World Bank
Financial Operations Officer Jobs in World Bank
Job # 100215
Job Title – Financial Operations Officer
Job Family – Accounting
Location – Chennai, India
Appointment – Local Hire
Job Posted – 27-Jan-2010
Closing Date – 06-Feb-2010
Language Requirements – English [Essential]
Appointment Type
Background / General description
The Loan Client and Financial Services division (LSG), co-located in Chennai and Washington DC, manages the accounting, reporting and client relationship for all IBRD and IDA loans, credits and grants.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of loan and equity financing for private sector projects in the developing world. The Loan and Equity Support Group (CFALE) of the Department of Financial Operations (CFA) provides customer services to Investment Departments as well as borrowers and participant banks through the administration and servicing of loan and equity transactions. It also provides operational support to the Investment and other departments in the development of new business initiatives and products. It consists of several teams, each covering an assigned portfolio of Investment Departments as well as their clients
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 2 year renewable term appointment.
Duties and Accountabilities
CFALE has decided to co-locate some aspects of its work program to CTRCO Chennai who will recruit staff in the LSG Chennai team to deliver this work program on a cross support basis. The team providing cross support will interact with IFC colleagues in Washington on a day – to – day basis and ensure that the service level agreement is met.
This position plays a leading role in the team, and serves as the focal point for consultation with Investment and other departments, clients and or participant banks, to ensure that all issues arising are resolved with minimal engagement of the Unit management. It is to ensure that investment transactions received by the team are serviced in accordance with corporate policies and practices, and are in compliance with the respective loan/equity investment agreements, thereby identifying and mitigating operational risk in the process. Further, it is to ensure that the overall output of the team is in accordance with established procedures, quality and client service standards and targets.
This position reports to the team lead of LSG Chennai.
• Review, comment and suggest amendments on draft agreements at pre-signing and negotiation stages in liaison with Investment Officers and lawyers, and as such ensure that the terms and conditions of loan and equity investment agreements can be accommodated within the current and future servicing capabilities of the Unit.
• Review signed loan and equity investment agreements and participation agreements and ensure that all terms and conditions are correctly reflected in the systems and processes of the Unit. Where necessary, create exceptional processing procedures to service terms and conditions that cannot be handled by current technology.
• Ensure consistency of commitment and disbursement transactions between the agreements, client instructions and E-Docs system, in accordance with Operational Procedures.
• Initiate processing, monitoring, compliance and reporting of exceptional investment transactions, such as restructurings, guarantees, income participation notes, directors fees, collateral, prepayments, cancellations etc.
• Liaise with Global Custodian (State Street Bank) on all aspects of equity investment transaction processing and settlement. Provide continuing guidance to Investment departments on the new IFC-State Street equity investment transaction processes.
• Manage end-to-end disbursement processes including final approval in the ACBS systems to ensure compliance with funding and settlement procedures and guidelines, follow up on failed disbursements.
• Review and verify all entries to ACBS and ICAS-E, e.g. call of funds and service payments, to ensure quality and service standards. Approve loan and equity commitments and other specific transactions in ICAS systems.
• Perform timely month-end closure of ACBS/ICAS systems, ensure accurate information are provided to other systems for reporting and preparation of IFC financial statements.
• Analyze and reconcile major clearing and suspense accounts in ACBS/ICAS systems within assigned portfolio.
• Review Arrears & Non-Accrual Reports, and Equity Exception Reports, for assigned projects. Provide Investment Departments with early warning on project performance trends.
• Attend monthly meetings with and advise Investment Departments on transaction processes regarding specific new investments and portfolios.
• Coordinate with and assist Legal Department and Special Operations Unit in monitoring and resolving problem projects, collect legal expenses (i.e. Jeopardy Payments).
• Handle internal and external communications regarding the disbursement and service payment procedures and processes.
• Support Unit system enhancement and process improvement initiatives.
• Back up absence or high volume in other teams of the group.
Selection Criteria
The potential candidate should possess a strong combination of quantitative, communication and interpersonal skills, and experience. The candidate should also meet the following criteria:
• A Bachelors Degree in Commerce, Finance, Accounting, with a Post graduate degree in Finance or Business (MBA – Finance). An additional qualification (CFA, CPA, CA) would be a plus.
• Minimum 5-7 years experience in loan and equity administration/servicing with a public/private financial institution (including IFC/IBRD), or in the finance function of a public/private corporation. Successful track record in previous position.
• Experience in reviewing and understanding transactional legal agreements from an operational perspective. Legal/paralegal qualification or experience would be a distinct advantage.
• Outstanding “client service” approach to handling transactions and issues. The ability to achieve a balanced blend of service and compliance for all transactions and processes is critical.
• Excellent leadership and problem solving skills, including strong ability to manage effective teamwork and communication.
• Ability to manage team performance, or work independently, sometimes under pressure, and produce high quality results.
• Ability to provide training and coaching to junior staff, and support professional growth of team members.
• Solid skills in the latest information and office technology and relevant business tools.
• Fluency in written and spoken English. Knowledge of another major language preferred.
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