Equity Middle Office Analyst / Associate at Citi

Role Overview

• The Equity Middle Office team acts as the control hub between Front Office, Operations, Technology, Risk, Compliance and Finance, ensuring the accurate capture, processing, and lifecycle management of equity trading activity. The role is responsible for supporting trading desks, managing trade exceptions, overseeing post-trade processes, mitigating operational risk, and driving process improvements across the equity business.
• The successful candidate will work closely with traders, sales teams, counterparties, custodians, and support functions to ensure trades are accurately processed, settled, and reported in accordance with internal policies and market regulations.

What you'll do

Trade Support & Control

• Provide daily support to Equity Trading and Sales desks.
• Validate trade capture and booking accuracy across Cash Equities, OTC Derivatives and Equity Derivatives.
• Monitor trade flows and investigate trade capture discrepancies.
• Ensure timely resolution of booking issues and trade exceptions.
• Perform end-of-day trade validations and control checks.

Trade Lifecycle Management

• Manage the full trade lifecycle from execution through settlement.
• Monitor trade allocations, confirmations, affirmations, and settlement status.
• Investigate and resolve settlement fails with counterparties and custodians.
• Support corporate action events and associated trade impacts.
• Ensure accurate handling of trade amendments, cancellations, and lifecycle events.

Reconciliation Oversight

• Manage end-to-end reconciliation functions across multiple asset classes and business lines.
• Ensure daily completion of cash, securities, nostro, custody, and derivative reconciliations.
• Monitor reconciliation exceptions and aging breaks.
• Establish and maintain reconciliation procedures and controls.

Risk & Control

• Identify, escalate, and mitigate operational risks.
• Perform daily reconciliations between front-office and downstream systems.
• Monitor and investigate position and cash breaks.
• Ensure adherence to internal controls, audit requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Produce management information and risk reports.

Stakeholder Management

• Act as a primary contact for Front Office, Operations, Finance, Compliance, and Technology teams.
• Liaise with brokers, custodians, exchanges, and counterparties to resolve trade-related issues.
• Communicate operational risks and issues clearly to senior stakeholders.

Process Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve processes, controls, and automation.
• Participate in strategic projects and system enhancements.
• Support regulatory and business change initiatives.
• Document and maintain operating procedures.

What we need from you

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Accounting, Mathematics, Business, or a related field.
• Relevant experience in Equity Middle Office, Trade Support, Operations, or Markets Control functions.
• Strong understanding of equity products and market infrastructure.
• Knowledge of trade lifecycle processes and settlement procedures.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and data analysis tools.
• Johannesburg Stock exchange BDA system
• Omgeo CTM
• Strong understanding of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) market structure, trading environment, settlement cycles, and post-trade processes.
• Working knowledge of BDA including trade processing, position management, reconciliation, asset servicing, and exception management.
• Strong experience in reconciliations, settlements, trade support, or operations control functions.
• Experience investigating and resolving breaks between front-office trading platforms, BDA, and downstream settlement systems.

Shift Requirements

• Flexibility to work rotational shifts due to nature of the roll
• Willingness to support early morning, late evening
• Ability to operate effectively in a high-pressure, time-sensitive trading environment.