Quantitative Analyst

Who we are?

Sanlam Financial Markets (“SFM”) is the business unit in Sanlam Group that is responsible for managing shareholder credit, market, and liquidity risks, developing balance-sheet enabled products, and developing solutions to optimize Sanlam’s balance sheet(s) to generate shareholder value. SFM works closely with the Balance Sheet Management function of Sanlam to assist the Balance Sheet Management Function in its pursuit of optimising returns on the Sanlam balance sheet.

Role Purpose

We are looking for a Quantitative Analyst to join the Quantitative Analyis team at Sanlam Financial Markets. The role focuses on quantitative model development, quantitative infrastructure build and maintenance, and active stakeholder engagement supporting and enabling various functional teams in the business.

You will work closely with trading, ALM, risk, operations, and technology teams to ensure that valuations, pricing, risk, and analytics used by the business are correct, robust, and production‑ready, while also supporting key change initiatives such as new deals, new yield curves, and benchmark transitions (e.g. ZARONIA).

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys combining quantitative modelling, software development, and real business impact. It will involve the translation of financial and mathematical concepts using various programming languages to generate actionable insights and production-ready outputs.

Key Responsibilities

Quantitative model development

• Validate pricing and risk models for various financial instruments, using simple to more mathematically complex models, primarily in the equity, fixed income, and FX markets.
• Perform independent checks on valuations, sensitivities, and yield curve construction.
• Investigate and explain discrepancies between models, systems, or market data.
• Produce clear, defensible model development and validation documentation and sign‑off notes.

Quantitative infrastructure & tooling

• Design and maintain backend quantitative libraries and services.
• Build and support APIs and analytics used via Excel and other front‑end tools.
• Implement testing, regression checks, and data sanity controls.
• Contribute to improving reliability, monitoring, and auditability of quant systems.

Key responsibilities Continues

Business support & change initiatives

• Support new business initiatives such as new deals, new instruments, or curve changes.
• Contribute quantitative analysis to regulatory and market transitions (e.g. ZARONIA).
• Work with stakeholders to translate business requirements into robust quantitative solutions.
• Provide day‑to‑day quantitative support to the business where required.

Required Skills and Experience

• MSc (Maths, Physics, Engineering) Degree with 3 to 6 years related experience.
• Strong quantitative, analytical and mathematical skills, required in the construction of yield curves and volatility surfaces, and their interpretation thereof.

• Proficiency in statistical analysis and data modelling.

• Strong Microsoft Office and programming experience in Python, C#, VBA, or similar.
• Understanding of or strong interest in financial markets.
• Knowledge of financial risk management, portfolio theory and portfolio optimisation.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, particularly in the ability to translate complex mathematical concepts clearly, and their effective document thereof.

Desired Experience

• Experience building tools or APIs used by others (especially Excel integration).
• Familiarity with testing frameworks, version control, or production support environments.
• CFA or FRM designation would be an advantage.
• Knowledge of working on risk and trading systems like Murex would be an advantage.
• Prior experience in model validation, risk, or front‑office quant support.

What we Value

• A strong quality mindset: correctness, robustness, and clarity matter more than complexity.
• Ownership and accountability for delivered work.
• Curiosity and willingness to learn both the markets and the systems.
• Ability to work with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Personal Attributes

Build a successful career with us

We’re all about building strong, lasting relationships with our employees. We know that you have hopes for your future – your career, your personal development and of achieving great things. We pride ourselves in helping  our employees to realise their worth. Through its five business clusters – Sanlam Fintech, Sanlam Life and Savings, Sanlam Investment Group, Sanlam Allianz, Santam, as well as MiWay and the Group Office – the group provides many opportunities for growth and development.

Core Competencies

Turnaround time

The shortlisting process will only start once the application due date has been reached. The time taken to complete this process will depend on how far you progress and the availability of managers. 

Our commitment to transformation