Middle Office Analyst / Assistant Portfolio Manager - Cape Town

Symbiotics is the leading market access platform for impact investing, dedicated to private markets in emerging and frontier economies. The group offers investment, asset management and capacity building services. Since 2005, we have originated over 7, 800 investments representing more than USD 9.8 billion for 590 companies in 96 countries. We manage an aggregate portfolio of USD 2.9 billion spread across 23 funds and mandates. Our portfolio companies have also benefited from over 145 technical assistance projects worth more than USD 18 million. Symbiotics is a certified B Corporation. Symbiotics currently employs 172 people and is headquartered in Geneva, with further offices in Zurich, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Mexico City, Singapore, Cape Town, Delhi and Yerevan.

Symbiotics Asset Management is part of the Symbiotics Group and offers tailored sustainable portfolio management services for investors, with close to USD 3 billion of assets under management. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) investments are at the heart of what we do, and all our funds are classified as Article 9 under the framework of the European regulation SFDR, the highest level of ESG disclosure.

As we continue to expand our reach and deepen our impact, we are looking for passionate individuals to join our team. If you share our commitment to making a difference and possess the skills and experience we seek, we would love to hear from you.

We are a fast-growing, market-leading company offering a dynamic work environment in the growing impact investment space. Join us at Symbiotics and be a part of our journey to create lasting change in the world's emerging and frontier markets.

We believe that in order to recruit the best professionals, all applications must be reviewed equally. For this reason, we will not request personal data such as photos, date of birth, or gender on CV submissions.

This approach ensures fairness and focuses on the qualifications and skills of candidates

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Who We Are Looking For

You are a detail-oriented and process-driven middle office professional who will play a key role in supporting operational activities for our mandates. You will ensure robust middle office operations, from post-trade settlement and cash management to NAV control and reporting, contributing to the efficient and compliant execution of investment operations.

You will act as a central coordinator between internal teams and our external middle office provider, ensuring high data quality and operational oversight. You will also contribute to digitalization projects aimed at enhancing internal workflows and reporting tools.

Based in one of our offices in Cape Town, Yerevan, or New Delhi you will report to the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) based in Geneva, Switzerland, and work in close collaboration with investment teams across our international offices.

Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Deal Monitoring & Cash Management Support :

Track investment deals and terms that have been formally approved and are pending execution or settlement, using data from the PMS and internal pipeline tools

Maintain an up-to-date schedule of expected disbursements, repayment dates, and execution milestones to support accurate short- and medium-term cash forecasting.

Post disbursement trade settlement:

Monitor, reconcile, and validate all trade settlement instructions within the PMS.

Collaborate closely with the external middle office provider and other stakeholders to review trade confirmations, resolve breaks, and proactively address discrepancies.

Ensure timely and accurate booking of transactions in all systems, adhering to settlement timelines.

Ensure that the appropriate documentation is available through Microsoft Sharepoint.

Cash reconciliation and forecasting:

Oversee and validate daily cash reconciliation activities performed by the external middle office provider.

Monitor unresolved breaks and ensure timely follow-up and escalation where needed.

Maintain up-to-date and accurate short- and mid-term cash flow projections based on PMS data and expected investment activity in relation with the third party originators.

Ensure proper integration of disbursement schedules and liquidity forecasts into operational reporting.

Middle Office Coordinator:

Act as the central point of contact for operational coordination between the outsourced middle office provider and other stakeholders.

Ensure smooth communication, timely information flow, and alignment of deliverables across all stakeholders involved in the middle office value chain.

Track and follow up on open items such as trade confirmations, settlement status, NAV preparation inputs, and reconciliation issues, ensuring proper escalation when needed

Maintain a central issue log and coordination tracker to monitor cross-provider workflows and resolve operational bottlenecks.

Act as liaison for middle office-related topics during product lifecycle events (prospectus updates, subscriptions/redemptions, new product launches).

Fee Review & Validation Support :

Perform first-level checks on fund fees (management, performance, administrative) based on data from the PMS and fund administrator

Verify calculation inputs such as NAV, AUM, fee rates, and time periods against contractual documentation

Cross-check fees against predefined templates and control files to ensure consistency and accuracy

Support to NAV validation :

Review the NAV control performed by the external middle office provider, ensuring accuracy and completeness of underlying positions, cash, and valuations

Provide timely and constructive feedback to the external middle office provider, the investment team the originator and the fund administrator if needed in case of discrepancies or

data quality concerns

Based on the external middle office NAV report, prepare a clear and structured NAV review summary for submission to the investment team, highlighting key elements, anomalies,

and justifications

Support the investment team in their final validation process prior to NAV submission to the AIFM.

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We are looking for a dynamic person who is quality-focused, structured, detailed-oriented with a problem-solving attitude to be successful in a dynamic and challenging environment.

More specifically, you have the following skills and competencies:

Bachelor or Master degree in Business Administration and Economics or equivalent qualification and/or experience

Solid experience (35 years) in a middle office, fund operations, or investment control function within insurance, banking sector or asset management

Proficient with portfolio management systems, fund accounting, and settlement workflows. Knowledge on SimCorp Dimension will be a valuable asset.

Experience managing relationships with outsourced service providers and cross-functional internal teams

You have a high level of reliability, precision, and sense of accountability

You are solution-oriented, eager to improve tools and processes, and comfortable with data visualization (e.g., Power BI)

You have a strong interest in impact investing and emerging market

You are fluent in English

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The chance to contribute to improving the lives of people in emerging and frontier countries, to work towards supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals

A flexible work environment with colleagues from 41 countries

The opportunity to become part of a growing business that pushes you to excel every day while having a positive impact on others