Finance Specialist (Treasury)

Organizational context

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.

Post's organizational accountability

The Financial Operations Department (FOD) is a dynamic business, strategic and responsive service provider fully supporting IFAD in 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.

As one of the components of FOD, the Treasury Services Division (TRE) is mandated 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 wiht 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 the other funds under IFAD management. The Finance Specialist (Treasury) 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.

Finance Specialists at this level are seasoned professionals reflecting an in-depth, broad understanding of applicable regulations, standards and methods as well as IFAD’s financial regulations, rules and transactional procedures in one or more financial occupations including treasury accounting, budget, loans and grants.  The accountabilities/key results include:

• Finance Business Partner
• Financial Management
• Agent of Change
• Managerial functions

Finance Specialist (Treasury) works under the overall strategic, policy and management guidance of the Director and Treasurer and the direct supervision of the Investment Management Senior Finance Officer.

Key results expected / Major functional activities

FINANCE BUSINESS PARTNER:

The Financial Specialist is a credible, trusted partner to the client offices served and the Department/Division/Unit where assigned. S/He is a member of the Investment Management team. He/she will take a pro-active role in the day-to-day activities associated to management of the investment and loan portfolio. Functional activities will be largely based on execution of cash and derivative trades with IFAD financial counterparts, supervision and reporting on portfolios entrusted to external asset managers, and making sure that IFAD has the right tools and IT infrastructure to support such trades.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT:

At this level the Finance Specialist is a seasoned professional with the capacity to interpret and apply a broad range of international and IFAD financial policies, rules and regulations as well as standards and techniques. Activities include: analyzing, recommending and trading individual securities and derivatives for different fixed income sectors and markets for internal investment portfolios of IFAD and related entities, in accordance with established policies and investment guidelines and also analyzing and proposing changes to the these.

More specifically, the Finance Specialist (Treasury) in the Investment Management team is accountable for:

• Trade recommendation and execution in fixed income bond and derivative products• 
• Fixed income security analysis
• Macroeconomic market analysis
• Monitoring and maintaining ongoing relationship with external fund managers
• Evaluation of portfolio currency positioning and alignment, and execution of any needed rebalancing

AGENT OF CHANGE:

The Finance Specialist understands and applies the principles of change management and proactively serves as a role model for transformation and capacity for acceptance of change. S/He uses a seasoned knowledge of results based management and budgeting, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other information technology to develop, analyze and promote acceptance of new methods of work and automated work flows. At this level the Specialist manages change through consultations with finance colleagues and outreach to client offices to build understanding of and to ensure open and regular communications pertaining to current and planned changes in the Fund’s financial standards, regulations and rules.

MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS:

The Finance Specialist is accountable for integrity, transparency, and equity in the personal use of assigned IFAD resources, including equipment, supplies and, as applicable, staff supervised.

Impact of Key results / Key performance indicators

Finance Specialist is accountable for in-depth analysis of unusual transactions and recommending actions to be taken and/or exceptions to be made in the application of financial regulations, rules and procedures. Finance Specialist  (Treasury) in charge of investment management operations implement investment transactions with an impact on the Fund's investment income, through the quality of trade recommendations and trade execution, and on the financial and operational risks through adherence to internal controls and procedures.

Finance Specialist positions have access to guidance and on-the-job training from specialists in the individual finance occupations in the resolution of on-going non-routine work.

The key performance indicators for Finance Specialists at this level include accurate performance of assigned finance operations, technical quality in terms of both substantive depth and adaptive relevance to business needs and customer service approach to problem resolution.

Representation / Work relationships

The work relationships of Finance Specialists involves both written and verbal communications to obtain and provide information regarding decisions on specific cases, 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 his/her area of assignment. This requires skill in building constructive, effective relationships. External contracts 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.

Competencies

Organizational

• Strategic thinking and organizational development: Personal influence
• Demonstrating Leadership: Leads by example; initiates and supports change
• Learning, sharing knowledge and innovating: Challenges, innovates and contributes to a learning culture
• Focusing on clients: Contributes to a client-focused culture
• Problem solving and decision making: Solves complex problems and makes decisions that have wider corporate impact
• Managing time, resources and information: Coordinates wider use of time, information and/or resources
• Team Work: Fosters a cohesive team environment 
• Communicating and negotiating: Acquires and uses a wide range of communication styles and skills
• Building relationships and partnerships: Builds and maintains strategic partnerships internally and externally
• Managing performance and developing staff: Manages staff and teams effectively

Technical/Functional

• Solid knowledge and direct trading execution experience in currency swaps, interest rate swaps, forwards, and other derivatives.
• Execution of the above transactions in connection to hedging of funding operations, investment portfolio, and other risk management needs.
• Solid understanding of derivatives related collateral management process and related policies.
• Knowledge of capital markets and debt instruments.
• Experience in managing custodial relations.
• Excellent knowledge of PeopleSoft ERP, Bloomberg (or other financial information systems) and other information technology systems and tools.

Minimum recruitment qualifications

Education:

• Advanced university degree from an accredited institution in accounting, finance, business administration or other job related field.

Experience:

• At least five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in treasury and investment management specifically in the area of Fixed Income and Derivative trading in a multi-lateral development bank or international financial institution, investment bank or national organization providing support on a global scope. Experience relating to credit rating agencies and a strong network among other multilateral financial institutions is preferred.

Language requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Working knowledge of another IFAD official language (Arabic, French or Spanish) would be an advantage.

Other information

Applicants should note that IFAD staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the President of IFAD, and they may be assigned by him/her to any of the activities of IFAD, including field assignments and/or rotation within IFAD.

In the interest of making most cost effective use of funds and resources, we are only able to respond to applicants who are short-listed for interview. Candidates who do not receive any feedback within three months should consider their application unsuccessful.

Candidates may be required to take a written test and to deliver a presentation as well as participate in interviews.

IFAD is committed to achieving diversity and is seeking a balanced workforce from its Member States. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.