Current Vacancies at The National Student Financial Aid Scheme(NSFAS)

POSITION OVERVIEW:

• Responsible for collecting, processing, and performing statistical analysis on large data sets to identify trends patterns and correlations that can inform organizational decision-making and performing root cause analysis. The responsibilities include data collection and cleaning, statistical analysis, creating reports and visualizations for non-technical audiences, collaborating across departments to support data driven decisions and ensuring data quality.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Data Analysis and Interpretation

• Gather data from primary and secondary sources, then reorganise this data in a format that can be easily analysed.
• Collect and analyse complex data sets to identify trends, patterns, and insights.
• Translate business requirements from stakeholders into measurable and actionable KPIs.
• Provide clear and concise reports to stakeholders, highlighting key findings and recommendations
• Review and ensure integrity of data, performing data profiling and data modelling to understand and identify anomalies.
• Responsible for data analysis activities including data mining, trend analysis, extracting actionable insights that support decision making.
• Contribute to the development of strategies to improve data collection, analysis and reporting processed within across departments/stakeholders.

Data warehousing

• Design and develop Datawarehouse dimensions and facts.
• Ensures integrity of the data received.
• Design, build and deploy solutions to automate monotonous data management tasks and help others get the most out of data management systems by providing support and advice.
• Build and manage extract, transform and lLoad (ETL) jobs in support of interfaces between the organization's business application systems and data warehouses.

Reporting and Dashboard Development

• Build Interactive dashboards and reports using BI tools (e.g. Power BI) to facilitate data-driven decision-making.
• Design and develop reports.
• Create compelling data visualizations that effectively communicate insights to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Develop and maintain data models to support reporting and analysis needs.
• Support collection of business requirements using a variety of methods such as interviews, document analysis, and workflow analysis to express requirements clearly and succinctly.
• Participation in organizational AI efforts

Collaboration and Communication

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand business requirements and ensure BI solutions align with organizational goals.
• Communicate findings and insights in a clear and understandable manner to stakeholders at various levels.
• Train end-users on basic functionality

Continuous Improvement.

• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices in data analytics.
• Identify opportunities for process improvements and automation to enhance efficiency.
• Continuous learning and research of best practice development in data modelling, profiling, validation, integration, match & merge solutions and/or packages.

Risk and Compliance

• Ensure data accuracy, integrity, and security by implementing and adhering to data governance policies and procedures.
• Evaluate internal processes for efficiency, problems, and inaccuracies.
• Responsible for the handling, processing, and cleansing of data.
• Support the implementation of identified key controls and established risk mitigation procedures.
• Work closely with IT and other relevant teams to address data quality issues.
• Assist with policies and procedures for the collection and analysis of data.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Minimum requirements:

• NQF Level 7 in data science, Engineering, Project Management or related.
• 4-6 Years’ experience in the ICT Domain of which at least 3 should be focused on Data Analysis
• Advanced knowledge of SQL/Python/BI.
• Technical proficiency regarding database design, data models, techniques for data mining and segmentation.
• Proficiency in statistics and statistical packages like Excel
• Advanced experience in database management.

Preferred

• NQF Level 8 in Data Science Engineering or related Degree.
• Data Engineering Certifications
• Cloud Computing Certifications
• Project management Skills
• Knowledge of the higher education sector
• Knowledge of SSSIS
• Knowledge of data warehousing
• In depth knowledge of automation, database querying and stored procedure.

