Job: Senior Financial Assistant

Location: Chennai, India 
Deadline: Wednesday, 30 October 2013 

Description

Background / General description:

Innovation and partnership bond the five institutions of the World Bank Group (WBG): the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank Group is one of the world's largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It uses financial resources and extensive experience to help poor nations reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve the quality of life.

The World Bank Group's work focuses on achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The goals call for eliminating poverty and achieving inclusive and sustainable globalization. The MDGs lay out a blueprint for the World Bank Group, setting its priorities and measuring its results. The World Bank is the world's largest funder of education; the world's largest external funder of the fight against HIV/AIDS; a leader in the fight against corruption worldwide; a strong supporter of debt relief; and the largest international financier of biodiversity, water supply, and sanitation projects.

The World Bank Treasury ('Treasury', TRE) is the Vice Presidency performing treasury functions for the IBRD and for other members of the World Bank Group. Its activities are organized and grouped along three segments: asset management, banking and debt management, and capital markets services. Treasury has been a large and significant player in the international financial markets for more than fifty years and has achieved a global reputation as a prudent and innovative borrower, investor and risk manager.

Treasury is responsible for:

(i) managing more than $130 billion in assets for the World Bank and other official-sector investors;

(ii) leading the World Bank's financing program in international and domestic bond and derivatives markets;

(iii) conducting asset and liability management for the World Bank's balance sheet;

(iv) overseeing the development and outreach related to the financing and hedging products the Bank provides for its developing-country clients; and

(v) collaborating with the World Bank member countries to help build their capacity. Treasury's staff regularly interacts and collaborates with the other departments across the Bank and Finance Teams, including: Legal Finance (LEGFI), Controller's (CTR), Concessional Finance (CFP), WBG Chief Risk Officer VPU (CRO) and WBG IT Finance (ITSFI).

The Treasury Operations Department (TRO) provides a full range of support functions for Treasury's asset management, capital markets and banking businesses. These include transactions settlements (approximately 25,000 individual transactions per month), cash management, foreign exchange, management of custody relationships and collateral management for Treasury's extensive activities in the derivatives markets. Treasury Operations also provides accounting and financial reporting services to Treasury and its clients.

For IBRD and other World Bank Group clients, this includes internal management reporting as well as 'books and records' accounting, Financial Statement disclosures, and other required reporting. Treasury Operations also collaborates extensively with IBRD members seeking to build capacity in transaction processing and accounting associated with public-sector asset management. Since Treasury's work involves dealing with the global markets, staff may be: on call, required to work on public holidays, required to work on days when markets are open but the Bank is closed, or required to work during London business hours.

TRO is organized in five operational divisions following Treasury's business line operations:

(i) banking;

(ii) capital markets;

(iii) fixed income asset management;

(iv) pension operations; and

(v) shared services.

TRO staff is typically assigned to a particular business line/team and may be reassigned within TRO in response to other business priorities. This structure enables the Department to take advantage of synergies between the respective functions and provides a diversified work program for staff. It also represents a unique opportunity to be part of a dynamic team of finance and accounting professionals.

The pension portfolios consist of assets over $19 billion invested across a a range of asset classes, from fixed income to public equities to private equity, real estate and hedge funds. These investments are done on a global basis, mainly through outside managers. Treasury Operations Multi-Asset Class Services unit (TROMC) under TRO is responsible for providing a full range of functions supporting these investment activities, including the following:

i) pension plan assets servicing,

ii) preparation of pension plans financial statements,

iii) pension investment performance and attribution,

iv) monitors exposures, liquidity and counterparty risks,

v) all investment asset pricing and valuation, and

vi) external clients' reporting.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The TRO Chennai Operations is an integral part of TRO, and is responsible for a variety of duties providing vital support across all the 4 operational divisions. It works closely with the Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Under the guidance and supervision of a Team Leader and/or Financial Analyst, the selected candidate will be responsible for specific individual tasks/projects as well as for working as an integral part of the team in executing TROPO's work program, including:

• Recording, analyzing and reporting monthly and quarterly Hedge Fund performance;
• Performing monthly reconciliations of returns and Net Asset Value per Plan's records to corresponding records of the Custodian;
• Investigating reconciliation differences, performing analysis, preparing commentaries on results / findings, and suggesting solutions in a pro-active manner;
• Assisting headquarters in the year-end audit of the pension plans and the preparation of plan's financial statements and footnotes with working papers;
• Recording monthly and historical performance of various asset classes for internal management use;
• Maintaining databases for hedge fund, private equity and real estate funds;
• Preparing routine correspondence and promptly communicating with third parties. Managing the flow of information and monitoring/following-up on outstanding issues and deadlines;
• Helping to ensure that all business processes in the unit are properly documented and complied with;
• Assisting in a variety of tasks within a multi-asset class management business in the areas of treasury operations, accounting, management reporting, valuation control, and performance analytics; and
• Assisting TROPO staff with ad-hoc tasks to ensure prompt delivery of daily, monthly, quarterly and year-end deliverables and reporting requirements.

Selection Criteria:

1. Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance. Candidates with Master's degree in Finance, Accounting or Business (MBA) and /or CA-inter / ICWA-inter would have an advantage.

2. 2 to 3 years of relevant work experience required in asset management or back office of a Financial Institution or a Business Process Outsourcing Unit (BPO) supporting operations of international investment portfolios or administration of hedge funds.

3. Strong quantitative skills, including excellent spreadsheet skills. Familiarity with writing macros will be a plus.

4. Demonstrated ability to learn new technology quickly and effectively for maximum productivity. Knowledge of Bloomberg will be an advantage.

5. Ability to deal with various third parties such as custodians, fund administrators, investment managers, general partners etc to obtain information.

6. Excellent communication and presentation skills - both verbal and written.

7. High level of initiative, self-confidence and a self-starter; ability to apply a practical matured approach to problem solving with minimum supervision.

8. Commitment to work in a respectful, team-oriented and multi-cultural environment.

9. Flexibility to overlap with U.S. hours will be required to meet reporting deadlines along with willingness to travel to Washington DC for training and team projects.

10. Highest ethical standards.

COMPETENCIES

Financial Market Literacy - Can understand financial market processes; reads and analyzes financial reports and data such as holdings, valuation, performance, compliance, account reconciliations, position, margin, and settlement and risk reports.

Client Services (TRO) - Contributes successfully to on-site missions or workshops for Treasury clients.

Process and Infrastructure Development - Makes recommendations to improve efficiency of the accounting, business risk or operations process.

Operational Risk and Control - Understands the basic concepts of risk management and internal control frameworks.

Treasury Operations - Adept or expert in processing a suite of transactions such as bonds, FX, or structured transactions, or managing country or transactional bank accounts and reference data.

Client Orientation - Able to establish partnership based working relationships with internal/external clients. Demonstrates independence, initiative, and autonomy in addressing clients' needs.

Drive for Results - Takes personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results, and has the personal organization to do so.

Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion - Collaborates with other team members and contributes productively to the team's work and output, demonstrating respect for different points of view.

Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Able to research and draft quality written materials or review adherence of written materials prepared by others to administrative requirements. Able to mentor and guide, and organize learning activities within area of assigned responsibilities.

Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Able to use analytical, problem-solving skills and resourcefulness to make informed and practical decisions to carry out own work. Able to advice on information usage and storage, and policies in the area of assigned responsibilities.

The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

More Info and Application