Equities,Trade Support Specialist

Liberty is currently seeking a highly skilled Trade Support Specialist to join their Equities team in Johannesburg. This role is positioned within the heart of their Global Markets division, focusing on the intricate processes that underpin the lifecycle of complex financial trades. If you have a background in financial operations and a meticulous eye for detail, this opportunity offers a chance to work within a major financial institution that plays a key role in the broader African economic landscape.

About the role

The successful candidate will take responsibility for the end-to-end lifecycle of various Global Markets trades across multiple asset classes. In this position, you will be expected to exercise a high level of professional judgement to verify trade accuracy, manage client data, and oversee the successful booking, matching, and settlement of transactions.

A primary focus of this role is operational risk mitigation. You will act as a key point of contact for resolving trade exceptions and addressing queries from various stakeholders. Beyond day-to-day processing, the organisation is looking for an individual who can proactively identify bottlenecks and suggest improvements to existing workflows to increase overall efficiency.

Your daily responsibilities will revolve around ensuring that complex trades are executed and settled according to strict internal and regulatory standards. Your core duties will include:

• Executing both standard and non-standard procedures to ensure trades are booked and allocated correctly.
• Monitoring the trade lifecycle to ensure that all events are processed accurately and in a timely manner.
• Investigating and resolving trade exceptions to prevent adverse impacts on the business or the client.
• Interfacing with various departments, including technology, finance, and front-office trading teams, to ensure seamless coordination.
• Analysing internal processes to recommend and implement improvements that streamline the trade value chain.
• Applying a deep understanding of pricing and risk management to assess how various trades impact the broader P&L and operational risk profile.

What they're looking for

To be considered for this role, you will need a solid academic foundation and several years of relevant, hands-on experience in trade support operations. The hiring team is specifically looking for:

• **Qualifications:** A completed first degree in Commerce, Finance, Accounting, or Mathematical Sciences.
• **Experience:** 3 to 5 years of proven experience in Global Markets trade support, with exposure to a variety of complex financial products and instruments.
• **Technical Proficiency:** Advanced knowledge of trade lifecycles, derivatives markets, and the practical application of risk management principles. You should be highly comfortable with banking industry software and advanced Microsoft Office tools.
• **Soft Skills:** The ability to self-manage and work effectively across cross-functional teams is essential. The role demands composure under pressure, an analytical mindset, and the ability to articulate complex financial information clearly to various stakeholders.

In the South African financial services sector, roles of this nature typically attract professionals with a strong grasp of both the front-office trading environment and the back-office control functions. Compensation for a Trade Support Specialist with this level of experience usually reflects the critical nature of the role, often sitting within the middle-to-senior salary brackets for operations staff. As this position sits within a large group, there is significant potential for long-term growth into middle-office management, risk analysis, or specialized project roles within the bank's global markets infrastructure.

Type of Qualification: First Degree
Field of Study: Business Commerce, Finance and Accounting, Mathematical Sciences

Experience Required
Trade Support
Operations
3-5 years
Ability to self manage, coordinate across teams and stakeholders within business, operations, technology and finance.

3-5 years
Advanced experience in the Trade Lifecycle of Global Markets environment. Covering multiple products ranging in complexity.

3-5 years
Principles and practical application of pricing and risk management and the impact of these on risk, P&L and entire value chain.

3-5 years
Proficient technology experience and the ability to manage desk specific systems, software and processes, including Microsoft applications and other banking industry systems.

3-5 years
Seasoned knowledge and understanding of trading environment (end-to- end value chain) across products / instruments traded with system and manual process complexity.

Behavioural Competencies:

• Adopting Practical Approaches
• Articulating Information
• Challenging Ideas
• Conveying Self-Confidence
• Developing Expertise
• Documenting Facts
• Interpreting Data
• Producing Output
• Pursuing Goals
• Showing Composure
• Team Working
• Upholding Standards

Technical Competencies:

• Business Process Improvement
• Continuous Process Improvement
• Deal or Trade Life Cycles
• Deal Set-up & Administration
• Derivatives Markets
• Evaluation of Internal Controls
• Exception Handling
• Manual Deal or Trade Processing
• Process Analysis and Redesign
• Product Knowledge (Trading, Transacting)
• Query Resolution
• Technology Savvy