Senior Financial Officer, World Bank Group

Job #: 161824
Job title: Senior Financial Officer
Grade: GG
Closing date: 19-Sep-2016
Language preferences: English [Essential]; French [Desired]; Portuguese [Desired]; Spanish [Desired]
Location: Washington, DC
Appointment: International hire

To Apply: http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=8454041&piPK=8454059&theSitePK=8453353&JobNo=161824&contentMDK=23158967&order=descending&sortBy=job-req-num&location=WAS&menuPK=8453611&JobType=Professional%20%26%20Technical&JobGrade=GG

Background

Innovation and partnership bond the five institutions of the World Bank Group (WBG): the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), which together form the World Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It uses financial resources and extensive experience to help poor nations reduce poverty, increase economic growth, and improve the quality of life. The World Bank Group’s work focuses on achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The goals call for eliminating poverty and achieving inclusive and sustainable globalization. The MDGs lay out a blueprint for the World Bank Group, setting its priorities and measuring its results. The World Bank is the world’s largest funder of education; the world’s largest external funder of the fight against HIV/AIDS; a leader in the fight against corruption worldwide; a strong supporter of debt relief; and the largest international financier of biodiversity, water supply, and sanitation projects.

The WBG contributed to the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in the High-Level Leaders’ Roundtable on “Managing Risks and Crises Differently” to build on global agreements in 2015 to commit to a more collective approach to managing risks, and increasing investments in preparedness, reinforcing national and local systems, and agreeing clear responsibilities, triggers and guaranteed finance for early action. Several global fora have highlighted the important of disaster and climate risk financing such as the Bonn Climate Change Conference, the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, and the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai. Similarly, as part of ongoing discussions in the Financing for Development Agenda, the WBG is in a leading position to help close development funding gaps through innovative financial solutions, particularly ones that offer risk management mechanisms and tools for a range of fiscal and economic shocks including those from natural disasters.

The World Bank Treasury (“Treasury”, TRE) is the Vice Presidency Unit (VPU) performing treasury functions for the IBRD and for other members of the World Bank Group. Its activities are organized and grouped along three segments: asset management, banking and debt management, and capital markets services. Treasury has been a large and significant player in the international financial markets for more than fifty years and has achieved a global reputation as a prudent and innovative borrower, investor and risk manager. Treasury is responsible for: (i) managing more than $130 billion in assets for the World Bank and other official-sector investors; (ii) leading the World Bank’s financing program in international and domestic bond and derivatives markets; (iii) conducting asset and liability management for the World Bank’s balance sheet; (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 technical capacity in all these areas. Treasury’s staff regularly interacts and collaborates with the other Finance VPUs including: Control and Accounting (CTR) and Corporate Finance and Risk Management (CFR) as well as Legal Finance (LEGFI).

The Financial Advisory and Banking Department (FAB) is Treasury’s client-facing hub with lead responsibility for coordinating Treasury’s advisory services on asset management, financial products, debt management and other Treasury related learning and outreach activities. FAB supports the Bank’s shifting role from that of a traditional development lender to a full financial services provider for developing country governments. FAB does this by developing new financial products and customized financial structures that fit individual country’s project and debt portfolio needs, and by providing training programs to ensure these products are being used appropriately and in the context of broader debt and risk management frameworks.

In addition, FAB manages Treasury’s Reserves Advisory Management Program (RAMP), which is team also known as FABRP, responsible for leading multi-year capacity building engagements with over forty-five central banks, sovereign wealth funds, national pension funds and other official sector institutions spanning middle income (MIC) and IDA countries, as well as international financial institutions (IFIs).

The Banking Products team (FABBK) is responsible for customized delivery of financial solutions (financing and risk management products), including providing customized financial solutions for its clients and project teams servicing them; ongoing provision of World Bank financial products and services to country teams; design and implementation of new and/or enhanced financial products (e.g., contingent financing, weather derivatives, interest rate, currency, commodity hedges, guarantees, etc.); and dissemination of financial products menu and pricing to operational staff and client counterparts.

There has been a significant evolution over the past several years in the range and way the World Bank Group delivers financing, risk management, and financial advisory services. There is now a full range of available World Bank financial products and services that can be brought to bear in support of each country’s program. The FABBK team brings together the expert teams from across the WBG responsible for financial products, asset-liability management, public debt management, and other specialists to offer country directors and their clients an integrated package of financial and finance-related advisory services to meet the changing needs of the Bank’s clients. Upstream involvement of bankers during the strategic country diagnostic/country partnership framework (SCD/CPF) and individual project/loan preparation and during implementation can further enhance the value added that customized and full use of existing financial products and advisory services can bring to reducing costs and risks of sovereigns’ and/or sub-sovereigns’ financing programs, vulnerability to financial volatility and to improving their ability to catalyze private financing.