Skills and Competencies:

• Problem-solving skills
• Planning skills
• Organising skills
• Communication skills
• Analytical thinking
   

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POSITION OVERVIEW:

• The main purpose of the job is to design, develop (coding, unit testing, implementing software enhancements, 3rd level support) software applications and to build different layers of the infrastructure according to business needs.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Policy, Systems and Procedure Implementation

• Analyze existing system to identify areas for improvement.
• Design infrastructure/deployment strategies of the application.
• Conduct code reviews of colleagues’ work.
• Analyze and translate requirements created by business analysts into a solution architecture.
• Review and grade applications against design standards and principles.
• Ensure that logs are maintained to determine what component of the system is failing and the cause(s) thereof.
• Release the systems to the testing team.
• Provide testable, scalable, and efficient Systems
• Maintain software quality standards and best practice principles.
• Design java applications and code that meet business requirements with appropriate functional and non-functional requirements.
• Develop java applications and code used by the student center model.
• Delivery of software development in compliance with an SDLC process.
• Ensure all code produced has unit and integration tests and are functional.
• Participate in design session and ensure code has been reviewed before it moves to the release branch.
• Ensure to it that the code produced goes to production and works as expected.
• Ensure adequate logging at correct log levels.
• Adhere to stipulated coding standards and best practice.
• Ensure OWASP secure coding standards are adhered to and applied.
• Ensure code produced does not break any build or introduce priority 1 incidents

Core Strategic/Operations Objectives Implementation

• Maintain efficiency of Java applications and code.
• Ensure the best possible performance, quality and responsiveness of the applications.
• Identify bottlenecks and bugs.
• Create solutions to these bottlenecks and bugs.
• Help maintain code quality, organisation and automatization.
• Continuously evolve the current systems and architecture landscape including the proactive management of technical debt.
• Resolve reported production incidents in stipulated timelines.
• Improve code quality and security where flaws have picked up.
• Identify an appropriate communication channel to share requests with 3rd parties.
• Suggest the appropriate communication channel to the infrastructure team to communicate with 3rd parties.
• Agree with the 3rd party on a suitable request and response structure.
• Identify where the current system is lagging.
• Ensure that the system meets all business requirements.
• Ensure that all standard design factors are maintained.
• Identify which components of the system are missing to meet business needs.
• Identify server requirements to determine which server would be suitable to run the application, depending on its load.
• Analyse the logs on the system and on the servers to see why a certain operation/function has not been actioned.
• Determine why the system crashed.
• Place issue in backlog for resolution.
• Refer important issues to the testing or infrastructure team

Stakeholder Management & Relationships

• Ensure effective communication and smooth operation of activities. Software development team point of contact for project resources, consultants, service providers, responding to queries and complaints, and providing necessary information to stakeholders.
• Responsible for disseminating relevant information to stakeholders such as technical documentation, applications architecture, technical understanding of applications/systems to enable knowledge sharing.
• Communicating updates, changes, and other important information related to systems or applications, ensuring that stakeholders are informed and up to date.
• Provide input towards internal audits for the unit and work with the auditor general when needed.
• Ensuring that all records, processes, and procedures are accurate, up-to-date, and compliant with internal policies and external regulations.
• Participate in NSFAS wide service delivery efforts through partnership, engagement, collaboration, and seeking and sharing of information as required.
• Collaborating with other departments and stakeholders to improve service delivery, seeking feedback, and sharing relevant information to improve overall organizational performance.
• Ensuring that all requests are logged, prioritized, and responded to in a timely and effective manner, keeping management informed of progress
• Engage with colleagues using team dynamics, strong interpersonal skills, be able to work.

Project Management & Leadership

• Support the Project Manager with all the internal and external ICT related projects in the unit
• Ensuring compliance with the implementation of project requirements
• Ensure communication among project team regarding ICT projects.
• Participate in regular project meetings, gather information as required and lead the process regarding software development and participate in internal/external audits if needed
• Support the project team and aid to ensure that projects are adhered to. Work closely with other team members to ensure that compliance is maintained.
• Ability to effectively communicate with stakeholders, ensuring that all relevant information is disseminated promptly and accurately.
• Demonstrate strong software development skills to enable project execution and other projectrelated documentation

Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation

• Assist in formal submissions of documents to the unit, timely and in compliance with legal or process requirements.
• Identify potential risks and implement appropriate risk management strategies.
• Stay up to date with ICT Governance legislative compliance requirements and ensure that all policies and procedures are adhered to accordingly
• Information and Knowledge Management
• Conducting research and analysis to identify the information and data requirements of the ICT department and the talent acquisition team.
• Collaborating with ICT team members and talent acquisition team members to understand their data and information needs and requirements.
• Identifying and evaluating various software tools and systems that can be used to store, manage, and analyse data and information related to talent acquisition.
• Coordinating with the ICT team to implement and configure the selected software tools and systems.

