E T Consultant – World Bank economist jobs

Description

 

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges.  For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

Treasury is the Vice Presidency, reporting to the Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer, performing treasury functions for the IBRD and IDA and, to varying degrees, for other members of the World Bank Group and other public sector investors. Its activities are organized and grouped into the following departments: Capital Markets & Investment Management, Client Asset Management and Advisory, Treasury Client Solutions and Treasury Operations.

Treasury has been a large and significant player in the international financial markets for over seventy years and has achieved a global reputation as a prudent and innovative borrower, investor, and risk manager. Treasury is responsible for: (i) managing $333 billion in assets for the World Bank and other official sector investors; (ii) leading IBRD’s and IDA’s triple-A rated financing programs in international and domestic bond and derivative markets; (iii) conducting asset and liability management for IBRD’s and IDA’s balance sheets; (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. Staff in Treasury regularly interact and collaborate with other Departments across the Bank and Finance Partners teams.

Treasury Operations is the Department (TREOP) which provides a full range of middle and back-office support for Treasury’s asset management, capital markets and banking functions. The Department is organized in three operational units: Treasury Asset & Liability Operations (TREAL), Quantitative Solutions and Analytics (TREQA), and Banking Operations (TREBK).

Banking Operations (TREBK) ensures all World Bank payments, receipts, and FX related to corporate cash activity are processed and performs key reconciliation controls and reporting over cash transactions and investment portfolios.  The unit consists of four teams responsible for coordinating to execute the work program: (1) cash planning and ensuring all FX conversions are executed to meet the Bank’s liquidity needs and processing payments and receipts for proper accounting; (2) managing bank accounts and relationships with all corporate banking counterparts: (3) performing controls to ensure the completeness, accuracy and validity of all cash and security positions, investigating and resolving differences with external records, and financial reporting of cash balances and external client reporting of investment holdings; and (4) managing the WBG’s Swift infrastructure and maintaining SSIs and key static data related to payment and receipt processing. TREBK staff members are in the Bank’s Washington DC headquarters, in the Shared Service Centers in Chennai, India and Sofia, Bulgaria.

Duties and Accountabilities: 

Under the guidance and supervision of a Team Lead, the selected candidate will have responsibilities for specific individual tasks/projects within TREBK’s Banking Relations and Cash Management team in executing the work program, while maintaining close relationships with the other Treasury departments and departments across WBG. Cross training between TREBK’s Banking Relations and Cash Management team will be expected, and daily responsibilities may vary based on rotations.  His/her primary responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, some combination of the following activities:

Cash Management
• Perform daily cash planning, ensuring that corporate bank accounts are properly funded to meet all payments, any discrepancies are resolved, and any excess/deficient positions are covered through the investment portfolio.
• Ensure timely posting of receipts, funding of payments and FX requests to the appropriate business unit.
• Follow-up and confirm foreign exchange deals transacted directly with the Central Banks in various countries.
• Fund foreign exchange requests received from Business Units across the Bank.
• Fund payment requests received from Business Units across the Bank.
• Periodically review all cash application queues to ensure all transactions are cleared.
• Liaise with business units both in and out of TREOP/TRE to troubleshoot and solve various issues involving cash that might arise.
• Work collaboratively with teammates in resolving any issues related to disbursements or cash management as they may arise.
• Participate in any projects or other initiatives in TRE/WB as they may arise (such as Quantum upgrade, new transactions, etc.).
• Update procedures documentations as required.
• Perform ad-hoc functions or assist with team deliverables and projects

Banking Relations
• Support colleagues to perform bank account maintenance functions, including opening, closing and negotiating bank accounts with commercial and central banks around the world for corporate and country office needs, coordinating with business partners and Legal on a timely accurate manner.
• Support banking relations functions including maintaining database of contact points and arranging periodic meetings to review service and learn from counterparts about emerging trends.
• Support periodic service assessment reviews of key banking service providers.
• Perform bank monitoring and geopolitical monitoring functions for assigned portfolio of correspondent banking partners.
• Respond to KYC, AML / CFT requests and address queries, coordinating with Legal, as needed.
• Act as the liaison with WBG-wide business units requesting Merchant Accounts (credit card accounts) to collect business revenues and chair users group meetings.  Coordinate all Merchant Account openings / closures with gateway provider.
• Review dormant bank accounts with business units and provide summary of follow-up actions needed.
• Respond to ad hoc queries as they may arise.

 

Selection Criteria

 

Selection Criteria: 

*Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Legal Studies, or related field (Computer Science / Information Systems, Engineering, Mathematics) and at least 2 years of relevant experience in the financial services industry, preferably with back-office operations; or bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Legal Studies, or related field and at least 5 years of directly related business experience.

*Candidates with business-related certifications (CTP, CFA, FRM, etc.) will have an advantage.  

*Knowledge of and familiarity with Treasury business lines, back office operational functions and Treasury systems including banking, payment operations and cash management.

