Senior Technical Operations Specialist

Full description

Position Type Permanent Role Family Investments Cluster Group Finance Remote Opportunity Some of the time Location - Town / City Centurion and/or Cape Town (PDC) Introduction Momentum Group, through its client-facing brands Metropolitan and Momentum, its wellness and rewards programme Multiply, and specialist businesses including Guardrisk and Eris Property Group, enables individuals and organisations to achieve their financial goals and aspirations. We help individuals grow their savings, protect what matters and invest for the future. We also help organisations care for and reward their employees and members. Through our adviser network, independent brokers and digital platforms, Momentum Group delivers practical financial solutions to individuals, communities and businesses. Visit us at www.momentummetropolitan.co.za Disclaimer As an applicant, please verify the legitimacy of this job advert on our company career page. Role Purpose This position is located within Group Investment Services (Momentum Group Finance) and may be based at the Centurion Head Office or the Parc du Cap office in Cape Town. The role provides strategic and functional leadership for Multi-Manager Unitisation and related technical matters across Group Investment Services and is accountable for the operating model’s governance, control effectiveness and operational performance. The incumbent translates business strategy, client mandates and regulatory requirements into sustainable operating frameworks; exercises delegated authority over complex portfolio implementations, pricing and fee matters; and leads cross-functional initiatives that materially affect policyholder outcomes, operational risk and service delivery. - Provide strategic oversight of portfolio structures, cash-flow management and specialised fund-transition activities. - Oversee daily NAV and pricing controls, including unit-price rebuilds, impact assessments and client-product performance validation. - Oversee policyholder fee-accrual calculations, including management fees, capital gains tax, dividend withholding tax and Real Estate Investment Trust income tax. - Lead business-process impact assessments for strategic client onboarding and portfolio initiatives, and direct the redesign, approval and implementation of affected operating processes. - Establish process requirements, control standards, accountable owners and success measures, ensuring that material operational, client and regulatory risks are addressed before implementation. - Lead the design, implementation and ongoing governance of the Multi-Manager Unitisation operating model in collaboration with GIS management, mandate owners, Finance, Tax, Risk, Compliance, Technology and other relevant functions. Requirements - An appropriate commerce degree or equivalent qualification. - A thorough understanding of SA Life Pooled fund processes - A thorough understanding of SA Insurer Investment Asset reporting requirements - A minimum of 8–10 years’ relevant experience in investment operations, including substantial experience in multi-manager investment administration or asset management. - Demonstrated accountability for complex implementations, operating-model design, governance, risk management and cross-functional delivery. - Knowledge of unitisation systems such as Interlink, or other multi-manager and pooled-fund administration systems, would be advantageous. - Knowledge of investment-administration systems such as InvestOne, HiPort and Eagle One would be advantageous. - Knowledge of asset-based taxes, including capital gains tax and dividend withholding tax, would be advantageous. - Demonstrated ability to operate with limited executive oversight, exercise sound judgement on complex and unprecedented matters, influence senior stakeholders, support multidisciplinary teams and take accountability for decisions with material client, financial, operational or regulatory consequences. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex investment-operations matters clearly and influence stakeholders at all levels. - Strong programme, project and implementation-management capability. - Strong technical aptitude, analytical ability and attention to detail. - Willingness and ability to work on specialised projects over planned weekends. - Willingness and ability to participate in a rotational work schedule commencing at 05:00. Duties & Responsibilities The role carries end-to-end accountability for the integrity and effectiveness of the Multi-Manager Unitisation operating model, including service standards, control outcomes, implementation risk, material incident resolution and continuous improvement. The incumbent is accountable for decisions and recommendations presented to GIS management and relevant governance forums and must ensure that material risks, exceptions and client impacts are identified, escalated and resolved within approved risk appetite. - Own the design and approval of portfolio take-on, disinvestment and transition plans, including implementation templates, control requirements and static-data standards across unitisation and internal GIS systems. - Exercise delegated authority to approve implementation readiness, prescribe risk-mitigation actions and defer execution where material control, pricing or client risks remain unresolved. - Oversee daily NAV processes, including the investigation and resolution of policyholder product-pricing queries and the derivation of prices using relevant pricing inputs. - Oversee cash-flow management activities in the unitisation system, including rebalancing, switches and structure changes. - Act as the senior technical authority for portfolio implementation matters, unitisation, fee implementation and related pricing matters within GIS systems. - Interpret mandates, policies, tax requirements and operating standards; determine appropriate treatments for complex or unprecedented matters; and recommend or approve solutions within delegated authority. - Ensure that asset-allocation views are implemented in accordance with client and portfolio resolutions received from mandate owners and Momentum Investments. - Apply sound knowledge of asset-based taxes, including capital gains tax, dividend withholding tax and Real Estate Investment Trust income tax, within the unitisation environment. - Assume accountability for material pricing incidents by determining client and financial impacts, directing containment and remediation, approving corrective-action plans within delegated authority, and escalating matters to the appropriate governance forum. - Ensure that incident root causes are addressed and that affected stakeholders receive clear, timely and decision-useful communication. - Validate managed-fund pricing against fund mandates and benchmarks and ensure that policyholder products are priced correctly. - Lead specialised projects relating to portfolio transitions, structure changes and amalgamations. - Oversee client, portfolio and fund-manager fees, including processing, attribution, variance analysis and detailed reporting. - Perform quarterly system-access reviews to confirm that access remains appropriate to users’ responsibilities and supports effective segregation of duties. - Monitor and resolve data-integrity issues across unitisation systems. - Lead the continuous review and enhancement of operational processes to strengthen controls, reduce operational risk and improve efficiency. - Lead strategic GIS programmes affecting unitisation, portfolio structures, pricing, fees, tax treatment and operational controls. Define programme scope and success measures, secure stakeholder commitment, allocate specialist resources, manage dependencies and risks, and report progress and outcomes to senior management and relevant governance forums. - Maintain complete and current process documentation for Specialised Investment Operations. - Analyse incidents and embed lessons learned in process and control improvements. - Provide functional leadership to specialists performing unitisation, pricing, fee and portfolio-transition activities. Set technical standards, allocate and review complex work, coach team members, assess capability requirements, support succession planning and act as the escalation point for matters that cannot be resolved within established procedures. Develop and manage the operating budget and resource plan for the Multi-Manager Unitisation capability. Monitor expenditure, third-party costs, capacity and benefits realisation; investigate material variances; and recommend investment priorities that support sustainable service delivery and control effectiveness. Competencies - Demonstrated accountability for complex implementations, operating-model design, governance, risk management, and cross-functional delivery. - Knowledge of unitisation systems such as Interlink or other multi-manager and pooled-fund administration systems would be advantageous. - Knowledge of investment-administration systems such as InvestOne, HiPort and Eagle One would be advantageous. - Knowledge of asset-based taxes, including capital gains tax and dividend withholding tax, would be advantageous. - Demonstrated ability to operate with limited executive oversight, exercise sound judgement on complex and unprecedented matters, influence senior stakeholders, support multidisciplinary teams and take accountability for decisions with material client, financial, operational or regulatory consequences. - Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex investment-operations matters clearly and influence stakeholders at all levels. - Strong programme, project and implementation-management capability. - Strong technical aptitude, analytical ability and attention to detail. - Willingness and ability to work on specialised projects over planned weekends. - Willingness and ability to participate in a rotational work schedule commencing at 05:00.