The FABBK team also has primary responsibility for the innovation and development of new financial products and the outreach and dissemination of information regarding financial products and advisory services. This would include assuring the high quality delivery of information and training on the financial products and terms offered to Bank clients; helping build WBG staff capacity to inform borrowers of the financial products and terms available; and developing and delivering other specialized training and financial advisory services that are responsive to clients’ needs.

A recent example of a new FABBK-developed product is the World Bank Capital at Risk Notes program, which facilitates risk transfer solutions for the World Bank and its clients using the capital markets. Under this program, the World Bank issues notes where some or all of the investors’ principal may be at risk, such as catastrophe bonds (‘cat bonds’). The first placement under this product occurred in June 2014 with a three-year USD 30 million bond is linked to earthquake and tropical cyclone risk in sixteen Caribbean countries. By issuing this bond, the World Bank was able to provide re-insurance to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF). CCRIF is a risk-pooling facility that is designed to limit the financial impact on its sixteen Caribbean member governments resulting from catastrophic earthquakes and hurricanes by quickly providing financial liquidity when a policy is triggered.

The banking products managed by the FABBK team consist of two main lines: loans and structured finance using derivatives and guarantees; and, risk management products to manage liquidity, currency, interest rate, commodity price and other types of risks such as disaster risk. The responsibility of the team also covers conducting negotiations on master derivatives agreements (MDAs) with borrower countries, performing analysis of client portfolios and developing alternatives for debt and risk management.

Note: If the selected candidate is a current Bank Group staff member with a Regular or Open-Ended appointment, s/he will retain his/her Regular or Open-Ended appointment. All others will be offered a 3 year term appointment.

Duties and accountabilities

In this context, the Senior Financial Officer will be accountable for the above mentioned work program as assigned by the department management and will report directly to the Head of the FABBK team. The responsibilities will include, but not limited to, the following:

• Serving as the TRE focal point and technical expert for Disaster Risk Financing. Leading the design and implementing of new and/or enhanced World Bank financial products for financing and risk management.

• Coordinating dialogue with country and sector managers and country team members and supporting them to assemble and implement the most appropriate portfolio of financing and risk management tools and expert advice to further the country program. More specifically:

­- Ensuring that the client is aware of the full menu of potential IBRD financing and risk management products available for future lending and to manage existing IBRD and non-IBRD exposure;
­- Work- with sector specialists upstream to evaluate the nature and extent of the financing options required to carry out sector programs/projects; and
­- Closely coordinating upstream with relevant units in the WBG,

• Responsible for mobilizing the FABBK team to ensure efficient and coordinate responses across the following tasks, inter alia:

­- Arranging for expert assistance from TRE or elsewhere to help the client build capacity and/or address specific concerns in the management of public liabilities and financial assets;
­- Assisting the client in executing the financings and risk management transactions contemplated in the SCD/CPF; and
­- Arranging training and other capacity-building activities for client-country officials involved in debt/risk management.

• Supporting the general dissemination and implementation of banking products throughout the World Bank Group. This would involve developing and delivering training modules, helping to resolve important funding and risk management issues for the Bank, and applying a broad knowledge of the legal, loan accounting and operational issues of each product to ensure high quality outcomes for the Bank and its clients.

• Collectively devising the product delivery capacity of Bank staff and enhancing clients’ understanding of the financial product choices before them.

• Providing guidance and mentoring more junior colleagues.

• Building effective working relations with clients and colleagues. Working closely with other Treasury, IFC, IDA and MIGA colleagues in delivering technical assistance and advisory services to Bank clients.

• Building relationships and understanding client needs and constraints to deliver customized financial solutions.

Selection criteria

The successful candidate must have the following qualifications:

1. Advanced degree(s) in engineering, applied mathematics, economics, finance, or financial economics with at least 8 years of relevant work experience or equivalent combination of years and experience. Work experience should demonstrated commitment to development mission of World Bank to reduce poverty and promote shared prosperity.

2. Good knowledge of Bank operations and lending instruments and SCD/CPF preparation and implementation process. Good understanding of various risk management issues which surround the availability of IBRD banking products and their use by client countries and other public sector entities.

3. Direct experience in preparation of disaster risk management operations with risk financing components required. Experienced in structuring sovereign or sub-sovereign risk transfer transaction.

4. Strong analytical and quantitative skills for catastrophe risk modeling. Proven experience at building commercial grade cat models and providing hands-on management of the modeling development process. Strong technical communication skills for liaising between cat modeling professionals, government clients, and market investors.

5. Good knowledge of the design and execution of fiscal risk management strategies for sovereigns, sub-sovereigns or SOE’s in emerging countries.

6. Basic familiarity with underwriting process of financial instruments for catastrophic and weather risk transfer alternatives, including traditional insurance & reinsurance mechanisms, insurance linked securities and structured financial solutions.