Reporting and Accountability

• Organizing and maintaining accurate records: responsible for keeping track of schedules, appointments, and deadlines.
• Creating and maintaining a filing system for documents, reports, and other important information.
• Preparing reports on a regular basis, this could include tracking expenses, monitoring progress on projects and analysing data.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Minimum requirements:

• NQF Level 7 Information technology, Computer science or other relevant qualification
• Drivers Licence
• Computer literacy – Intermediate MS Package Suite
• 3 years’ experience in a similar role, including systems designs.
• 3 years’ experience with Java, Spring, TypeScript, Node.js
• Experienced in Spring boot
• Experienced in agile methodology.
• Knowledge of software development design patterns
• Expertise developing enterprise-level web applications and RESTful APIs using Microservices, with demonstratable production-scale experience.

Preferred:

• NQF Level 7 Information technology, Computer science or other relevant qualification
• 5 years’ experience in a similar, including systems designs.
• Experience in GIT/SVN, Swagger, Rabbit MQ
• Experience in creating unit test using Junit, Mockito or Power mock
• Good knowledge of Microservices
• Experience working with tools like Git, Maven
• Experience with J2EE Web development, Eclipse/ STS.SVN/ Rest web services, JPA/Hibernate
• Experience in markup language such as JSON and XML

Skills and Competencies:

• Problem-solving skills
• Planning skills
• Organising skills
• Communication skills
• Analytical thinking
• Page 8 of 8
• Critical thinking skills

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POSITION OVERVIEW:

• The incumbent will be responsible for the strategic planning, development, and implementation of techniques for merging data from various sources into a cohesive, understandable, and useful format. Ensure that data flows seamlessly between systems, maintaining data integrity and supporting the organisations objectives

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Data Integration/Quality and Architecture

• Develop and implement data integration solutions to ensure seamless flow of data between disparate systems, databases, and applications.
• Responsible for mapping data fields from source systems to target systems, transforming data as necessary to ensure compatibility and maintain data quality.
• Design build and manage ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes to efficiently transfer data between systems.
• Develop workflows, scripts or use ETL tools to automate data movements and transformations.
• Implement processing tools to ensure data quality and integrity throughout the integration process, including data cleansing, duplication, and validation.
• Continuously monitor and optimised data integration processes to improve efficiency, reliability, and performance, ensuring timely and accurate delivery of data to end-users
• Contribute to the development of strategies to improve data integration, analysis and reporting processed within across departments/stakeholders.
• Responsible for designing and implementing data architecture that supports efficient integration, transformation, and storage of data across various systems and platforms.
• Integrate various software systems, applications, and APIs to facilitate data exchange and interoperability across the organization.

Reporting and Documentation

• Provide clear and concise reports to stakeholders, highlighting key findings and recommendations.
• Responsible for documenting integration processes, configurations and workflows as well as generating reports to track performance metrics, KPIs and compliance with SLAs.
• Participation in organizational AI efforts.

Collaboration and Communication

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand business requirements and ensure data integration solutions align with organizational goals.
• Communicate and collaborate with data analysts, developers, and business stakeholders to understand data requirements and ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Communicate findings and insights in a clear and understandable manner to stakeholders at various levels.
• Train end-users on basic functionality

Continuous Improvement

• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices in data integration processes and procedures.
• Identify opportunities for process improvements and automation to enhance efficiency.

