Associate, Financial Markets Sales

Job Summary

Join Standard Chartered as an Associate in Financial Markets Sales based in our Johannesburg office. This role presents an exciting opportunity to contribute to a globally recognised financial institution, renowned for its extensive international presence and deep understanding of diverse markets. In this position, you will play a pivotal role in delivering tailored financing, risk management, and investment solutions to a broad spectrum of corporate, government, and institutional clients. Working closely with teams across origination, structuring, trading, and research, you will help to expand and diversify our product offering in Foreign Exchange, Rates, Credit, and Commodity markets. Your expertise will be essential in fostering enduring client relationships and leveraging the bank’s award-winning eCommerce platforms to achieve client success.

As part of a collaborative team, you will gain exposure to fast-paced, innovative financial markets environments, contributing to strategic initiatives that influence the bank’s market positioning and client satisfaction globally.

Key Responsibilities

These responsibilities require a proactive approach, strong analytical capability, and excellent communication skills to successfully navigate complex financial environments.

• Partner with cross-functional teams including origination, structuring, trading, and research to design and implement innovative financial solutions that meet client-specific needs.
• Stay attuned to global market trends and regulatory developments to adapt sales strategies proactively and maintain competitive advantage.
• Drive franchise growth by analysing transaction flows and market movements across regions, framing impactful trade ideas and sharing insights with global sales teams.
• Engage directly with clients’ key decision makers via regular communication, visits, and presentation of relevant financial market solutions, fostering long-term partnerships.
• Collaborate with Relationship Managers to originate and onboard new clients, effectively marketing the full suite of financial market products.
• Ensure meticulous management of daily sales flow activities in compliance with all internal controls and regulatory standards.
• Contribute to automating product offerings to enhance client experience and operational efficiency.
• Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the wider economic and business contexts influencing financial markets to better serve client needs.
• Lead and deliver on assigned projects and initiatives aligned with the department’s objectives.
• Identify and exploit new opportunities within various regional markets and client segments, contributing to revenue growth.
• Provide cross-country coverage for Financial Markets Sales within the Southern Africa cluster, coordinating through the established SLA frameworks.

Skills And Experience

Successful candidates are expected to demonstrate a blend of technical and interpersonal skills essential for excelling in Financial Markets Sales:

• Client Relationship Management: Proven ability to build and maintain trust-based client relationships, effectively understanding and anticipating client needs.
• Market Insight and Customer Understanding: Deep comprehension of customer behaviour and preferences, facilitating tailored sales strategies.
• Sales Expertise: Skilled in crafting compelling sales proposals and delivering persuasive presentations that lead to successful sales closures and agreements.
• Cross-Selling Proficiency: Ability to identify and capitalize on cross-selling opportunities within existing client portfolios to enhance revenue streams.
• Risk Management Knowledge: Understanding of Interest Rate Risk (IRR) and broader financial risk management concepts relevant to market products.
• Technical Competency: Comfortable navigating and leveraging financial market products, including Foreign Exchange, Rates, Credit, and Commodities.

Qualifications

• A university degree in finance, economics, business, or a related field is required to ensure a solid academic foundation.
• Professional certifications such as ACI (The Financial Markets Association) certification and SAIFM (South African Institute of Financial Markets) RPE examinations are necessary, demonstrating industry-recognized expertise.
• Fundamental knowledge of Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange, Money Markets, and related financial products with the operational understanding of market mechanisms and processes.
• Strong numerical and computer skills to manage complex financial calculations and utilize trading platforms effectively.
• Resilience and ability to perform accurately under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
• An economic background that supports sound analytical thinking and the ability to structure deals proficiently.
• Excellent marketing and communication capabilities, complemented by robust interpersonal skills to interact adeptly with clients and internal stakeholders.

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together We

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What We Offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.