E T Consultant - Senior Finance Officer

World Bank Group•Washington, DC

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The World Bank Group (WBG) Controllers Vice Presidency is responsible for all aspects of the financial reporting and internal control framework for IBRD/IDA, IFC and MIGA, and the extensive Trust Fund/Partnership portfolio of the World Bank Group (WBG) entities. It supports an appropriate fiduciary control framework and administering disbursements for WBG lending and leads the client service function for the World Bank Group’s corporate expenses. Organizationally, Controllers is comprised of three departments: (1) Corporate Accounting and Reporting, (2) Loans and Financing Operations [formerly Trust Funds and Loans], (3) Financial Operations, and (4) the Solutions and Transformation division mapped under the Vice President’s Front Office. In Controllers, our mandate supports both internal and external clients while we focus on delivery, optimization, impact, and people & culture. Within Controllers, the Loan Clients Services unit (CTRCS) of the Loans and Financing Operations Department is devoted to providing “front-end” client services and related operations to business and external clients and is organized along business lines serving the regions and global practices. The Services within the area of CTRCS responsibilities fall under three categories: regional coordination, country focal point assistance, and project-level fiduciary and portfolio management. CTRCS is currently seeking a highly motivated ETC based in Washington, DC.

Requirements

Recognized professional accounting qualifications such as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) License, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Certificate, Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA) or equivalent.
A bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or another related Finance or Accounting discipline.
Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant work experience, with increasing responsibility.
Relevant knowledge and experience with banking operations.
Relevant knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), internal controls and financial management.
Knowledge and application of the World Bank’s Operational Policies and Procedures and how they relate to disbursements and loan portfolio management.
Ability to exercise professional judgment, risk-based approach and appropriately interpret and apply operational policies, as they relate to disbursements and loan portfolio management.
Willingness to travel and participate in short-term assignments.
Strong quantitative skills with superior attention to detail and numerical accuracy.
Ability to manage complex tasks, deal with rapidly shifting priorities, provide professional support to senior staff and deliver against ambitious deadlines.
Demonstrates good understanding of risks and internal control procedures pertaining to various activities in own functional areas.
Strong client focus including good interpersonal, diplomatic and team building skills required for building and maintaining collaborative relationships.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain and express views/opinions clearly and confidently.
Ability to deal with sensitive and confidential information.
Sensitivity and skill managing themselves in a multi-cultural environment.
Ability to build effective working relationships with clients and colleagues.
Willingness to work in different time zones where team members and clients are located.
Willingness to work in the US EST time zone on an ‘as-needed’ basis.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a relevant discipline – such as business administration, finance, or accounting is a plus.
Experience with a financial institution or an accounting firm is a plus.
Experience working with financial systems, AI, and/or blockchain technology is a plus.
Experience in multiple regions or corporate units, considered a plus
Preferrable: Big Four or equivalent public accounting experience would be advantageous.
Fluency in any other languages, such as Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Russian or French, will be considered a plus.
Ability and familiarity working with automated systems, experience with AI, and generative technologies are considered a plus.
Ability and willingness to work with and leverage AI, blockchain, and other innovative technologies.

Responsibilities

Serve as focal point for internal and external client inquiries at the country level.
Provide country-related input to the respective CTRCS Senior Regional Team Leader (TL) and the Manager to drive conversations with Country Management Units (CMUs) about country coordination and institutional initiatives within the assigned region.
Interact with Team Task Leaders (TTLs) to follow up on financing and disbursement-related issues arising in project preparation; contact CMU and borrowers to advise on new financial products, loan instruments, and disbursement system enhancements (e.g. FundsChain) that could benefit project preparation and facilitate resolution of portfolio disbursement bottlenecks; facilitate conversation between CMU and Ministry of Finance (MoF) on debt service options (whenever new product or service emerges).
Participate in regular meetings for TLs/ Finance Officers (FOs)/ Finance Analysts (FNs)/Manager to share insights across countries and promote knowledge-sharing.
Participate in country team meetings to provide advice on initiatives impacting disbursement-related issues at the portfolio level.
For pipeline projects in assigned portfolio countries, provide support to task teams by reviewing project documents (Concept Notes, Appraisal Documents, Financing Agreements, etc.) and other sources of information, providing timely inputs and raising issues, which may have an impact on disbursement arrangements, or are unclear, and escalate to management any issues that require management action or support.
Advise the task team on disbursement-related aspects of loans/credits/grants/TFs to ensure they are consistent with Bank policies and procedures and will adequately support project implementation with due regard for economy and efficiency.
Prepare disbursement and financial information letters (DFIL), loan repayment terms and amortization schedules, and participate in project preparation meetings including technical discussions and negotiations.
Review and clear project/program documents including negotiation and board packages, in accordance with standard procedures and applicable Bank policies.
Setting up of the loan financing terms and loan data in the system (iLAP).
Carry out the disbursement risk assessment of projects.
Carry out the responsibilities in compliance with CTR's control framework.
Design and deliver capacity-building training (e.g. Disbursement/Client Connection/FundsChain Trainings), in coordination with FNs and the TLs.
Deliver project preparation training and job shadowing initiatives for Finance Analysts (FN) to further develop FN’s ability to serve clients.
Conduct quality assurance on the work done by FNs and provide input into the performance appraisal of the FNs.
Manage highly complex Project Restructurings.
Advise and resolve complex implementation issues, including those that require coordination with other units such as Integrity (INT), CMUs, Global Practices (GPs), Financial Management (FM) or Procurement.
Provide advice on financial terms of products or disbursement related issues at country level, for example lapsed loans impacting advances.
Update disbursement risk ratings in iLAP for all projects under their portfolio, as needed.
Follow up and address portfolio issues in coordination with the FN and TL for the region.
Serve as a solution provider for advice to internal clients and external on preparation and implementation issues in the assigned countries.
Partner with Legal, Financial Management and Procurement to provide cohesive approach to engaging with TTLs.
Appropriately handle other tasks that may be assigned by a Regional Team Leader, Lead Finance Officer or management.
Support special project/initiative assigned by the management.
Support and provide inputs to knowledge sharing events for the team.
Prepare and deliver capacity building sessions and events that support the preparation of a future ready workforce.
Supervise or play the TTL role for STC/ETCs, as needed.
Participate in any corporate initiative such as policy matters, innovative products, or use of new technology.