Management consulting firm Monocle is rapidly expanding its operations, with the firm now boasting offices in London and Amsterdam, as well as Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Monocle specialises in banking and insurance, with the firm assisting most of the large banks in South Africa and several prominent local insurers by acting as a project execution partner.
“We translate complex regulatory and business change objectives into data- and systems-level solutions and partner with our clients to implement these changes and streamline their business operations,” said Willie Ehlers, Monocle’s Chief Operating Officer.
“More specifically, we assist our clients to develop their capabilities across the regulatory and financial landscape, enabling them to keep pace with Basel regime changes and other regulatory requirements, such as IFRS 9, IFRS 17 and anti-money laundering laws.”
Ehlers said that Monocle also assists with regulatory reporting, various risk management implementations, risk finance and treasury integration, digital transformation and automation, customer-centric analytics, and implementing large vendor products in the risk and markets space, to name a few.
Open positions
With demand for the firm’s services growing locally and internationally, Ehlers said Monocle is planning to add 100 additional consultants to its growing ranks over the next six months.
“We are currently looking for people with some professional experience to fill the roles of business analyst, financial and data engineer, data analyst, data scientist, system analyst and project/programme manager. These roles are embedded in our consulting levels.
“In addition, we are also looking to fill management roles, in which successful candidates will manage our consulting teams and provide subject matter expertise to our clients.”
Ehlers added that Monocle is looking for individuals who possess more than simply ‘the right degree’.
“In fact, we do not favour any specific qualification but focus primarily on finding individuals who possess a balance between academic smarts, pragmaticism, and critical thinking capabilities. Individuals who have a knack for solving complex business problems.”
Ehlers said that the firm is hiring across a diverse range of skillsets and backgrounds, including:
- Management accountants;
- CAs;
- CIMAs;
- CFAs;
- FRMs;
- Financial and risk professionals;
- Engineers;
- Data specialists;
- Cloud practitioners;
- Other technology experts.
“Ultimately, we are looking for ambitious people who wish to excel in a career of management consulting, and who are able to combine their technical skills, whether it be coding or process-driven thinking, with subject matter expertise in banking or insurance,” Ehlers said.
“Critically, at Monocle, we want to work with well-rounded individuals who can think on their feet and who are energised by new challenges. They must be able to work in a dynamic environment where one day never looks like another and perform well under pressure to meet client objectives.”
He said that the perfect candidate also has an enquiring mind and is eager to learn and improve their professional skillset.
You can find out more about the positions available here.
Positions open overseas
Ehlers said Monocle’s strategy has been to grow its footprint and contribution to the financial services industry, and in recent years, it has decided to diversify geographically.
“While there are certain regional and country-specific nuances in terms of business focus and regulatory frameworks, we have found that for the most part, banks in South Africa and abroad have similar change requirements.
“Given these similarities, we have identified many opportunities to apply our trade internationally to service a larger client base.”
Monocle also strongly believes that South African talent ranks up there with the best in the world.
“Our UK and European operations, therefore, allow us to leverage our existing and growing workforce, while simultaneously enabling us to provide our consultants with a valuable opportunity to gain international exposure and experience abroad.”
Monocle has a structured transfer application process through which medium- to long-term South African employees are invited to apply for a UK or European transfer, he said.
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https://businesstech.co.za/news/banking/530846/a-top-management-consulting-firm-is-on-a-major-hiring-spree-in-south-africa-heres-what-they-are-looking-for/
