Snr Treasury Officer

Senior Treasury Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The Senior Treasury Officer directly reports to the Head of Treasury and Cash Service, within the Division for Financial and Administrative Management (DFAM).The Treasury and Cash Service develops banking and investment policies, processes and procedures to optimize the availability and management of funds. This requires the establishment of appropriate bank counterparty and custodian arrangements, and the supervision of investment management in compliance with the Financial Regulations and Rules of the Organization. Treasury Management Systems (TMS) are managed by the Head of Service to ensure the integration of banking institutions and enable automated global real time liquidity management and cash flow forecasting across the systems from contributions receipts to disbursements. Treasury and Cash Service is engaged in designing and implementing a bespoke Financial Control Framework to institutionalise the Cash Based Interventions (CBI) strategy, together with validating the required governance and structure by identifying potential risks and gaps.  The Treasury and Cash Service is led by the Treasurer and consists of  8 staff : with three main units : (1) Foreign Exchange and Investment Management with 1 P4, 1 G7, 1 G5;  (2) Global Banking and Cash flow Management with 1 P3, 1 G7, 1 G6;   (3) Cash Based Interventions delivery with 2 new posts at the P4 level.

The implementation and institutionalization of CBI¿s in UNHCR introduces new and significant financial control risks for the Organization.  In this context Treasury Management provides expert cash management approaches and enhances the formulation and design of an integrated bespoke CBI Financial Control Framework, together with ensuring compliance to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). Therefore, Treasury management expertise is indispensable to contribute to the integrated delivery of UNHCR¿s CBI strategy to ensure upmost mitigation of any financial and reputational risk that is inherent to the delivery of CBI¿s.  This includes requirements to implement mechanisms that would enable structured delivery for humanitarian aid using cash based transfers through ¿one channel¿, leveraging the novel payments and telecoms infrastructure across regions and countries.

The Senior Treasury Officer position is integrated within the delivery of Treasury Management core competencies, and will directly liaise with Field Operations, Bureaux and technical divisions at Headquarters to provide guidance and advice on cash management and banking requirements covering some 125 countries.
The Senior Treasury Officer is responsible to discharge treasury and cash management related authorities, responsibilities and accountabilities under the provisions of the UN Financial Regulations and UNHCR¿s Financial Rules. 
The Senior Treasury Officer provides expertise and oversight in global application of liquidity management and the application of risk management methodologies and measures used in the financial industry for risk analysis and evaluation to safeguard the value of global cash resources.     

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT

Accountability
- Treasury and direct cash assistance management ensures effective safeguarding of global cash resources to implement UNHCR programs, that provides transparency and reporting to stakeholders.
- Custody of funds and safeguarding cash holdings for the Organization are preserved and reported upon in compliance with financial statutory and donor requirements.
- Adherence to the UN Financial Regulations and UNHCR¿s financial rules, policies and procedures with regards to governance and oversight is assured.
- All policies, documentation, substantiation related to Treasury and financial risk management are accurate and complete, best practice and stand up to the scrutiny of oversight bodies and statutory requirements.
- CBI bank account structures have been established and liquidity requirements are met and executed in full and on time.
- CBI financial control framework and policy, processes are well managed, monitored with contextual oversight in accordance with central bank and anti-money laundering law.    

Responsibility
- Review and assess the development, update, and implementation of centralized Treasury Management and Cash Management pertaining to best practice in managing global and centralized liquidity structures.
- Monitor, review and enhance, the implementation of related specialized Treasury Management Systems, processes and procedures, integrated to financial institution and mobile platforms.
- Review and assess cash management settlement of financial transactions,  transfer of monetary value from UNHCR to individual Person of Concern, assessing the institutions and companies that deliver such financial transactions, relevant  rules, procedures, standards, accounting, reporting and technologies necessary and currently available that facilitate cash management integration and specifically CBI transactions.  
- Guide and advise UNHCR offices globally on policy and operational issues related to Treasury Management, selection of bank relationships, and Cash Based Intervention and structuring for bespoke commercial proposals.
- Manage global banking offerings to meet UNHCR technical and functional requirements for ¿value for money¿.
- Review and devise adequate CBI internal financial controls in compliance with underlying UNHCR's Financial Rules and Cash Management Guidelines, Financial Manual - Chapter 6, and in accordance with the Financial Internal Control Framework, including also specific CBI financial guidelines.
- Provide functional CBI cash management system assessment and integration to PeopleSoft/Oracle version 9.2 ERP (MSRP), Treasury Management Systems and integrated bank systems, and review and develop required underlying technical systems specifications and procedures to obtain accurate and complete transactional reporting.
- - Provide recommendations to enhance and streamline CBI transactional delivery, to implement the necessary changes that will strengthen the financial controls and management throughout the Organization worldwide.       

Authority
- Enforce compliance with all applicable treasury related financial cash management and banking regulation, rules, policies and procedures.
- Issue core guidance for financial streamlining of CBI transactional and monetary transfer of value, financial procedures, processes and internal financial controls
- Issue CBI contextual bank account structures required to meet global operational requirements
- Issue delegated authority of CBI funds transfer execution at the Field level
- Issue guidance for the release of monetary value of CBI transfers within the centralized treasury management approach, to instruct banking counterparties through bespoke IT/electronic platforms using encryption, to approve settlements instructions and receive transactional reporting
- Make recommendations pertaining to cash management and related financial risk management; selection of bank arrangements and agreements, opening bank accounts, setting up centralized liquidity structures to serve UNHCR global cash requirements.
- Represent the Division in meetings and fora related to the Treasury and Financial Management, including CBI requirements with regards to financial solution structuring and selection and discharge of payment modality.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
- Advanced University Degree in Finance, Business Administration,  Economics,  Accounting  or related field;
- Minimum 10 years of previous job experience in the centralized treasury and cash management, and associated financial risk management, including experience of contextual direct cash assistance delivery with transactional management derived from different systems and data management points;  
- Demonstrated skills, knowledge and experience in applying best practices in global cash management, as well as bespoke Cash Based Initiatives (CBI) requirements and associated risk management;
- Demonstrated functional and technical knowledge of contextual direct cash assistance bank, and financial systems, its integration to obtain financial reporting and demonstrating knowledge of CBI delivery using novel solutions (card/mobile);
- Demonstrated functional financial and technical systems knowledge to perform business analysis for complex financial or cash delivery systems in establishing a financial control framework for transparency, accountability and reporting to all stakeholders;
- Knowledge and demonstrated expertise of Treasury Management Systems with specific emphasis of integration and automation to financial accounting systems and banking transactional systems;
- Experience in ERP systems (preferably PeopleSoft/Oracle),  Treasury Management Systems (TMS), including expertise in  financial instruments transactions, their  execution and accounting compliance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards(IPSAS);
- Proven experience in overseeing the establishment and management of global cash management and financial risk management systems, processes and procedures in a contextual context with major financial and mobile institutions and global bank relationships and within the UN system organizations;
- Experience in dealing with external financial institution counterparties, banking communication protocols, including specific CBI delivery mechanism;
- Demonstrated experience in providing oversight treasury and financial risk management reporting for statutory purposes, as well as regulatory compliance purposes;
- Working knowledge of UN/UNHCR Financial Regulations and Rules, systems and procedures;
- Strong analytical skills and problem solving to validate workable solutions in a highly integrated ERP and Treasury Management Systems and bank/mobile environment;
- Fluency in English, including strong drafting skills and capacity to communicate complex treasury management issues to the field.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
- Good working knowledge of French.
- Exposure to UN Field Operations.