Allan Gray Jobs

To apply, click on the link at the end of the posts and all the best with your applications.

1. Consultant
2. Server Engineer
3. Intermediate Application Support Analyst
4. Intermediate Test Analyst (Manual & Automation) 
5.  Intermediate Test Analyst (Manual & Automation)
6. Investment Service Consultant
7. Support Analyst

Consultant

About Allan Gray

Allan Gray is Africa’s largest privately-owned investment management company, managing more than R500bn of assets. We are focused on generating long-term wealth for our clients, who include individuals, retirement funds, insurers, trusts, companies and foundations. They invest through our focused range of unit trusts, retirement products and life insurance investment pools or in segregated portfolios across both the Institutional and Retail business. Our headquarters are in Cape Town, with additional offices across South Africa, as well as in Guernsey, Namibia and Botswana.

Why you should consider Allan Gray?

Our steadfast commitment to long-term investing extends to our people, our greatest assets. You will spend your days doing meaningful work and engaging with smart, inspiring colleagues. Growth is an essential part of your journey at Allan Gray, and leaders are accessible to help you develop your skills and set you up for success. Your physical and mental well-being are priorities, and access to services to support you in these areas are provided.

Purpose of the role

The position is within the Retail Operations division, an area responsible for processing transactions from clients and independent financial advisers, as well as providing administrative support for the firm’s retail investment offering.

The purpose of the role is to ensure the high service standard at Allan Gray is maintained through building strong client relationships and delivering excellent client service to our clients and independent financial advisers. You will be responsible for ensuring all incoming instructions are responded to and processed and any pending instructions are followed up on. You will report to a team leader, which requires you to work actively within a team but also independently.

Responsibilities

• Checking and accurately processing all incoming or pending instructions. These include:
  • New business transactions, e.g. opening a new investment account
  • Existing business transactions, e.g. where a client adds or withdraws money or makes changes to their investment
• Providing clients and advisers with a superior level of client service through call and email communications, e.g. responding on time and diligently to all requests from clients, advisers and internal business teams
• Maintaining accurate record-keeping on internal systems of all interactions with clients and advisers
• Knowledge of various legislative requirements relating to investment products
• Supporting members of your team and the team leader, e.g. assisting with technical queries, workflow and processes.

Job Specifications

• Relevant business degree and/or job-related experience
• Sound knowledge of the life insurance industry (including pension funds) and/or the unit trust industry would be an advantage

Key Attributes & Competencies

• Accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent time management skills
• Excellent problem-solving skills
• Client-focused with strong verbal and written communication skills
• Self-motivated and agile with the ability to function well under pressure
• Intermediate computer literacy skills in Microsoft Word or Excel

Location

Cape Town.

Closing Date

30th June 2024. 

Server Engineer

Job Summary

The role covers a broad spectrum of technologies of which the majority relates to the Microsoft stack, this is an ideal opportunity for someone wanting to expose themselves to cloud platforms as we have a huge part of our estate in both cloud providers Microsoft Azure and AWS, the latter being our primary cloud provider. 

The ideal candidate should be adept at a programming language as our cloud adoption necessitated our adoption of Infrastructure as Code across Infrastructure teams. Further to this we need someone who is highly autonomous, detail oriented, possess strong written and verbal communication skills and experience in supporting large scale, enterprise class networks.
 

Job Responsibilities

    Management and Maintenance of Infrastructure in Cloud Platforms
    Management and Maintenance of Microsoft Operating Systems
    Configuration and Housekeeping of Monitoring Solutions
    Remediation of Security Vulnerabilities and Scheduled Updates
    Documentation of Failovers and Procedures
    Vendor Management

Education

    Certification and/or or Degree in Information Systems (Essential)
    Microsoft Windows Server Certification (Essential)
    AWS Certification (Essential)

Intermediate Application Support Analyst

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 advantageou

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

Intermediate Test Analyst (Manual & Automation) 

Overview

Allan Gray Retail IT has a passionate testing community, which includes QA architects and mentors that work together with the testers to innovate, build testing frameworks, and help make our software delivery cycle more efficient so that we deliver good quality software timeously. 
We are looking for an experienced and passionate Automation tester with Oracle and JavaScript experience to join one of our Core administration team. The team is responsible for the core administration system that is developed by a third party. The system consists of a UI (used by administrators to capture instructions), webservices that provide an interface to allow other systems to input and retrieve data, business rules and batch processes.
Automation is a key part in what we do, so we will expect our Testers to have a strong coding background to assist in building the automation systems that enable us to deliver this world class software rapidly. Our ideal candidate is very detail oriented, innovative, self-driven, curious, is a critical thinker, and willing to both learn and share knowledge. Our space will provide the chosen candidate plenty of opportunities to learn about the asset management industry and our technologies, give space for creativity, and an opportunity to provide tremendous value.
 

Job Responsibilities

    Play a central role in implementing best testing practices in the team. 
    Define the testing approach for each sprint. 
    Collaborate with business analysts to extract testing requirements for user stories. 
    Estimate effort for testing tasks.
    Manage and maintain test data. 
    Extend the team’s test framework.
    Contribute to automation of tests in-sprints

• Actively contribute to increasing measurable manual and automation coverage at all levels.
• Maintain existing test packs.
• Document and execute manual tests.
• Create, debug, verify, and maintain automated scripts.
• Review others’ Merge requests.
• Guide test automation in the team.

