Current Vacancies at Allan Gray Proprietary Limited

Job Summary

• At Allan Gray, IT supports the business in delivering exceptional client value and helping our investors secure their financial future. In Retail IT we in-source most of our software development, which allows us to ensure uncompromised quality and the reliable delivery of our applications. 
• Our diverse technology ecosystem, currently migrating to AWS, consists of enterprise applications, a low-code development platform, relational and non-relational databases, and an extensive microservices architecture (built in Scala and Go), all of which is supported and managed through Kubernetes.
• Operations Platform is a diverse, energetic, and driven domain with four Agile teams, committed to providing a platform that facilitates and automates the processing of our clients’ transactions.
• At the core of what we do is migrating a legacy CRM application onto an industry-leading low-code platform called Appian, which is also hosted in AWS.
• Do not be fooled by the "low" in low-code. Low-code does not mean less code; it means smarter code. It’s about abstracting the repetitive and mundane tasks, freeing you from the drudgery of boilerplate code so you can focus on solving complex problems. 

Job Responsibilities

• We develop front-end screens, couple complex business process logic, and integrate with purpose-build backend APIs to tackle intricate integration scenarios that require deep technical and business knowledge.
• We believe the best solutions come from collaboration, so expect to work alongside professionals who are eager to mentor and share knowledge with you.
• During a day in the Operation Platform team, you can look forward to collaborating with team members who strive towards shared objectives: addressing business challenges, fostering technical excellence, and creating a meaningful impact, all while encouraging learning and growth. 
• Some interesting projects we’ve worked on this year include:
• Intelligently automating the allocation work to our consultants through queue management
• Migrating MongoDB (on prem) to an AWS hosted DocumentDB / S3 ecosystem
• Developing complex transactions that integrate with SARS and allow for the combining of clients’ retirement saving accounts.
• Designing and developing the integration for Allan Gray’s new Offshore product (in Guernsey)
• Bulk transacting on multiple accounts in a Model Portfolio solution

Skills and Competencies

• A versatile generalist.
• A tertiary qualification in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Engineering, or related technical discipline.  
• At least two years' experience in modern microservices programming language such as Go, Scala, Java or Python.
• Since we are a multi-technology environment, knowledge of computer science fundamentals in object-oriented design, data structures, and algorithms is required.
• An appreciation of industry best practices for the full software development life cycle, including consistent and clean code, following coding standards, code reviews, and testing.
• A team player who values collaborating and sharing ideas.
• Eagerness to solve problems. 
• Passion to create value and measurable impact for our users. 
• The ability to multi-task, prioritise, and get things done!

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Job Summary

• At Allan Gray, IT supports the business in delivering exceptional client value and helping our investors secure their financial future. In Retail IT we in-source most of our software development, which allows us to ensure uncompromised quality and the reliable delivery of our applications. 
• Our diverse technology ecosystem, currently migrating to AWS, consists of enterprise applications, a low-code development platform, relational and non-relational databases, and an extensive microservices architecture (built in Scala and Go), all of which is supported and managed through Kubernetes.
• Operations Platform is a diverse, energetic, and driven domain with four Agile teams, committed to providing a platform that facilitates and automates the processing of our clients’ transactions.
• At the core of what we do is migrating a legacy CRM application onto an industry-leading low-code platform called Appian, which is also hosted in AWS.
• Do not be fooled by the "low" in low-code. Low-code does not mean less code; it means smarter code. It’s about abstracting the repetitive and mundane tasks, freeing you from the drudgery of boilerplate code so you can focus on solving complex problems. 

Job Responsibilities

• We develop front-end screens, couple complex business process logic, and integrate with purpose-build backend APIs to tackle intricate integration scenarios that require deep technical and business knowledge.
• We believe the best solutions come from collaboration, so expect to work alongside professionals who are eager to mentor and share knowledge with you.
• During a day in the Operation Platform team, you can look forward to collaborating with team members who strive towards shared objectives: addressing business challenges, fostering technical excellence, and creating a meaningful impact, all while encouraging learning and growth. 

Some interesting projects we’ve worked on this year include:

• Intelligently automating the allocation work to our consultants through queue management
• Migrating MongoDB (on prem) to an AWS hosted DocumentDB / S3 ecosystem
• Developing complex transactions that integrate with SARS and allow for the combining of clients’ retirement saving accounts.
• Designing and developing the integration for Allan Gray’s new Offshore product (in Guernsey)
• Bulk transacting on multiple accounts in a Model Portfolio solution

Skills and Competencies

• A versatile generalist.
• A tertiary qualification in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, Engineering, or related technical discipline.  
• At least two years' experience in modern microservices programming language such as Go, Scala, Java or Python.
• Since we are a multi-technology environment, knowledge of computer science fundamentals in object-oriented design, data structures, and algorithms is required.
• An appreciation of industry best practices for the full software development life cycle, including consistent and clean code, following coding standards, code reviews, and testing.
• A team player who values collaborating and sharing ideas.
• Eagerness to solve problems. 
• Passion to create value and measurable impact for our users. 
• The ability to multi-task, prioritise, and get things done!

