Senior Financial Assistant

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. 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, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. 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

The World Bank Group Finance and Accounting (WFA) Vice Presidency Unit, is responsible for all aspects of financial accounting, reporting and the internal control framework for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the extensive Trust Fund/Partnership portfolio of those entities. The VPU is also responsible for expressing a Finance viewpoint on controls over Bank Group operations.

WFA comprises the following functions: Financial Instruments Accounting and Valuation; Loan Operations; Accounting Business Services; Financial Analysis and Reporting; Accounting Policy; Documentation and Communication; Advisory Services; and Operational Risks and Controls. These units collectively include approximately 500 staff, of which approximately 170 are in Washington, D.C., with the remainder in regional offices including the largest in Chennai, India.

Unit Overview

The Trust Funds and Loans Operations Department (WFATL) manages loan and trust fund operations and was recently reorganized to better serve client needs, accommodate for new Bank priorities, and achieve further efficiencies and consistency in service delivery.

Consequent to the reorganization, WFATL consists of two divisions, each headed by a manager. The first division, WFACS, 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 WFATL responsibilities fall under three categories: regional coordination, country focal point assistance, and project-level fiduciary and portfolio management. The second division, WFAAS, is focused on supporting both the World Bank Group’s Trust Fund and Loan portfolios, for example, providing advice on the design and implementation of new trust funds, policies, or processes, as well as many activities associated with the implementation and closure of loans or trust funds, including account creation and maintenance, disbursement transactions, trust funds and loans accounting and reporting and helpdesk functions. These two divisions work closely and collaboratively with one another, and with other Bank units.

Division overview

WFAAS division is split into (a) Advisory teams, based out of Washington DC, and (b) Operational support teams, based out of Chennai. The Operational support team in Chennai, is split into three sub-teams viz., (i) Loan Accounting, (ii) Trust Funds (Financial Reporting), and (iii) Trust Funds (TACT and Financial Control). Together, the Division provides end-to-end support for IBRD/IDA Loans and WBG Trust Funds, in terms of,

• Providing upstream advice to Bank teams and TF donors to influence the design of new TF and FIF agreements to ensure: compliance with fiduciary, reporting, internal control requirements and best practices


• Support, help design, and ultimately implement and account for new and emerging products, in addition to the existing portfolio


• Ensure the accuracy and integrity of the Trust Fund modules, financial ledgers and related interfaces, which capture all TF activities


• Report on Trust Fund accounts at the individual account and portfolio level through, audited/un-audited financial statements, management reports, analyses and trends for corporate reporting, donor specific reports, etc.


• Maintain/enhance/develop underlying systems, tools and applications to cater to the changing business needs

This is an advertisement for a Sr Financial Assistant, in the Trust Funds TACT and Financial Control Team forming part of the Operational Support in Chennai. This position reports to the TACT and FC Team Lead.

Duties & Responsibilities:

The candidate should be willing to work in split shifts to cater to time zone differences in clientele.

The primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to, a combination of the following activities:

• Perform day-to-day helpdesk functions including, responding to telephone and email queries; maintaining a log of all queries and resolutions and providing periodic status update reports.


• Prepare/review reports, metrics and charts for management information and action


• Provide support in performing user acceptance testing and assist in fixing of bugs/issues relating to various web-based trust fund tools, applications and trust fund master data


• Assist in troubleshooting to diagnose the system issues and report them to ITS or other system support unit and ensure timely resolution of issues.


• Assist task teams in navigating the trust fund tools and applications


• Coordinate with ITS to resolve technical and other system issues related to these applications

Looking to get Placed? Try our Placement Guarantee Plan

Get Hired

Process improvements & automation projects:

• Participate in automation projects and coordinate with technical teams on system changes, bug fixes, enhancements and testing


• Contribute to the continuous improvements and process enhancement initiatives surrounding trust fund and Loan processes aimed at simplification and/or enhancements to process quality and controls;


• Provide inputs and actively participate in various institutional projects;

Others:

• Provide a variety of metrics / charts to be included in overall departmental operations report to measure progress of operations at Chennai vis-a-vis agreed norms for management information and action;