    Report on test execution, risks, and issues.
    Debug test results.
    Collaborate closely with developers, identifying, logging, prioritizing, and verifying defects in a defect tracking system. 
    Be second line support for production issues.
    Follow and drive root cause analysis to prevent future defects, both in Prod and In-sprint.
    Participate in, assist with, and give feedback on any activities where product quality practices and risks should be considered.
    Share knowledge with, and mentor others.
    Contribute to the use of available tools and technology.
    Implement quality improvement initiatives (supported by Senior testing leadership).
    Actively manage risk. 
    Provide the PO with sign-off of for releases.

Skills and Experience required

    You have experience testing data within databases, reports, and applications.
    You know how to read and write SQL.
    You have a practical understanding of CI/CD.
    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 have and can work under pressure. 
    You have solved complex testing issues. 
    You can understand requirements to come up with sufficient testing coverage.
 

Advantageous

    Experience with testing financial applications.
    A strong understanding of financial rules.
    A strong understanding of Oracle databases.
    Experience managing relations with external vendors.
    Experience in API integration testing.
    Understanding of microservice architecture.
    You can program.
o    You have JavaScript skills.
o    You have experience in other scripting languages.

Minimum Qualifications

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

 Intermediate Test Analyst (Manual & Automation)

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

Investment Service Consultant

Job Title

Investment Service Consultant | Retail Client Services

Short Description

The Investment Service Consultant role is a permanent position suitable for recent graduates with less than 2 years of work experience. 

Job Summary

Why should you consider Allan Gray?

At Allan Gray, you will spend your days doing meaningful and engaging work with smart, inspiring colleagues. Our steadfast commitment to long-term investing extends to our people, and we embrace diversity and offer a supportive work environment. We provide performance-based financial rewards and encourage your career and skills development. Growth is an essential part of your journey at Allan Gray. Therefore, our leaders are accessible to help you develop and set you up for a long-term career. Your physical and mental well-being are top priorities, and we provide access to services and platforms to support you in these areas.

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).

Location

Cape Town

Relocation assistance provided for successful hires outside of CPT (Ts & Cs Apply).

Closing Date

30 April 2024

Support Analyst

Job Description

The purpose of the team is to enable Allan Gray employees with the tools to perform their role successfully within the organization.

The role of the Service Desk Support analyst is to provide first line support to Allan Gray employees related to access management and incident resolution for in-house and 3rd party applications, software, hardware, and infrastructure services.

The role of Queumaster is responsible for the indexing and distribution of incidents and service requests to the relevant IT and non-IT support teams.

The Service Desk working environment is a dynamic, fast-paced, high pressurized environment providing support telephonically using remote tools – SCCM, & Anydesk. ServiceDesk requires rotational shift coverage (7am-4pm/ 8am-5pm/ 9am-6pm) to align with Business weekday operational hours between 7am-6pm. Team members are required to work after hours on an ad hoc basis weekdays or weekends to verify changes impacting ServiceDesk functions.

Responsibilities

    1st Line resolution of IT Incidents and Service Requests via Voice, Email and Self-service portal support channels.
    Access management of in-house and 3rd party applications.
    Assess and determine prioritization of Incident and Service Requests based on impact and urgency.
    Indexing and routing of support tasks to Servicedesk, 2nd and 3rd line IT support teams.
    Identify and coordinate P1 and P2 Incident resolution.
    Adhere to agreed SLA (Service Level agreements).
    Create, maintain, and publish relevant support documentation to assist in the quick time to resolution of incidents and service requests.
    Adhere to the reactive and proactive follow up procedures regarding open Incidents and Service Requests.
    Process & Quality Assure employee movements linked to Onboarding, Crossboarding & Offboarding service requests.
    Facilitate monthly IT Login session for all new starters.
    Recommend efficiencies to existing processes and provide input to new procedures by identifying trends and irregularities in workflow processes.
    Identify and Implement controls to mitigate risk.
    Reporting
 

Requirements

Minimum of 3 years’ experience working in a Service Desk environment with experience in providing IT support using the following applications:
    Active Directory
    Windows 10/11
    Office 365
    Microsoft Authenticator for 2FA
    Mimecast
    Printer Support
    SCCM for remote support and software deployment (Advantageous)
    McAfee / Trellix (Advantageous)
    VPN – Global protect (Advantageous)
    Azure Virtual Desktop (Advantageous)
    ITSM (Advantageous)
 

Skills and Competencies

    Excellent verbal and written communication skills
    Client centric and professional conduct
    Resilience
    Excellent time management skills
    Willingness to learn and stay abreast with latest technology.
    Understand urgency and impact to determine correct prioritization.
    Strong attention to detail
    Excellent problem-solving skills
    Team player

Education

    Bachelors’ Degree / Diploma in IT/Information Systems 
    ITIL certification (Advantageous) 
    Microsoft / Azure / AWS certifications (Advantageous)
 

Location

    Cape Town 
    Current working arrangement: Hybrid of 2 days Remote work from home and 3 days Onsite 

Click here to apply

All the best with your applications.