Available Roles at Allan Gray Proprietary Limited

Job Summary

To provide an excellent level first and second line support, ensure operational stability and increase efficiency to the Allan Gray Business Users and IT Domains and Developers. We are responsible for a range of departments including Fund Operations, Pricing, Client Operations, Institutional Client Servicing, Trading and Compliance. The successful candidate will be expected to handle all support queries from the Business and IT Domains and Developers as well as analyse/implement fixes and enhancements.

Job Responsibilities

• Incident and Problem Management: troubleshoot/investigate and fix issues raised by the business and the rest of IT. These events could be related to Production or Development Environments and encompass in-house and vendor developed applications (applications include the following technologies C#, JavaScript, MSSQL, Crystal, SSRS)
•  Request management: the fulfilment of requests raised by business and the rest of IT
•  Drive automation of IT processes
•  Maintenance of the production and development environments
•  Work on multiple projects
•  Support domains with the technical setup and configuration of new system implementations
•  Implement access requests while ensuring due process is followed especially with regards to auditing requirements
•  Release Management: release scripts and code ensuring changes are tested and approved
•  Application and Database Performance Monitoring, Investigation and Tuning
•  Liaise with 3rd line development teams to resolve incidents, when required.
•  Business Continuity Planning and Testing
•  Regular updating of documentation
•  Work closely with the rest of IT to continuously drive stability, architecture, process and performance improvements
•  Knowledge of AWS will be advantageous

Experience Required

• 3 years experience in a similar role
• Exposure to the Asset Management business would be advantageous
• Comprehensive working knowledge of Microsoft Windows, Active Directory and MS Office
• Understanding of Database Server Administration and SQL scripting
• Understanding of Networking and IT Security
• Understanding of AWS infrastructure (advantageous) 

Skills and Competencies

• Working knowledge of Azure and AWS (advantageous)
• Knowledge of Allan Gray’s application environment would be a distinct advantage
• A working knowledge of scripting languages (advantageous)
• Able and willing to self upskill.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team
• Strong logical thinking and deductive reasoning
• Ability to analyse and investigate error messages
• Excellent communication and overall people skills
• Enthusiastic and fast learner
• Passion for IT and technology in general
• Excellent time management skills
• Be prepared to work shifts on a rotational basis
• Be prepared to work after hours on a rotational basis (including weekends)
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Ability to function well under pressure in a fast moving environment
• Results orientated
• Ability to accept responsibility for all tasks
• Show initiative for own growth and development
• Detail oriented

Qualifications

• Degree or Tech course in IT, Commerce, Sciences or Engineering faculty
• 3+ years experience in a similar role

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Job Summary

We are looking for an experienced and passionate Test Analyst to join our team. We believe our Test Analysts play a vital role not just in ensuring the quality of the software we develop, but in making it better, all the way from backend to frontend. As a Test Analyst in our team, you will play a critical role in the design of our software to ensure it is developed with quality in mind from the very beginning and solving the many complex challenges along the way, using some of the industry’s latest technologies. Automation is a key part in what we do, so we will expect our Test Analysts to have a strong coding background to assist in building the automation systems that enable us to deliver this world class software rapidly.

Job Responsibilities

• Play a central role in implementing best testing practices in the team.
• Define the testing approach for each sprint.
• Collaborate with Business Analyst to extract testing requirements for user stories.
• Estimate effort for testing tasks.
• Manage and maintain test data.
• Extend the team's testing framework.
• Contribute to automation of tests in-sprint.
• Report on test execution and any risks and issues.
• Participate in, assist with, and give feedback on any activities where product quality practices and risks should be considered.

Experience

• You have hands experience in API testing.
• You can test reports, and applications and know how to read and write SQL.
• You can program (we use Scala, JavaScript and UFT amongst others).
• You have a practical understanding of CICD.
• You care about releasing great software. 
• You know where it is most effective for an automated test to live (Unit, Integration, Acceptance Testing, E2E). 
• You understand the benefits of manual testing but also the costs. 
• You are continually trying to improve your testing skills. 
• You read widely about what is happening in the world of testing. 
• You can work under pressure. 
• You can solve complex testing issues.
• Experience testing financial applications, will be advantageous. 

Education

• Degree in computer science or business information systems ideal, but solid experience will be considered as well

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Purpose of the role

Our Client Service Centre is integral to our service offering for clients and independent financial advisers. As an Investment Service Consultant, your purpose will be to build clients’ and advisers’ trust and confidence through providing world-class service.

Our consultants do impactful work by empowering our clients on their investment journey. You will gain in-depth knowledge of Allan Gray's range of products and develop the necessary skills to confidently communicate with and educate our clients.

Job Responsibilities

• Provide excellent service to investors, potential investors and independent financial advisers via our various servicing channels, i.e. inbound calls and emails, face-to-face interactions, and webchat.
• Build trust and confidence by explaining our investment philosophy and long-term approach to investing.
• Educate clients by sharing product and fund knowledge and empower them to make informed investment decisions.
• Take end-to-end ownership of transactions and ensure accurate record-keeping.
• Actively participate in the organisation’s drive towards continuous improvement by contributing to solutions to client problems.

