This call for interest is advertised as a short-term assignment with a duration of 18 months and expected to start shortly after selection. Should an external candidate (including consultants and staff members not meeting IFAD HR Implementing Procedures' definition of 'internal') be selected, the contract type would be that of a short-term professional (TPO). In the event an IFAD staff member, holding a Fixed Term contract be selected, the movement would be implemented as a Temporary Assignment through the applicable provisions. Applicants should verify and obtain their supervisors' support to be released. Please note that this assignment carries no expectation of extension, continuous employment or conversion to any other type of appointment.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger. It does so by investing in rural people. IFAD finances programmes and projects that increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes, and advocates at the local, national and international level for policies that contribute to rural transformation.
The Financial Operations Department (FOD) is a dynamic financial, strategic and responsive business partner and service provider fully supporting IFAD in developing its financial strategy and managing its financial, investments and material resources. FOD ensures that these resources are efficiently, economically and effectively used to achieve IFAD’s objectives in the long-term and deliver on its development commitments. The Financial Operations Department is composed of the following three divisions: (a) Financial Controller's Division (FCD), (b) Financial Management Services Division (FMD) and (c) Treasury Services Division (TRE).
The Treasury Services Division (TRE) mandate is to: safeguard IFAD’s resources through management of investment and cash operations with the aim to preserve capital and maximize returns within the provisions of IFAD’s Financial Regulations; formulate and implement investment and cash operations strategies and policies; ensure prompt availability of cash for IFAD operations through prudent liquidity management; oversee the integrity of the Fund’s daily investment and cash operations in line with corporate risk management standards and manage the investments and cash of extra budgetary funds, hosted entities and trust funds.
Within the Division, the Investment Management (IM) team is responsible for the operational management of all IFAD's invested assets and the assets of other funds under IFAD management. The incumbent will be committed to the delivery of assigned objectives and activities and keep abreast of related industry developments and skills required to respond to the divisional work plan and results.
The incumbent works under the overall strategic and management guidance of the Director and Treasurer and the direct supervision of the Senior Treasury Officer, Head of Investment Management.
The incumbent works with a higher-level Treasury Specialist in monitoring financial performance and preparing and evaluating financial reports; they may alternatively supervise a homogeneous portion of a financial operation which is predominantly process oriented.
1. FINANCE BUSINESS PARTNER: The incumbent is a credible, trusted partner to the client offices served and the Department/Division/Unit assigned. They support the Fund’s finance strategy and plans as well as models a commitment to financial integrity by acting as a responsive and constructive service provider with a focus on results. The incumbent provides verbal and written advice and guidance to supervisors and staff on finance regulations, rules, and procedures, facilitating a mutual understanding of roles and fiduciary accountabilities in support of the integrity in the management of the Fund’s financial resources. The incumbent’s focus is on building their knowledge base of the Fund’s governing structure, mandate, long-term business strategy, organizational dynamics, and culture.
2. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: The incumbent is establishing expertise in the UN’s financial principles, policies, regulations, rules, and procedures. They are assigned a portion of a financial operation, such as Payroll for headquarters staff and processing transactions where concurrent stages of processing are required. Representative activities include: (a) reviewing, approving, reconciling and processing a range of accounting transactions on a regular and recurring basis; (b) reviewing, analysing and projecting programme financial implications in light of additional mandates or other programme changes; (c) analyzing and evaluating financial reports produced on a regular basis, explaining variances and producing reports and correspondence as required; (d) ensuring the timely and correct entry into the General Ledger of all input in accordance with corporate accounting practices, approving and posting all payable, receivable and correction journals; (e) monitoring financial performance, allotments and expenditures to ensure that they remain within authorized parameters and resolving emergent financial issues; (f) managing non-complex loans and grants portfolio(s) including in the review of Project design documents in relation to financial management (e.g. flow of funds, procurement, financial reporting and audit) as well as in relation to the disbursement of funds; and (g) analyzing, recommending and trading individual securities for different fixed income sectors and markets for internal investment portfolios of IFAD and related entities, in accordance with well-established policies and investment guidelines and also analyzing and proposing well-thought through changes to these.
3. AGENT OF CHANGE: The incumbent maintains an awareness of the principles of change management and proactively serves as a role model for transformation and capacity for acceptance of change. They use a knowledge of results-based management and budgeting, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other information technology to analyze and promote acceptance of new methods of work and automated workflows. At this level the incumbent manages change through consultations with finance colleagues and outreach to client offices to ensure open and regular communications pertaining to current and planned changes in the Fund’s financial administration.
4. MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS: Is accountable for integrity, transparency, in the personal use of assigned IFAD resources, including equipment, supplies and, as applicable, staff supervised.
Position specifics:
5. TREASURY MANAGEMENT: The Treasury Analyst (Investment Management) is accountable for:
• Trade execution in fixed income, money market, currency, and derivative markets in accordance with investment guidelines and risk limits
• Fixed income security analysis
• Macroeconomic market monitoring and analysis (d) External fund manager monitoring.
Activities include:
• Support analysis of securities and liquidity requirements for the internally managed liquidity portfolio and trust funds.
• Support in-house trading activities, both pre-trade and post-trade for both cash and derivatives.
• Reconcile internally managed funds against the Custodian bank and prepare monthly sign-off documentation.
