RMB Credit Analyst - Johannesburg at RMB - Rand Merchant Bank

Purpose: 

• This role provides an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic team in a key growth area within a leading investment bank and to be involved with deals at the forefront of corporate action both locally and in broader Africa in both the listed and unlisted space. The primary purpose of the role is to work alongside deal teams and provide quantitative and qualitative risk assessments of both corporate and family office clients.

Responsibilities:

Unpack and critically think about the risk of new and existing debt and equity deals for clients across a broad range of geographies and industries, which includes:

• Engaging with the client,
• Interrogating a client’s business model and identifying risks, 
• Assessing financial data put forward by the client, 
• Building a financial model to forecast performance or assessing a model put forward by the client or the client’s advisors for accuracy and appropriateness, 
• Working alongside the deal to structure a deal in line with the risk philosophy of the bank,
• Assessing and managing overall limits for a client in line with the bank’s risk framework
• Putting forward a deal for recommendation after objectively assessing all the facts. 

Prepare and present the risk to risk executives in a committee sitting which involves:

• Taking ownership of the application which requires strong report writing skills,
• Managing the timelines of a deal in line with the agreed-upon submission deadline, and
• Presenting a deal at committee and working together with the deal team to take questions and answers which require strong verbal skills, the ability to debate and manage differing views and ultimately influence and negotiate a good outcome for both the client and the bank. 

Stakeholder and relationship management, which includes: 

• Building and maintaining professional working relationships with all stakeholders, which includes working alongside experienced business and risk executives and acting as a bridge,
• Adaptation of communication styles to meet the needs of different audiences, and
• Conflict management.

Key characteristics to thrive in this role include:

• Strong work ethic with a self-starter attitude and a keenness to take ownership of the role’s opportunities and personal development,
• Resilience and an openness to receiving and sharing feedback,
• Ability to handle stress well, which includes self-management of workload (2 to 3+ deals at any point in time), quick adaptation to deal changes, prioritization of deals, and open communication on capacity. 

Qualifications & Experience:

• Ideally CA (SA) or CFA with relevant credit analyst experience within Investment Banking, although a newly qualified CA (SA) or a graduate whose degree has a strong quantitative focus will be considered, provided that the graduate has had exposure to finance and/or accounting.