Operations Change & Delivery Specialist

Prescient; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Prescient in South Africa seeks an Operations Change & Delivery Specialist to bridge Operations and ICT project teams, ensuring clear requirements, ownership, deadlines and controlled rollouts.

You will coordinate a portfolio of Operations-related ICT projects, gather stakeholder feedback, track milestones and manage risks across the project lifecycle.

This role emphasizes governance, reporting and continuous improvement within a regulated financial services environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in fund administration, investment operations or fund services.
• Senior level operations experience with stakeholder collaboration.
• Strong understanding of investment operations processes in financial services.
• Ability to coordinate, prioritize, and oversee operational activities.

Responsibilities

• Maintain a complete and accurate register of Operations-related ICT projects.
• Status, owner, priority, due date, blockers and next actions must be current.
• Act as the primary Operations coordination point with ICT project teams.
• Obtain structured feedback from department heads and stakeholders.
• Track deadlines, milestones, testing windows, approvals, rollout dates and owners.
• Coordinate the gathering and clarification of business requirements.
• Coordinate Operations involvement in testing, release readiness, sign-off, training and rollout.
• Maintain visibility of risks, dependencies and blockers.
• Prepare concise status reporting for management forums.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Project coordination

Delivery tracking

Risk management

Cross-functional

Change management

Operational liaison

Communications

Education

Relevant financial qualification / post graduate qualification

Job description

Purpose of role:

The Operations Change & Delivery Specialist acts as the operational interface between Prescient Fund Services Operations and ICT project team. The role coordinates operational technology initiatives from requirement clarification through to development tracking, testing, rollout and post-implementation review. The individual is an Operations resource, not an ICT resource, and is accountable for ensuring operational priorities, stakeholder feedback, deadlines, risks and dependencies are clearly managed and visible throughout the project lifecycle.

The role is to create one coordinated Operations voice for technology and development change: clear requirements, clear ownership, clear deadlines, clear feedback loops, and controlled rollouts.

Duties and responsibilities:

Operational Project Portfolio Coordination

• Maintain a complete and accurate register of Operations-related ICT projects, enhancements and development initiatives.
• Status, owner, priority, due date, blockers and next actions must be current and visible to relevant stakeholders.

Operations and ICT Interface Management

• Act as the primary Operations coordination point with ICT project teams. Ensure that operational priorities, requirements, dependencies and timelines are understood, documented and followed through.

Department Head Feedback and Stakeholder Alignment

• Obtain structured feedback from relevant department heads and operational stakeholders. Consolidate feedback into clear actions, decisions and escalations so that project direction remains aligned to operational needs.

Deadline, Milestone and Action Tracking

• Track deadlines, milestones, testing windows, approvals, rollout dates and action owners. Proactively elevate slippage, unresolved dependencies or decision delays before project delivery is materially impacted.

Business Requirements and Prioritisation Support

• Coordinate the gathering and clarification of business requirements. Ensure requirements are sufficiently clear, agreed by Operations, and prioritised before ICT development work proceeds.

Testing, Sign-off and Rollout Coordination

• Coordinate Operations involvement in user acceptance testing, release readiness, business sign-off, training/communications and controlled rollout into production.

Risk, Issue and Dependency Management

• Maintain visibility of operational risks, ICT dependencies, resource constraints, unresolved decisions and delivery blockers. Escalate matters with clear impact, proposed resolution and required decision.

Governance, Reporting and Continuous Improvement

• Prepare concise status reporting for management forums. Capture lessons learned after rollout and recommended improvements to the project/change process, control environment and stakeholder engagement model.

Required qualifications and experience:

• Relevant financial qualification / post graduate qualification.
• Extensive experience within a fund administration, investment operations, or fund services environment.
• Proven ability to operate at a senior level within an operations function, taking ownership of deliverables and driving outcomes through collaboration with multiple stakeholders and team members.
• Strong understanding of investment operations processes, controls, and service delivery within a regulated financial services environment.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate, prioritise, and oversee operational activities while maintaining a high standard of accuracy and client service.

Advantageous

• Previous experience in a similar operational leadership or specialist role within fund administration or asset servicing.
• Project management experience, including participation in operational enhancements, system implementations, process improvements, or client onboarding initiatives.
• Experience managing deliverables across teams and contributing to strategic operational projects.

Key Capability

• Ability to lead and deliver through others, influencing stakeholders and coordinating cross-functional teams to achieve business objectives.

Key competencies:

• Strong understanding of fund administration operations and business process flows.
• Project coordination and delivery tracking discipline.
• Ability to operate across Operations and ICT without formal line authority.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
• Structured work style, attention to detail and strong follow-through.
• Ability to translate operational needs into clear requirements and actions.
• Risk, issue and dependency management mindset.
• Assertiveness, confidence and sound judgement when escalating matters.
• Change management and rollout coordination capability.

Why this role:

An excellent newly created position for an experience operational specialist to create one coordinated Operations voice for technology and development change. We are looking for someone who will drive and deliver clear requirements, clear ownership, clear deadlines, clear feedback loops, and controlled rollouts. This role offers exciting challenge and exposure.