Skills and Competencies

• This role is suited to individuals who are highly performance driven and seek new challenges.
• A growth mindset and resilience are key attributes to successfully navigate the ever-changing needs of clients and the financial services industry.
• The role requires high adaptability, vigour and agility.
• Our consultants need to be empathetic and client focused.  
• Strong verbal and written communication skills are essential.
• The ability to deal with complexity in a high-pressure environment, analytical thinking, attention to detail and problem-solving ability are crucial to ensure we always do what is best for clients.
• A genuine passion for people and a commitment to service excellence are vital to building long-term and meaningful relationships with our clients.

Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in Commerce or Business Science majoring in Finance, Investments, Economics, Mathematics or Statistics (this is not an exhaustive list).

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Job Description

The main purpose of this role is to provide system and project support within the People Operations’ MIS team. The role will include system process reengineering and project coordination.
The candidate must have a strong interest in system processes and enhancements. They will be expected to initiate and run with improvements of our People Ops processes, People Ops systems and provide quality service to internal users. This role leads the development and implementation of core HR business processes and service excellence solutions that align with business needs and technical priorities. The MIS team manages the employee life cycle on system and is the primary support for the employee data, leave management, performance management and compensation modules within SuccessFactors used by 1500 employees and contractors.
The candidate will oversee the change management cycle including communications and training related to system implementations to drive behaviour changes and adoption. The team works with confidential and sensitive data and a high level of maturity is needed. The role is also responsible for running the performance management process and supports calibration.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the functionality of the following modules within SuccessFactors: Employee Central, Time Off,
• Performance Management, Compensation, Reporting, System Administration, Recruitment, Onboarding, Performance and Learning Modules
• Do detailed systems and process analysis and improvements.
• Document and maintain MIS processes.
• Review system related user guides and communicate changes.
• Co-ordinate projects in the People Operations MIS space.
• Review and improve data quality and system foundational objects.
• Co-ordinate user acceptance testing of the different employee systems.
• Liaise with different IT stakeholders to maintain and improve our employee systems.
• Build and cultivate a network of relationships across the business, particularly IT and other key stakeholders.
• Deliver improved process or system solutions by executing projects from end-to-end, by participating in activities ranging from requirements gathering, gap analysis, solution design, process documentation, system configuration, test planning and execution, training documentation and delivery, deployment, to support.
• Document and publish business processes and user manuals/ documents.
• Train business on system changes and system processes
• Continuously improve usability of the People Operations systems and processes through user interactions and user feedback

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline such as Human Resource Management, Information Systems or relevant 3-year tertiary qualification.
• At least 3 years of experience working with systems, preferably HR systems and SuccessFactors is preferable.
• Proven track record of analysing business processes, preparing detailed functional specifications for required development activities, including reports, interfaces, conversions, enhancements, and forms.

Requirements

• The ideal candidate should have the following characteristics:
• Personal maturity to maintain confidentiality.
• Must be conscientious and proficient at an advanced or intermediate level of Microsoft Excel.
•  Good attention to detail and deadline consciousness. Excellent communication and organisational skills Excellent time management and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to accept responsibility for all tasks done.
• Ability to research, analyze, synthesize, and present information in a meaningful manner.
• Ability to function well under pressure.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team.
• Pro-active, self-disciplined and self-motivated
• Good communication skills 
• Ability to identify gaps in processes and procedures.
• Flexible, energetic, organized, and trustworthy
• Strong work ethic
• Excellent problem-solving skills.
• Passion for internal client service and improving processes
• Must be technically savvy and have the ability to relate to different user groups (technical teams, HR users, employees, and management across).

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Job Description

The candidate will be responsible for assisting the Retail Legal team with a variety of tasks in rendering its services to the broader retail business. The Retail Legal team sits in the Product Development department and assists with the design of products, product improvements, services and operations from a legal perspective. The successful candidate will be expected to respond to queries, make amendments to client facing documents and provide legal opinions to the business, amongst other things.

Key Areas of Responsibility/ Task Requirements

You will be required to:

• Assist in reviewing and interpreting applicable legislation / sub-ordinate legislation
• Providing legal advice to relevant business areas and on relevant projects
• Advise management, employees and clients on all legal matters that affect business decisions 
•  Assess feasibility of existing and/or new products and/or enhancements from a legal perspective
• Respond to legal queries relating to products and product features
• Drafting, amending and reviewing of relevant forms/documents
•  Assist with staff training and/or knowledge presentations (as applicable)
•  Assist with the resolution of disputes: liaising with external attorneys, industry Ombudsman etc.
•  Engage with industry bodies where necessary

 Have knowledge of/familiarity with the following legislation: 

•  Pension Funds Act 
•  Collective Investment Schemes Control Act
•  Long-Term Insurance Act
•  Insurance Act
•  Financial Intelligence Centre Act
•  Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act
•  Financial Sector Regulation Act
•  Income Tax Act
•  Protection of Personal Information Act
•  Exchange Control Regulations 

Have knowledge of various additional areas of South African law, such as:

•  Administration of estates
•  Family law
•  Contract law

Competencies / Personal Attributes

• Good business acumen and problem-solving skills
• Good research and writing skills
• Ability to multi-task effectively 
• Ability to collaborate across teams
• High standard of work / conscientious 
• Deadline and delivery focused
• Able to take initiative / be proactive and exercise sound judgment and decision-making
• Ability to operate independently as well as in a team
• Ability to relate well at all levels of staff and a diverse group of people

Qualifications

• LLB with completed articles
• Admitted attorney
• PGDip Financial Planning (advantageous)