• Draft monthly reports on internally and externally managed portfolios and prepare securities analysis required by monthly and yearly internal control.
• Participate in the implementation and maintenance of IT solutions for internally managed funds.
• Collect and analyze economic and financial data by proficiently using financial information systems and applications (Bloomberg, treasury management system, etc.), in support of Treasury's regular and ad-hoc internal research activities.
• Monitor daily developments in financial markets relative to their impact on IFAD's investments.
• Prepare analyses and draft documentation for IFAD's finance committees and Governing Bodies meetings as required.
• Organize and participate in review meetings and/or conference calls with external investment managers, the Custodian bank and other financial service providers.
The incumbent analyzes specialized transactions and recommends actions to be taken and/or exceptions to be made in the application of financial regulations, rules, and procedures. The incumbent has access to advice and on-the-job training from specialists in the individual finance occupations in the resolution of on-going non-routine work.
Position specific:
The Treasury Analyst (Investment Management) implements investment transactions with an impact on the Fund’s investment income, through the quality of trade execution and adherence to risk limits, and on the management of financial and operational risks through strict observance of internal controls and procedures.
The work relationships of the incumbent involve both written and verbal communications to obtain and provide information regarding decisions on specific cases or to explain why an action has been taken or to obtain information needed to take decisions or support further financial processes. Internal Fund contacts extend to supervisors and staff throughout the Fund to promote understanding of finance regulations, rules and/or procedures pertaining mainly to routine finance matters within their area of assignment. This requires skill in building constructive, effective relationships. External contacts are predominantly with banks, institutions or suppliers/vendors, Borrowers and Cooperating institutions, etc. and are for the purpose of exchanging information and making commitments within predetermined parameters.
Position specific:
The Treasury Analyst (Investment Management) may represent the unit to which they are assigned on related matters at internal meetings and conferences as requested by the supervisor. Internally, the incumbent is required to explain, clarify, and implement financial plans and decisions taken or procedural changes planned to ensure accuracy, completeness, and integrity of financial data and reporting. Contacts are with finance, budget, loans and grants, treasury, audit and programme management staff in country offices and Headquarters. They will have external work relationships under supervision. They may also be delegated the authority to make commitments on routine aspects of the assignment.
Organizational Competencies:
Level 1:
Building relationships and partnerships - Builds and maintains effective working relationships Communicating and negotiating - Communicates effectively; creates understanding between self and others Demonstrating leadership - Personal leadership and attitude to change Focusing on clients - Focuses on clients Learning, sharing knowledge and innovating - Continuously seeks to learn, shares knowledge & innovates Managing performance and developing staff - Managing time, resources and information - Manages own time, information and resources effectively Problem-solving and decision-making - Demonstrates sound problem-solving and decision-making ability Strategic thinking and organizational development - Personal influence Team working - Contributes effectively to the teamEducation:
Level - An advanced university degree from an accredited institution. A specialized professional certification listed below, in combination with a relevant first level university degree, may be accepted in lieu of an advanced level university degree. Areas - Business, Economics, Finance, Accounting, or related field with knowledge of investment analysis and treasury management. Degree must be an accredited institution listed on https://www.whed.net/home.phpExperience:
No prior professional experience is required.Certifications:
Professional qualifications, such as the following, are an advantage:
Associate Member (AMCT) – Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT) Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) International Capital Markets Association (ICMA)Languages:
Required English (4 – Excellent) Desirable: French, Spanish, or Arabic (3 – Good)Skills:
Procedure adherence: Ability to strictly adhere to established, formal guidelines, including in new situations Procedure interpretation: Ability to interpret established, formal guidelines to address and recommend solutions or further actions required Capital market instruments: Knowledge of capital markets instruments (fixed income, derivatives, loans), risk and performance metrics and quantitative tools of fixed income valuation (cash flow, present value, interest rate risk, duration, etc.) Liquidity management: Know-how in liquidity planning, liquidity investment, investment portfolio management and reporting Risk & compliance: Know-how in asset liability management, risk reporting, capital adequacy, quality assurance and compliance (e.g. Anti-money laundering (AML), Know your customer (KYC) processes), etc. Digital Finance, FinTech and related: Know-how in fintech applications, robotic process automation, blockchain and digital finance applications to design, setup, implement and report Disbursements, Payroll and Payments: Know-how in financial checks required for disbursements of loans and grants, payments and payroll transactions to reduce risk of error, fraud and non-compliance with rules, maintenance of clean vendor master files, arrears and debt management of loans Financial data integrity and financial systems: know-how in systems interface control, core banking system management, data mining and analytics Financial process management: Know-how in the management of financial processes such as reporting, treasury, investment processes and securities trading, cash management processes , etc. Financial reporting & accounting: Know-how in financial reporting, statutory and other reporting as well as advanced application of IFRS standards, derivatives, loan credit risk, financial regulations, policies, rules and procedures applicable to IFAD and IFIs Risk & compliance: Know-how in asset liability management, risk reporting, capital adequacy, quality assurance and compliance (e.g. Anti-money laundering (AML), Know your customer (KYC) processes), etc. Basic ICT & digital fluency: High level of digital literacy and ability to quickly get familiar with new digital tools (e.g. ability to carry out EPR data entry and extraction when budgeting; monitoring security systems, uploading content to inter/intra-net websites, etc.)