Risk and Compliance

• Ensure that data integration activities comply with data governance policies, privacy laws and security standards.
• Evaluate internal processes for efficiency, problems, and inaccuracies.
• Responsible for the handling, processing, and cleansing of data.
• Identify and resolve issues within the data integration processes and infrastructure.
• Monitor system performance, making adjustments as necessary to optimise operations.
• Support the implementation of identified key controls and established risk mitigation procedures.
• Work closely with IT and other relevant teams to address data quality issues.
• Assist with policies and procedures for the collection and analysis of data.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Minimum requirements:

• NQF Level 7 in Computer science, Information Technology or related.
• 6 - 8 Years’ experience in the ICT Domain of which at least 4 should be focused on Data.
• Knowledge of programming languages like SQL, Python, Java, or R is valuable for manipulating and transforming data, as well as for scripting ETL processes.
• A solid understanding of data management principles, including data governance, data quality, data modelling, and data architecture, is essential. This includes knowledge of relational databases, data warehouses, data lakes, and ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes.
• Experience with data warehousing concepts and technologies is important for designing, implementing, and maintaining data integration solutions. This includes knowledge of dimensional modelling, star and snowflake schemas, and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) techniques.
• Understanding of data security principles and compliance regulations (such as GDPR, HIPAA, or CCPA) is crucial to ensure that data integration processes adhere to legal and regulatory requirements.
• Experience with project management methodologies and tools can be beneficial for planning, executing, and monitoring data integration projects, ensuring they are completed on time and within budget.

Preferred

• NQF Level 8 in Computer science, Information Technology or related.
• Cloud Computing Certifications
• AWS Preferable/Cloud Computing
• Project management Skills
• Knowledge of the higher education sector
• Knowledge of SSSIS
• Knowledge of data warehousing

Skills and Competencies

• Data Analysis
• Business Intelligence
• Data warehousing
• Data modelling
• Analytical skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Problem solving & decision-making skills.
• Report writing skills

go to method of application »

POSITION OVERVIEW:

• The main purpose of the job is to design, develop (coding, unit testing, implementing software enhancements, 3rd level support) software applications and to build different layers of the infrastructure according to business needs.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Policy, Systems & Procedure Implementation

• Analyse existing system to identify areas for improvement.
• Design infrastructure/deployment strategies of the application.
• Conduct code reviews of colleagues’ work.
• Analyze and translate requirements created by business analysts into a solution architecture.
• Review and grade applications against design standards and principles.
• Ensure that logs are maintained to determine what component of the system is failing and the cause(s) thereof.
• Release the systems to the testing team.
• Provide testable, scalable, and efficient systems.
• Analyze existing system to identify areas for improvement.
• Design infrastructure/deployment strategies of the application.
• Conduct code reviews of colleagues’ work.
• Analyze and translate requirements created by business analysts into a solution architecture.
• Review and grade applications against design standards and principles.
• Ensure that logs are maintained to determine what component of the system is failing and the cause(s) thereof.
• Release the systems to the testing team.
• Provide testable, scalable, and efficient systems.
• Maintain software quality standards and best practice principles.
• Design java applications and code that meet business requirements with appropriate functional and non-functional requirements.
• Develop java applications and code used by the student center model.
• Delivery of software development in compliance with an SDLC process.
• Ensure all code produced has unit and integration tests and are functional.
• Participate in design session and ensure code has been reviewed before it moves to the release branch.
• Ensure to it that the code produced goes to production and works as expected.
• Ensure adequate logging at correct log levels.
• Adhere to stipulated coding standards and best practice.
• Ensure OWASP secure coding standards are adhered to and applied.
• Ensure code produced does not break any build or introduce priority 1 incidents

Core Strategic/Operations Objectives Implementation

• Maintain efficiency of Java applications and code.
• Ensure the best possible performance, quality and responsiveness of the applications.
• Identify bottlenecks and bugs.
• Create solutions to these bottlenecks and bugs.
• Help maintain code quality, organisation and automatization.
• Continuously evolve the current systems and architecture landscape including the proactive management of technical debt.
• Resolve reported production incidents in stipulated timelines.
• Improve code quality and security where flaws have picked up.
• Identify an appropriate communication channel to share requests with 3rd parties.
• Suggest the appropriate communication channel to the infrastructure team to communicate with 3rd parties.
• Agree with the 3rd party on a suitable request and response structure.
• Identify where the current system is lagging.
• Ensure that the system meets all business requirements.
• Ensure that all standard design factors are maintained.
• Identify which components of the system are missing to meet business needs.
• Identify server requirements to determine which server would be suitable to run the application depending on its load.
• Analyse the logs on the system and on the servers to see why a certain operation/function has not been actioned.
• Conduct investigation on system crashed.
• Place issue in backlog for resolution.
• Refer important issues to the testing or infrastructure team.

