ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: PERSAL AND VULINDLELA OPERATIONS (EPP)

Job Overview

An Assistant Director position is available for PERSAL and Vulindlela Operations within the Office of the Accountant-General based in Pretoria, with a salary of R605 742 per annum. The role involves maintaining, supporting, and modernising transversal financial management systems. Requirements include a Grade 12 certificate, a minimum National Diploma (NQF Level 6) in IT, Information Systems, or Business Analysis, and at least 3 years of relevant system support or operations experience, alongside knowledge of PERSAL and public-sector financial frameworks.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Grade 12 certificate
• Minimum National Diploma (NQF Level 6) in Information Technology, Information Systems, or Business Analysis
• Bachelor's Degree (NQF Level 7) in IT, Information Systems, or Business Analysis is an added advantage
• Qualification in Project Management is an added advantage
• Minimum of 3 years' experience obtained in an application or 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
• Knowledge and experience of PERSAL and its operations

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Maintain, configure and enhance PERSAL, Vulindlela and related transversal financial management systems in line with approved policies, procedures, standards and controls.
• Analyse policy, business and user requirements and translate approved changes into system specifications, functional requirements and technical implementation actions.
• Coordinate system design, development, configuration, testing, quality assurance, implementation and post-implementation support for new or enhanced system functionality.
• Support modernisation, patching, upgrades and integration activities by providing functional clarification, operational input and implementation support.
• Maintain technical documentation, system rules, control records, standard operating procedures, user guides and knowledge articles to support consistent service delivery.
• Provide operational and technical support for payroll, EFT, EDT, SCOA, reporting, leave, salary package structuring and related financial management system processes.
• Monitor system availability, peak-period readiness, processing schedules, pay dates, closing dates, disk-space requirements and recovery measures to support business continuity.
• Apply approved system controls to prevent irregular, duplicate, unauthorised or non-compliant payments and transactions, including deceased-employee salary controls and exception management.
• Support user access management, role and profile maintenance, access reviews and segregation-of-duties controls in line with security requirements.
• Monitor and report on service performance, incident trends, request volumes, turnaround times and operational risks to support continuous improvement.
• Coordinate change and release activities for enhancements, upgrades, patches, initiatives and new implementations in line with approved governance processes.
• Conduct and coordinate technical, functional, user-acceptance and post-implementation testing to confirm that implemented functionality meets approved requirements.
• Support feasibility assessments, planning, implementation readiness, defect resolution and stakeholder communication for approved system changes.
• Ensure requests are recorded, assessed, approved, prioritised and implemented in a controlled manner to protect system integrity and avoid duplication.
• Liaise with departments, internal teams, external institutions, service providers and forums to identify, analyse, prioritise and resolve system incidents, queries and service requests.
• Provide third-level support, technical guidance and expert input for escalated PERSAL and financial management system matters.
• Prepare and issue system notices, circulars, user messages, implementation communications, audit inputs and stakeholder updates relating to system changes and operations.
• Coordinate user forums, stakeholder engagements, intervention strategies and knowledge-sharing activities to strengthen user readiness and service continuity.
• Support compliance with approved policies, regulations, delegations, standards, audit requirements, service levels and operational controls across system maintenance and support activities.
• Assist with policy research, analysis and alignment of system competencies with requirements from DPSA, Office of the Accountant-General, CPO and other relevant stakeholders.
• Support contractor deliverables by coordinating work allocation, SCC activities, timesheet and overtime recommendations, SLA monitoring and remedial actions where required.
• Facilitate documentation, knowledge transfer and collaboration between officials, consultants and service providers to strengthen internal capability and reduce dependency on external support.

Enquiries & Contact