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Job Summary

• Retail IT Development is looking for a Technical Lead who will play a key part in leading the development team. As this is a hands-on role, you will also be involved in adding and maintaining features to our world-class software and be involved in all facets of the software development process.
• You will liaise with other Senior IT Members and make sure that the technical vision of the company is translated and preserved. Part of this includes performing management duties such as career guidance and performance appraisals.
• As Technical Lead you will ensure the design of clear and simple solutions and that elegant robust code is written as well as provide guidance in troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
• We have adopted a Microservices architecture with RESTful API’s predominantly written in Scala, with many built in Go. Our Microservices are built and deployed on an elastic containerized infrastructure supported and managed on premises through Kubernetes. As a team, we apply best practises in user experience, DevOps, web application architecture, solution design, scaling and testing.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead a team of developers
• Liaise with senior IT members in Cape Town and build software and processes accordingly
• Perform managerial tasks such as: career guidance, performance appraisals etc.
• Design clean and simple solutions
• Ensure that elegant robust code is written
• Improve and optimize the performance of existing systems
• Provide guidance in troubleshooting root-cause errors
• Ensure that unit, integration and acceptance tests for all components are written
• Ensure that build automation scripts are written
• Assist with analysis where required

Requirements

• At least 8 years’ worth of professional development experience
• Experience leading other software developers.
• Line management
• Strong software design skills
• Strong understanding of software development process.
• Proficiency in a modern programming language (Scala or Golang preferred but not required)
• Experience in system integration, distributed computing and building enterprise-wide systems.
• Knowledge of professional software engineering practices for the full software development life cycle, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, build processes and testing.

Qualifications

• Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Science or related discipline

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Job Summary

• The Foreign Trade Operations team is responsible for performing various administrative duties relating to offshore investments for Allan Gray Institutional clients. As a key specialist in the Foreign Trade Operations team, this individual would need to take full ownership of tasks, have excellent attention to detail, be comfortable interacting with various stakeholders e.g., regulators/brokers and have excellent time management skills.
• The candidate will work in Institutional Fund Operations, within the Post-Trade Operations team.

 
Job Responsibilities
Key functional responsibilities of the role 

• Action and monitor the workflow of foreign transactions (purchases, redemptions, switches and transfers) accurately and timeously.
• Performing reconciliations (Orbis Holdings Reconciliations and Unit Reconciliations) of foreign investments. 
• Completing various regulatory reporting including South African Reserve Bank reports.
• Address and resolve ad-hoc internal and external requests and queries relating to the Foreign Trade function.
• In collaboration with the Manager and other stakeholders, ensuring that the team is on track to deliver its’ long-term objectives and ensuring that all aspects are covered in the operating model.
• Drive change by assisting the team through coordinating project and initiative work within the broader area.
• Overseeing project work from planning through to testing, implementation and ensuring that the outcomes upon implementation are in line with expectations. 

Process review and improvement

• Constant focus on reviewing and improving existing operational processes and being proactive in response to internal and external change.
• Eliminating inefficiencies and process waste.
• Driving process change where such areas are identified (in consultation with the Manager and collaboration with other stakeholders)

Stakeholder management and communication

• A key aspect of the role will be to liaise with the various internal and external stakeholders, e.g. Trading, Compliance, Orbis, brokers, exchanges, regulators, custodians and third party administrators that are involved in the various activities.

Experience and Qualifications

• Business related degree.
• A minimum of three years of experience in Fund Operations in Financial Services

Competencies

• Ability to function well in a detailed environment with particular concern for accuracy and quality.
• Ability to deal with complexity and be an analytical, investigative problem solver.
• Proactive, “can-do” and engaged attitude that ensures that tasks get done timeously and accurately, while inspiring team members to do great work.
• Self-motivated, determined and persistent.
• Ability to multitask and work under pressure.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build and maintain relationships. Includes the ability to communicate and interact effectively with people at all organisational levels.
• Ability to work well within a team.
• Disciplined and methodical working style.
• Ability to plan, organise and prioritise work pieces. 
• Conscientiousness.
• Excellent verbal & written communication skills.
• Ability to be proactive to prevent crises. 
• Good understanding of the Institutional business processes is an advantage.
• Knowledge of Charles River, FPM, Invest+, Camunda is an advantage.