Senior Pricing Specialist

Sygnia is an innovative FinTech company based in South Africa and listed on the main board of the JSE. The company provides asset management, stockbroking, and administration services, as well as a wide range of savings products, to institutional and retail clients. All that we do is supported by leading-edge technology platforms.

We are seeking a detail-oriented and experienced Senior Pricing Specialist to join our Valuations team. The role is instrumental in ensuring the accurate pricing of financial instruments and portfolios across various fund types, including life portfolios, collective investment schemes, and exchange-traded funds.

The successful candidate will play a key role in maintaining and enhancing pricing methodologies, implementing valuation policies and controls, performing complex valuations, and supporting automation and process improvement initiatives. This position will also include regular interaction with data providers, investment professionals, and operational stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

Instrument Pricing

• Ensure accurate and timely pricing of a wide range of financial instruments including equities (listed and unlisted), bonds, derivatives, pooled products, and alternative investments;
• Validate and monitor daily pricing feeds from market data providers and ensure alignment with the valuations policy;
• Analyse and interpret complex pricing scenarios using appropriate models, market data and judgement;
• Support the design and maintenance of automated exception reports and alerts for pricing anomalies.

Portfolio Pricing

• Contribute to the accurate daily and monthly pricing of life portfolios, segregated portfolios, pooled portfolios, collective investment schemes and ETFs;
• Assist with the implementation and monitoring of benchmark return controls;
• Investigate and resolve pricing discrepancies or valuation breaks across portfolios.

Valuation Controls and Compliance

• Ensure compliance with internal pricing policies and regulatory valuation standards;
• Perform pricing validation checks and ensure audit trails are maintained;
• Support internal and external audits by preparing documentation and responding to queries.

Process Improvement

• Identify opportunities to streamline and automate pricing processes;
• Collaborate with internal teams (including IT, Risk and Fund Operations) to implement system enhancements;
• Contribute to ongoing enhancements of valuation systems and tools.
• Designing of valuation models, methodologies.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage with internal stakeholders, custodians, data vendors, and asset managers to resolve valuation and pricing issues;
• Provide technical input and pricing support to portfolio managers and product teams.

Qualifications Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field;
• Relevant postgraduate qualification or professional certification (e.g., CFA Level 1 or higher) is advantageous.

Experience Required:

• Minimum 5–7 years of experience in asset management, fund administration, or financial instrument pricing;
• Strong understanding of local and international financial instruments and valuation methodologies;
• Familiarity with collective investment schemes, life funds, and exchange-traded funds;
• Experience working with Bloomberg, Reuters, and pricing systems;
• Advanced Excel skills (Power Query, VBA, or other tools advantageous).

Soft Skills Required:

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with strong attention to detail;
• Effective written and verbal communication skills;
• Strong organisational and time management skills with the ability to meet tight deadlines;
• Self-starter with a proactive mindset and ability to work independently and in a team;

High degree of integrity and professionalism in handling sensitive data.