Assistant Bursar
A top independent, co-educational day school situated in the beautiful town of Knysna, on the Garden Route, is seeking to appoint an experienced Assistant Bursar to join our finance team and support the efficient, compliant and service-oriented financial management of the school.
Reporting to the Business Manager, the Assistant Bursar will help manage day‑to‑day financial operations, including school fee billing, debtors and creditors, cash management and financial reporting. The successful candidate will play a key supporting role in budgeting, audit preparation and ensuring that our financial procedures are maintained to a high standard.
Key Responsibilities:
- Capture and reconcile financial transactions (fees, invoices, payments, banking, journals).
- Administer school fee billing, receipts, and parent account queries.
- Assist with monthly management accounts, asset registers, and other financial reports.
- Support budgeting, cash‑flow monitoring, and audit preparation.
- Help ensure adherence to financial policies, procedures, and legal requirements.
- Provide HR administrative support, including assisting with monthly payroll processing, employment contracts, and annual HR legal and statutory compliance tasks.
- Perform ad-hoc administrative duties including guiding and assisting departmental staff members when required.
Candidate Requirements:
- Matric plus a relevant finance/accounting qualification (diploma/degree in Accounting, Finance or Business Management preferred).
- At least 3-5 years’ relevant experience in finance; school sector or corporate experience an advantage.
- Strong computer literacy is essential, especially MS Excel and accounting software.
- Prior people leadership and managerial experience is preferred.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with an ability to communicate at all levels.
- Professional customer service orientation, service‑focused approach.
- Detail-orientated and deadline-driven, with the ability to work independently and proactively.
- Excellent organisational and administrative skills.
- Proven ability to multi-task, work flexibly, prioritise and plan.
- Commitment to confidentiality; ability to accurately enter and manage sensitive data and confidential matters.
Important Conditions:
- The requisite working hours are 07h15 – 15h45, Monday to Friday.
- Due to the nature of the role, it may be a requirement, on occasion, to work after hours.
- This is a non‑academic role. Admin staff work during school holidays and receive 21 days’ annual leave.
Please submit a CV with a covering letter on the Google Form link:
https://forms.gle/AxfHFg62ZnBBXpYC6 or Click here to access Google Form
The closing date for applications is Friday 24 July 2026. The starting date for this position is 1 October 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. If you have not heard from the school by Friday 31 July 2026 your application can be considered unsuccessful.
Oakhill School is an equal opportunity employer, committed to employment equity and diversity in accordance with the Employment Equity Act.
Prospective employees are obliged to confirm prior to employment that they have not been convicted of a sexual and/or criminal offence by providing the following current certificates: Criminal Clearance, Sexual Offenders Clearance and Child Protection Clearance. Oakhill School, in line with POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) will attempt to ensure the confidentiality of all applicants for this role.
All reasonable measures will be in place to protect personal information but will be used in the recruitment, selection, and reporting process. By submitting your application for this position, you are recognising and accepting this disclaimer.