People Management & Ethical Leadership

• Commit to the performance contracting and review process in a timely manner.
• Abide by the NSFAS Code of Conduct. Standards of behaviour and ethical principles that all NSFAS employees must adhere to, in order to maintain the integrity and reputation of the Organization
• Familiarize with the code and ensure that their actions and behaviour are in line with its principles at all times.
• Maintaining confidentiality, avoiding conflicts of interest, and treating colleagues and stakeholders with respect and professionalism

Stakeholder Management & Relationships

• Ensure effective communication and smooth operation of activities. Software development team point of contact for project resources, consultants, service providers, responding to queries and complaints, and providing necessary information to stakeholders.
• Responsible for disseminating relevant information to stakeholders such as technical documentation, applications architecture, technical understanding of applications/systems to enable knowledge sharing.
• Communicate updates, changes, and other important information related to systems or applications, ensuring that stakeholders are informed and up to date.
• Provide input towards internal audits for the unit and work with the auditor general when needed. Ensuring that all records, processes, and procedures are accurate, up-to-date, and compliant with internal policies and external regulations.
• Participate in NSFAS wide service delivery efforts through partnership, engagement, collaboration, and seeking and sharing of information as required.
• Collaborate with other departments and stakeholders to improve service delivery, seeking
• feedback, and sharing relevant information to improve overall organizational performance.
• Ensuring that all requests are logged, prioritized, and responded to in a timely and effective manner, keeping management informed of progress.
• Engage with colleagues using team dynamics, strong interpersonal skills, be able to work collaboratively with colleagues, and foster a positive and productive work environment

Project Management & Leadership

• Support the Project Manager with all the internal and external ICT related projects in the unit
• Ensuring compliance with the implementation of project requirements
• Support the project team and aid to ensure that projects are adhered to. Work closely with other team members to ensure that compliance is maintained.
• Ability to effectively communicate with stakeholders, ensuring that all relevant information is disseminated promptly and accurately. Demonstrate strong software development skills to enable project execution and other project-related documentation.

Compliance Monitoring & Evaluation

• Assist in formal submissions of documents to the unit, timely and in compliance with legal or process requirements.
• Identify potential risks and implement appropriate risk management strategies.
• Stay up to date with ICT Governance legislative compliance requirements and ensure that all policies and procedures are adhered to accordingly

Information & Knowledge Management

• Conducting research and analysis to identify the information and data requirements of the ICT department and the talent acquisition team.
• Collaborating with ICT team members and talent acquisition team members to understand their data and information needs and requirements.
• Identifying and evaluating various software tools and systems that can be used to store, manage, and analyse data and information related to talent acquisition.
• Coordinating with the ICT team to implement and configure the selected software tools and systems.

Reporting & Accountability

• Organizing and maintaining accurate records: responsible for keeping track of schedules, appointments, and deadlines. Creating and maintaining a filing system for documents, reports, and other important information.
• Preparing reports on a regular basis, this could include tracking expenses, monitoring progress on projects, and analysing data.
• Managing budgets: responsible for managing budgets and ensuring that expenses are within budget. This requires keeping track of expenses and reconciling accounts.
• Monitoring progress on tasks and projects: It is important to keep track of tasks and projects, including deadlines and progress updates. Ensure that everything is on track and that deadlines are met.
• Providing feedback and suggestions for improvement: have a unique perspective on the organization and may be able to identify areas where improvements can be made. Providing feedback and suggestions for improvement can help to make the organization more efficient and effective.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Minimum Qualification requirements:

• NQF level 7 in Information technology, Computer science or other relevant qualification
• 8 years’ experience in a similar role, including systems designs.
• 8 years’ experience with Java developer
• Experienced in Spring boot
• Experienced in agile methodology.
• Knowledge of software development design patterns
• Expertise developing enterprise-level web applications and RESTful APIs using Microservices, with demonstratable production-scale experience.
• Experience in Industry standard protocols related API security including Oauth
• Demonstrate strong design and programming skills using JSON, Web services, XML, XSLT, SQL in Unix and windows environments.

