Financial Assistant - E T Temporary Job #: req32881 Organization: World Bank Sector: Treasury Grade: ET3 Term Duration: 1 year 0 months Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment Location: Chennai,India Required Language(s): English Preferred Language(s): Closing Date: 5/6/2025 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
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, and Treasury Operations.
Treasury (TRE) 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 approximately $195 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. The Treasury Operations Department (TREOP) provides a full range of operational support for the Treasury’s asset management, capital markets and banking businesses. The Department is presently organized into three operational units: Asset and Liability Operations (TREAL), Cash and Banking Operations (TREBK) and Quantitative Solutions and Analytics (TREQA), and a Financial Technology coordination unit (TREFT).
Duties and Accountabilities:
The TRE Operations Chennai (TRECH) is an integral part of TRE and is responsible for a variety of duties providing vital support across its operational divisions. It works closely with the Headquarters in Washington D.C and another shared services center in Sofia, Bulgaria. Under the guidance and supervision of a Team Lead and/or Functional Lead, the incumbent will have responsibilities for specific individual tasks/projects as well as for working as an integral part of the team in executing the Treasury Operation’s work program, while maintaining close relationships with the other Treasury departments. The Treasury Banking Operations (TREBK) team 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.
Role 1: Cash Management and Banking Relations:
Cash Management: Assist in daily cash planning for non-USD corporate cash – positioning of cash across corporate cash account in various currencies and working with TRE’s Investments department to cover cash needs or place excess balances (cash planning for USD corporate cash may be required occasionally);
• 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.• 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
Role 2: Investigations, Reconciliation and Accounting:
Cash Investigations:
• Perform timely and efficient processing and resolution of cash payment or receipt investigations cases that arise out of reconciliation breaks, or emails and SWIFT (MT and MX) messages from clients, counterparties, business units and correspondent banks.• Liaise with various teams across the Bank and with external banking partners to address payment issues, effect action and resolve cases.• Identify trends and patterns, prepare commentaries on results / findings, and recommend solutions in a pro-active manner with regard to cash payment and receipt investigation.• Investigate and report cash overdrafts and long balances in relation to external cash balances.
Client Reconciliation and Reporting:
• Perform daily cash reconciliation for cash flows (in several currencies) related to the asset management business i.e., money market transactions, repos, foreign exchange, buys and sells of fixed income, government and bond transactions and asset/mortgage-backed securities.• Investigate reconciliation differences, performing analysis, posting necessary adjustments for resolution of any differences, preparing commentaries on results / findings, and recommending solutions in a proactive manner.• Assist in the timely and accurate submission of monthly reconciliation reports comparing the World Bank’s Investments and Net Asset Value data against corresponding custodian records.• Effectively support the daily and monthly reconciliations process of World Bank’s Investment Asset positions against corresponding custodian records.• Support and maintain the static data and reporting templates in the World Bank’s securities reconciliation and client reporting system.
Cash Accounting:
• Assist in the month-end book close process for cash including preparation of reports and necessary adjustments needed to ensure accuracy of data and balances that are sent to general ledger system (SAP)• Assist in the prompt delivery of daily, monthly, quarterly, and year-end deliverables and other ad- hoc reporting requirements for Treasury's worldwide clients.• Prepare daily system-to-system reconciliations and controls reviews, investigate breaks and communicate findings promptly to ensure proper follow-up and timely resolutions of any identified differences and exceptions.
Process Re-engineering:
• Identify, analyze and prioritize automation opportunities focusing on enhancing efficiency and accuracy.• Support automation initiatives and projects relating to various sub-operational areas including maintenance of databases, dashboards, and reports using tools such as RPA, Power-Apps/Automate.• Other ad hoc tasks as may be assigned.
As determined by management, depending on business needs:
• The work program is subject to change at any time and the candidate may be reassigned to another team.• The candidate is expected to work Singapore / London shift and at times will be required to provide extended support to overlap with Washington DC.• Candidate will be required to observe US Holiday calendar and might be required to work on designated holidays to meet reporting deadlines as per business needs.• The position requires candidate to work from office in Chennai and comply with WBG's return-to- office guidelines for staff.