R HIGHLY NEGOTIABLE PLUS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE BONUS
Our client began as a small start-up based in South Africa offering domestic investment strategies. They are active investors. At the company they say they are investing for a world of change. From one office they are now present on five continents. They are aligned behind a common purpose, which is to invest for a better tomorrow.
They now director, operational change to join their team. You will report to the head of operations: strategy delivery.
The operational change team is responsible for designing and delivering operational change
across the firm’s operating platform. It sits within the wider operations function and works closely with teams across operations, client group and Investments, as well as key third-party service providers. Their focus is on ensuring change is delivered efficiently, with minimal disruption to day-to-day activity, while maintaining a strong control environment. The team operates in a decentralised model, partnering with business and tech leads to shape, coordinate and implement change across multiple functions and geographies. This is a senior, business-facing role within the team, designing how we operate when the business
and strategy itself is new or needs to evolve, including new product type, a new technology or
redesigning existing processes to scale. The function of this role is to work out how these are
serviced end to end, and to build the plan, the team and the vendor relationships to make that
happen.
JOB DESCRIPTION WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
- You will be required to design and own the target operating model for new product initiatives — ETF’s, digital-asset structures and new fund structures — from initial concept through to a live, steady-state service;
- You will be required to act as first line of defence on new product and structural change, identifying operational, regulatory and vendor constraints early and shaping solutions before they reach implementation;
- You will be required to translate business, product and regulatory requirements into clear operational designs and deliverables for technology, investment operations and third-party providers, including State Street and Charles River;
- You will be required to coordinate delivery across investments, client group, operations, legal and technology and with external administrators, custodians and platform vendors;
- You will be required to manage the firm’s day-to-day relationship with relevant strategic vendors on change, holding them to commercial, functional and timeline commitments;
- You will be required to lead and motivate teams across Cape Town, London and other locations, driving accountability without direct line authority;
- You will be required to develop subject matter depth across new and evolving product types sufficient to challenge design choices, vendor positions and business assumptions;
- You will be required to leverage AI-enabled tools to support operational design, data analysis and evidence-based decision-making across initiatives;
- You will be required to contribute to a culture of disciplined delivery, collaboration and continuous improvement across the operational change team.:
CORE COMPETENCIES REQUIRED, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
- You have the ability to build and maintain meaningful relationships;
- You are driven by results;
- You have a client-focused and collaborative approach;
- You are comfortable operating with ambiguity and building something new rather than following an existing template;
- You have high conviction and are comfortable sharing opinions;
- You have the ability to analyse, interpret and assimilate information.
CORE QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
- You have senior experience in operational change, business design or a business analyst-type function within asset management or broader financial services;
- You have direct experience designing or standing up the operating model for a new product type — an ETF range, digital-asset or new fund structure;
- You have extensive operational experience in asset management or financial services, with the ambition to move from business-as-usual into shaping how it should work. Prior change experience is useful but not essential;
- You have strong business analysis skills including process mapping, target operating model design and translating ambiguous requirements into clear deliverables for technology and vendor teams;
- You have a track record of managing third-party vendors and administrators through multi-phase change, including holding partners to commercial and delivery commitments;
- You have the ability to influence and coordinate without direct authority across business, technology and external partners, including at senior level;
- You have working knowledge of the regulatory considerations relevant to new product types as applicable to the jurisdictions served;
- You have confidence to challenge constructively and hold stakeholders accountable, including senior internal sponsors and vendor counterparts;
- You have a strong understanding of governance, risk management and delivery controls in a regulated environment.
BRAND new role. Huge exposure – you will need to have great ideas and the ability to launch them. There is a budget and a platform and a vision for change – you need to drive it!