Preferred

• NQF level 7 in Information technology, Computer science or other relevant qualification
• 10 years’ experience in a similar, including systems designs.
• Experience in GIT/SVN, Swagger, Rabbit MQ
• Experience in creating unit test using Junit, Mockito or Power mock
• Good knowledge of Microservices
• Experience working with tools like Git, Maven
• Experience with J2EE Web development, Eclipse/ STS.SVN/ Rest web services, JPA/Hibernate
• Experience in markup language such as JSON and XML
• Experience on using Quality and Security tools such as Sonar Cube

Skill and Competencies:

• Problem-solving skills
• Planning skills
• Organising skills
• Communication skills
• Report writing skills
• Analytical thinking
• Critical thinking skills

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POSITION OVERVIEW:

• To manage the student accommodation application and query process efficiently, ensuring adherence to relevant policies and procedures, including overseeing a centralised query handling mechanism and leading dispute resolution processes

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Policy, Systems and Procedure Implementation.

• Ensure all student accommodation query and dispute processes comply with institutional policies and standards.
• Maintain and improve systems and procedures that support an effective, centralised query handling mechanism.
• Promote consistent policy application across all team activities.

Core Strategic/Operations Objectives Implementation

• Oversee and manage all student accommodation application queries, ensuring accurate and timely responses aligned with institutional policies.
• Implement and manage a centralised query tracking and resolution system to ensure consistent service delivery.
• Lead the dispute resolution process related to student accommodation applications and allocations.
• Ensure strict adherence to relevant accommodation policies, guidelines, and regulatory requirements.
• Manage, coach, and develop a team responsible for handling student accommodation queries and related services.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, such as residence offices and student services, to ensure smooth query flow and resolution
• Provide regular performance and compliance reports to the Senior Manager.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, systems, and customer experience within student accommodation support

People Management & Ethical Leadership

• Lead the direct reports by setting clear goals, providing coaching, performance feedback, and development opportunities.
• Promote ethical behaviour, integrity, and a culture of compliance across the team.
• Manage workloads to balance operational demands with employee well-being and growth.

Project Management & Leadership

• Manage projects aimed at improving the student accommodation query process and systems.
• Lead initiatives to enhance dispute resolution frameworks and student support mechanisms.
• Monitor project progress and ensure delivery within agreed timelines and quality standards.

Budget Optimisation

• Support financial planning for the query and support team, ensuring efficient use of resources.
• Monitor operational expenditure related to student accommodation support activities.
• Identify cost-saving or efficiency opportunities that do not compromise service quality

Compliance Monitoring and Evaluation

• Monitor adherence to policies, regulations, and service standards within student accommodation support activities.
• Conduct regular audits and evaluations of query handling and dispute resolution effectiveness.
• Implement improvements based on findings to reduce risks and enhance service compliance

Reporting and Accountability

• Prepare and present regular and ad hoc reports to the Senior Manager on student accommodation query volumes, resolution rates, dispute outcomes, and team performance
• Ensure accountability for meeting key service delivery and compliance targets.
• Drive continuous improvement based on data insights and stakeholder feedback

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Minimum requirements:

• NQF Level 7 qualification in Social Sciences, Business Administration, Property, or related field
• Driver’s License
• 5 years’ experience in managing student services, customer support, or accommodation functions, preferably in a higher education environment.
• 3 years supervisory experience
• Strong working knowledge of policy adherence and dispute resolution processes