*Fluency in the English language and excellent communication skills, both spoken and written. 

*Strong proficiency in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Familiarity with Microsoft Power Platform tools (Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Query) is a strong plus.

*Strong database management and analytical skills, with a proven track record of effectively manipulating, analyzing, and interpreting large datasets. Experience with data visualization tools and techniques is highly desirable.

*Demonstrated ability to manage simultaneous competing demands to deliver on-time in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment.

*Self-starter with ability to take responsibility for own actions and learn quickly in an unstructured work environment.

*Detail-oriented with strong organization skills.

*Problem-solver with proven ability to develop creative solutions.

*Reliable team player, a positive attitude, open and collegial work style with strong interpersonal skills and the ability to collaborate in a team-based, multi-cultural work environment within a team that is dispersed across different geographical locations (e.g., Washington, D.C, Chennai (India) and Sofia (Bulgaria)).

*Flexibility to work early morning or late evening hours to have overlap with other offices will be required to meet reporting deadlines along with willingness to travel, if required, for training and team projects.

*Strong client focuses and services skills, including the ability to listen, assess and respond to client needs.  

*Complies with highest ethical standards.

Competencies: 

• Deliver Results for Clients – Proactively addresses clients’ stated and unstated needs. Adds value by constantly looking for a better way to get more impactful results; sets challenging stretch goals for oneself. Immerses oneself in client experiences and perspective by asking probing questions to understand unmet needs. Demonstrates accountability for achieving results that have a development impact and financial, environmental and social sustainability. Identifies and proposes solutions to mitigate and manage risks.

• Collaborate within Teams and Across Boundaries – Collaborates across boundaries, gives own perspective and willingly receives diverse perspectives. Appropriately involves others in decision making and communicates with key stakeholders. Approaches conflicts as common problems to be solved. Actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches. Integrates WBG perspective into work.

• Lead and Innovate – Develops innovative solutions. Contributes new insights to understand situations and develops solutions to resolve complex problems. Adapts as circumstances require and manages impact of own behavior on others in context of WBG’s values and mission. Identifies and pursues innovative approaches to resolve issues.

• Effective WBG staff rapidly and readily share their expertise – Client solutions, Leverages department’s expertise and body of knowledge across WBG to strengthen internal and/or external client solutions. Seeks to learn from more experienced staff to deepen or strengthen their professional knowledge and helps others to learn. Builds personal and professional networks inside and outside the department unit.

• Make Smart Decisions – Interprets a wide range of information and pushes to move forward. Seeks diversity of information and inputs, researches possible solutions, and generates recommended options. Identifies and understands risks and proposes recommendations. Based on risk analysis makes decisions in a timely manner within own area of responsibility, considering the interests and concerns of stakeholders.

• Client Understanding and Advising – Looks at issues from the client’s perspective and advocates for clients within own area as well as urges others to focus on meeting client needs. Works with others across the VPU to define client needs and develop the best approach to meet client needs (e.g., finds appropriate solutions and negotiates internally for needed resources and support.

• Broad Business Thinking – Maintains an in-depth understanding of the long-term implications of decisions both for related areas within the VPU and the client’s business. Involves the key players in identifying operating needs, issues and immediate solutions. Ensures that decisions are supported by relevant stakeholders and creates the business case for investment in process and enhancements. Sets clear explanations for the integration and alignment of services/solutions with business functions, focusing on the strategic value provided for area of responsibility within the client’s business.

• Analytical Thinking – Coordinates the information gathering and reporting process. Reviews trends and compares to expectations. Conducts research to define problems and prepares responses to anticipated questions. Prioritizes multiple issues and opportunities. Identifies relationships and linkages within several information sources. Anticipates issues that are not readily apparent on the surface. Identifies root causes and effects. Defines priorities within performance objectives. Reports and identifies areas that need guidance to resolve complex issues. Anticipates the possible outcome of potential solutions.

• Policies and Procedures – Demonstrate thorough knowledge of policies and procedures in related fields. Provide training and guidance to junior staff in enhancing their understanding of relevant policies and procedures. Lead by example and serve as the best practice champion in applying pertinent policies and procedures.

• Risk and Controls – Lead by example and serve as best practice champions in completing internal control procedures, including understanding impact beyond own immediate functional areas. Provide constructive inputs to the design, implementation and improvement of risk and internal control procedures for stand-alone end-to-end processes based on understanding of the business. Assess impact of potential control risks and propose mitigating control procedures as appropriate, with balanced efficiency and effectiveness results within any given processes.

• Information Technology and Systems – Leverage information technology systems and applications to improve productivity and efficiency. Provide inputs to IT system enhancement efforts based on day to day working experience and knowledge of the systems.

• Communication – Adapt the communication style appropriate for the intended audience. Adopt an inclusive approach to communication as is appropriate to the situation, to ensure adequate stakeholder participation. Present information effectively and encourage feedback.

 

World Bank Group Core Competencies

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