Financial Officer

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank 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. 

The WB Finance & Accounting (WFA) Vice Presidency is responsible for all aspects of the financial reporting and internal control framework for IBRD and IDA, and the extensive Trust Fund/Partnership portfolio of the WB entities. It supports an appropriate fiduciary control framework and administering disbursements for Bank lending and leads the client service function for the WB’s corporate expenses.

Organizationally, WFA is comprised of three departments: (1) Corporate Accounting and Reporting, (2) Trust Funds and Loans, and (3) Financial Controls. In WFA, our mandate supports both internal and external clients while we focus on delivery, optimization, impact, and people & culture.

Within WFA, Risk and Controls team (WFARC) is responsible for:

• Managing the Internal Control over Financial Reporting (ICFR) program for IBRD and IDA to support management assertion and external auditor attestation and performing controls testing as a service to other WBG entities.
• Coordinating the identification, assessment, management and reporting of Operational Risks in WFA.
• Facilitating the Business Continuity preparedness for WFA’s time critical activities.
• Advising internal clients on effective risk mitigation and internal control practices relating to new products, systems, and processes.

WFARN Chennai, which is an integral part of WFARC, is seeking a Financial  to support its deliverables in the above areas.  

The position will be based in Chennai, India.

How your contributions will help us achieve our goals

The Financial Officer involves a combination of technical as well as some supervisory responsibilities, that will support the deliverables of WFARC from Chennai, India. He/she will operate under the functional oversight of the Senior Financial Officer that leads the Risk and Controls function in Chennai. The role requires extensive collaboration both with teammates and colleagues within the risk and controls function as well as with staff across the World Bank Group (WBG) units.  

What you will do:

The Financial Officer will closely work with WFARC colleagues in:

Evaluating and enhancing the overall system of internal controls through:

• Handling end-to-end activities in the ICFR program.
• Conducting pre-implementation reviews and analysis of new products/ system changes and advise.
• Internal clients on controls design improvements.
• Supporting and validating controls remediation
• Supporting initiatives to strengthen Operational risk management in WFA by:
• Analyzing WFA operational risk events and conduct root-cause analysis.
• Coordinating WFA’s Business Continuity Planning (BCP) preparedness and reporting.
• Ensuring quality in outputs from staff for the assigned work stream.
• Preparing briefing on issues and status reports/dashboards for Senior Management on ICFR, Operational risk and Business Continuity.

Selection Criteria

What you will bring:

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting or relevant discipline. Masters degree is a plus
• Professional accounting qualification (CA, CPA, ACCA or equivalent)
• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience in Internal Controls, Auditing, Accounting and/or Operational Risk management

Supervisory experience

• Experience in financial services industry or Big 4 accounting firm is a plus

Knowledge and Skills:

• Demonstrated knowledge and skills in implementation of frameworks for internal controls over financial reporting, Operational risk management, and/or Business Continuity planning
• Experience leading conversations with external and internal auditors on risk and controls issues
• Excellent verbal and written communication, including report writing and presentation skills
• Demonstrated people management skills

Source: https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=27439&site=1