The 24-year-old's final day in the job will be on Friday week, a little more than two years after she replaced Sonya Walker as the association's third manager.
Persico, who studied physical education at the University of Otago in 2010-13, will move home to Nelson.
She does not yet know what she will do, but said it was time for a new challenge.
"I'm just taking some time to re-evaluate where I'm wanting to go from here,'' she said.
"I have kind of realised I haven't seen much of the world and there is a lot of things I want to go and see, and I think now is the time.''
As the association's manager, Persico's role was to look after the day-to-day affairs of Otago rowing and to organise the training of coaches.
Although it was not part of her role, she also helped coach St Hilda's Collegiate rowers for the past two years.
The Otago championships on Lake Ruataniwha this weekend, in which a record 1117 athletes from 31 clubs will compete, will be her last major regatta.
"At the start, I always said I would give it three Otago champs, and this is the third,'' she said.
"I stopped coaching after Maadi this year ... because I knew I wouldn't be here to see out the season. I didn't want to put the girls in a position where I wouldn't be around for the crunch time of the season and leave them high and dry.''
Persico has a rowing background that started when she was a 14-year-old pupil at Nelson College for Girls.
She won two gold medals at the Maadi Cup in the under-16 eight and the under-17 eight in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
More medals followed when she rowed for the Otago University Rowing Club as a student in Dunedin.
Competing at the national championships, she won gold in the intermediate four and eight in 2012 and bronze in the intermediate eight in 2011 and 2013.
Persico said her time in the job had been ‘‘really good'', and was highlighted by a children's winter exchange with Southland earlier this year.
Applications for her soon-to-be-vacated job closed on Monday, and Persico was hopeful an appointment would be made by Christmas.
"I guess it depends if the right person has applied or how long it takes to go through the interview process,'' she said.
Her replacement is expected to start either in late January or early February.