7. Good knowledge of the macroeconomic and public debt management framework and factors relevant for financing and risk management decision-making by clients, in particular proven expertise in mapping contingent liabilities from natural disaster risks into the fiscal vulnerability assessment for sovereigns and sub-sovereigns.

8. Good knowledge of market instruments and market sources of financing (sovereign bond financing, municipal/sub-sovereign financing, syndicated lending/infrastructure finance), other sources of financing (e.g., other IFIs, export credit agencies, concessionary bilateral financing, etc.); and risk management/hedging products (e.g., swaps, forwards, futures, options, etc.).

9. Demonstrated experience at project management/task team leadership. Ability to mentor, coach and motivate junior colleagues.

10. A superb networking capacity along with excellent interpersonal and negotiations skills and ability to work flexibly, creatively and under pressure in response to evolving Bank and client needs.

11. Proven excellence in written and verbal communication skills, including the capacity to communicate complex and technical issues in simple terms.

12. Professional and personal stature to enable an effective banking advisory role with senior management and senior client country officials.

13. Strong track record of developing and implementing innovative approaches and providing a responsive and proactive approach to clients’ needs.

14. Fluency in English required, proficiency in Spanish, French and/or Portuguese desired.

15. Highest ethical standards.
Competencies – demonstrates strengthens across multiple themes
Representation and Relationship Management – Is able to effectively work with others both internally and externally; supports and encourages others, influences behavior in positive ways, and is able to give and receive constructive criticism. Listens to and values other’s opinions, and is able to effectively convey points to a group. Understands and respects the general differences across gender, ethnicity and religious backgrounds. Creates, builds and maintains strong relationships with market counterparties with an aim to enhance their services and work for the group. Is able to communicate difficult messages effectively to clients and counterparties while maximizing chances of maintaining the relationship.
IBRD Operations, Policies and products – Understands the operational and financial structure of IBRD products and instruments. Understands the roles played by external partners and private or public stakeholders such as bilateral donors, the private sector, foundations, NGOs, etc. in IBRD sponsored projects. Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of Bank operational policies, processes and procedures, and ability to provide hands-on assistance at the interface between operational issues and corporate requirements. Has experience with developing new or customized operation risk management products to meet client demands.
Insurance linked Securities – Demonstrates knowledge of ILS products in the context of disaster and climate risks in emerging markets. Experiences with developing strategies and products that increase penetration of insurance coverage for weather, catastrophes and natural disasters, by targeting clients and populations that currently do not have this type of protection.
Market Intelligence and Investment Strategy – Demonstrates knowledge of market intelligence tools, processes and technologies to access to and collect valuable market information; can share information and ideas with colleagues in a timely manner, both informally and through regular meetings; can contribute effectively to team discussions of investment strategy.
Investment Process Development – Demonstrates knowledge and working experience in supporting the introduction of new systems and technology; introducing new investment products; developing business processes and procedures; developing business continuity plans.
Market Risk Management – Demonstrates proficiency in the development and execution of policies and procedures that mitigate various types of risk, including: segment/exposure risk; compliance risk (particularly as it relates to adherence to investment objectives and guidelines); pricing and valuation risk (particularly as it relates to non-marketable and thinly traded securities and derivatives); execution and trading risk; and operational risk. Provides counsel to portfolio management, product development, and compliance staff on risk management issues.
Presentations and Communication – The ability to communicate coherently, clearly and consistently with the right amount of detail, an appropriate sense of timing and medium used, and understanding of the audience’s capacity to understand and assimilate the message.
Financial Market Literacy – Understands financial market fundamentals, capital markets, investment and cash management, and trading. Familiar with fixed income and other financial instruments; with investment principles, OTC and exchange trade processes, margining and collateral management, clearing and settlement, interest and exchange rates, portfolio management, credit and market risk, compliance, performance, valuation, reconciliation and internal controls. Able to understand advanced finance topics such as complex instruments (swaps, futures, etc.). Can analyze financial statements, reports, data or documents and applies financial concepts to perform financial analysis.
Process and Infrastructure Development – Supporting the maintenance and introduction of systems, technology and services; accommodating new products or markets; developing business processes and procedures; developing business continuity plans.
Performance Attribution/ Measurement – Demonstrates active involvement in the overall direction and business strategies for investment performance products and services. Strong analytical skills are required, as these analyses have developed into customized summaries based on complex performance measurement techniques. These analyses also assist clients in resolving a broad range of issues including investment management decisions.
Operational Risk and Control – Understands fundamental operational and accounting issues and topics relating to Asset Management, Capital Markets, Pension and Banking businesses. Ability to monitor and analyze exposure and impact of operational risk to Treasury business lines. Is able to communicate risk factors and relevant information to management, and present risk mitigation techniques and solutions. Works with internal and external regulatory compliance teams.