Preferred

• NQF Level 8 qualification in Social Sciences, Business Administration, Property, or related field
• Driver’s License
• Over 8 years’ experience in managing student services, customer support, or accommodation functions, preferably in a higher education environment.
• 5 years supervisory experience
• Strong working knowledge of policy adherence and dispute resolution processes

Skills and Competencies

• Analytical
• Problem Solving
• Critical Thinking
• Communication
• Customer-Service Orientation
• Data Analysis
• Conflict resolution
• Product knowledge
• Quality Assurance
• Adaptability

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POSITION OVERVIEW:

• Develop, monitor, and maintain NSFAS policies, operation plans, systems and procedures that drive the efficient and effective implementation of the core business strategy in relation to Applications Support Division.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
Policy, Systems & Procedure Development

• Development, monitoring, and management of the NSFAS policy(ies), guidelines, and procedures across multiple operations department disciplines in line with the student-centric model.
• Manage the processes of the applications and evaluations, appeals, disability, student account management and exceptions to maximise the student experience.
• Manage the maximisation of student expectations with the NSFAS applications support programmes
• Manage the stakeholder challenges that emanate from the applications support value chain.
• Manage and develop instruments to track the implementation of the ongoing applications support programmes
• Develop the overall student funding value chain and ensure the processes are student centric.

People Management & Ethical Leadership

• Manage and/or delegate participation in the recruitment and selection of unit vacancies in line with EE targets.
• Delegate applications support programmes to relevant subunits for implementation.
• Lead and manage the unit team to achieve the set and agreed programmes.
• Direct, inspire, coach and mentor subordinates to deliver quality programmes in line with NSFAS Values
• Lead and manage the individual performance contracting and review process for subunits.
• Lead and manage all disciplinary matters of subunits related to performance and conduct issues.

Stakeholder Management & Relationships

• Oversee the utilisation and implementation of the applications support policies, processes, efficiency channels and databases to resolve stakeholder queries and complaints.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders to enable the successful resolution of applications support programmes.
• Manage and delegate the sharing of accurate and reliable data and information to ongoing student support units and institutions of higher learning for the smooth student experience.
• Manage the publication and updating of the details of NSFAS application support.

Project Management & Leadership

• Manage and supervise the projects to address identified needs as per the Applications support strategy.
• Analyse and interpret project reports on completion of the project to evaluate return on investment and to inform decision-making in the unit.

Compliance Monitoring & Evaluation

• Lead and manage the plans and processes of verification, compliance, registration, and deregistration data to support the mandate of the student account management.
• Lead and manage the plans and processes that support the implementation of identified key controls and established risk mitigation procedures.
• Analyse and improve the audit, risk, and compliance outlook.
• Lead and manage the implementational audit plan.

Information & Knowledge Management

• Collaborate with stakeholders to build systems that enable the management of data obtained from different sources.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to use their experience, education and understanding to obtain knowledge from this information.

Reporting & Accountability

• On unit strategic KPIs progress
• On the unit operational plan progress
• On strategic stakeholders’ issues and interventions management
• On internal and external audit and risk
• On any other work in the mandate of the application support unit

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Minimum requirements:

• NQF Level 8 in Commercial, Legal, Business Administration, Information Systems, or related fields
• Computer literacy – Intermediate MS Package Suite
• Driver’s License.
• 10 Years’ experience in the general various operations units of which 5 should be at the senior management level.
• Advanced project management Skills.
• Advanced Knowledge of the higher education sector
• Experience in the application management programmes.

Preferred

• NQF Level 9 in Commercial or related fields
• Computer literacy – Advanced MS Package Suite
• Driver’s License
• 15 Years’ experience in the general operations of which 10 should be at the management level in the higher sector.
• Advanced project management skills
• Advanced knowledge of the higher education sector.

Skills and Competencies:

• Strategic and visionary
• Project Management
• Interpersonal Skills
• Data Analysis
• Presentation Skills
• Goal orientation skills
• Influential and advocacy
• Systems and IT flair
• Stakeholder Management
• People Management

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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