect both excellence and innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• Compliance & Governance
• Ensure full adherence to all relevant legislation, including the Skills Development Act, NQF Act, SAQA Act, BBBEE Act, and related labour laws
• Keep abreast of regulatory changes and communicate potential impacts proactively
• Manage audit readiness and mitigate compliance risk across learning interventions
• Strategic Skills Development Delivery
• Collaborate with leadership and Human Capital Business Partners to align the annual Workplace Skills Plan with the business strategy
• Identify current and future critical skills gaps, and design solutions to close them
• Drive execution of learnerships, internships, apprenticeships, and leadership development programmes
• Facilitate the organisation’s journey to become an accredited Learning Academy
• SETA Engagement & Relationship Management
• Foster strong relationships with relevant SETAs
• Lead the preparation and timely submission of Workplace Skills Plans (WSP), Annual Training Reports (ATR), and discretionary grant applications
• Track progress and ensure the business leverages available funding opportunities
• Reporting & Insights
• Oversee all statutory submissions and internal reporting related to skills development, employment equity, and BBBEE scorecard compliance
• Leverage data to build meaningful dashboards and analytics for decision-makers
• Use insights to refine programmes and demonstrate ROI on learning investments
• Process & System Optimisation
• Evaluate and improve skills development processes and systems
• Champion automation and integration of tools that enhance efficiency and data accuracy
• Ensure seamless tracking and monitoring of learning outcomes
• Advisory & Internal Enablement
• Serve as the internal subject matter expert on all matters related to learning compliance and best practice
• Train, guide and support managers and HC teams on the execution of development initiatives
• Act as a learning culture ambassador—ensuring development is seen as both a strategic and operational priority

Key Performance Areas

• Financial Prudence: Ensure cost-effective use of training budgets and resources
• Team Collaboration: Support internal teams with queries, system improvements, and knowledge-sharing
• Value-Add Delivery: Align development initiatives with People Strategy to drive organisational capability
• Learning Programme Management: Lead the execution and evaluation of learnerships, internships, and enterprise development projects
• SETAs & Grant Maximisation: Identify and manage discretionary funding opportunities and track grant recoveries

What You’ll Need to Succeed
Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Learning & Development, Industrial Psychology, or related field (Required)
• Registered Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) accreditation (Essential)
• Project management certification or experience (Advantageous)

Experience

• Minimum 5 years in skills development or learning & development roles
• Strong experience managing WSP/ATR submissions and working with SETAs
• Experience in the Financial Services sector (Advantageous)
• Demonstrated involvement in BBBEE scorecard compliance (Skills Development pillar)
• Minimum 3 years in reporting and data analytics related to learning

Knowledge & Skills

• In-depth knowledge of SAQA, NQF, BBBEE, and SETA frameworks
• Expertise in designing and implementing impactful development programmes
• Strong reporting, data analysis, and storytelling skills (Excel, PowerPoint, dashboards)
• Excellent stakeholder engagement, facilitation, and negotiation skills
• Project management and change enablement capabilities
• Core Competencies
• Strong facilitation, presentation, and communication skills
• Analytical, data-driven mindset with a bias for action
• Influential with strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills
• Creative, innovative, and solutions-oriented
• Ability to work independently under pressure while meeting deadlines
• Passionate about continuous learning and human capital development