Accounting Officer

**Accounting Officer**

Job #:
req30660
Organization:
World Bank
Sector:
Finance & Accounting
Grade:
GF
Term Duration:
4 years 0 months
Recruitment Type:
Local Recruitment

**Location**:
Chennai,India
Required Language(s):
English
Preferred Language(s):
Closing Date:
12/13/2024 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

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.
**WFACN Team Overview**:
The WFA Country Office Accounting (WFACN) unit in the Financial Controls department, comprises two work programs: 1. Country Office Accounting (COA) and 2. Vendor Master Records (VMR) maintenance.

The COA team's work program includes but not limited to
- Review of Imprest (local bank) accounts of country offices (CO) and up for resolution
- Accounting for leases in the country offices and lease accounting advisory
- Submission of Imprest Trial Balance and CO Lease Trial balance
- Perform control reviews of monthly reports submitted by COs
- Provide advisory support and approval of exceptions on corporate expense policies and technical advice on accounting matters
- Provide training to CO accountants on transactions, policies and procedures
- Perform imprest accounting for Chennai office, and accounting and claim processing of goods and services refund claims (India GST) for Chennai office

The VMR team is responsible for updating banking information in vendor master records (VMR) after thorough due diligence, and implementing related projects.

WFACN is currently seeking an Accounting Officer to lead its team in Chennai, India.

**1. Work program Delivery**:
Lead the team and manage the work program of the team to deliver high quality and timely output, and provide value added service to country offices. Maintain internal control environment, effectively manage client and stakeholder relations and escalations, and maintain service level agreements. Implement and monitor the established KPIs with periodic assessment of cost, quality, timeliness and productivity gains.

**2. Project Management, Process simplification and Automation**:
Take initiative to continuously improve processes, demonstrate adaptability to changing priorities and provide innovative technical and thought leadership to scale up automation by leveraging advanced technology tools. Lead and deliver projects of importance to the Division/ Department/ VPU, or Institution at large. Actively participate in the ERP transition (Aria) project to ensure that (a) VMR and COA processes are transitioned correctly to the new ERP and (b) plan and implement enhancements in the subsequent phase to reflect the vision for the functions - in close coordination with the WFA accounts payable teams and relevant stakeholders.

**3. Stakeholder Relationship**:
Actively engage with clients at various levels, understand client needs and provide appropriate solutions; hold periodic sessions to review performance, obtain feedback and implement agreed actions. Interact closely with colleagues and counterparts in Chennai, HQ and country offices both within and across VPUs to actively address emerging issues, trends, institutional mandates and support on delivering solutions.

**4. Team/ Talent Management**:
Supervise WFACN team members, including performance management; providing timely feedback, coaching, and mentoring support to the team to achieve desired outcomes. Actively support staff's professional development and identify training needs, soft skills and technical, work with WFA training coordinators and manager to help upskill the team adequately, keeping in mind the future needs of the unit and the WBG. Maintain a harmonious and respectful workplace.

Selection Criteria

**Education and Experience**:

- Professional accounting qualification (CA or CPA or equivalent)
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Finance or Accounting
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience

**Knowledge and Skills**:

- Leadership: Experience in leading team of accountants or demonstrated potential to do so.
- Fundamental Controllership Knowledge: Has a strong understanding of general accounting principles, financial concepts and transaction processes
- Business Processes: Expert understanding of business processes and systems (preferably SAP) to lead the analysis, enhance internal controls, and implement changes
- Accounting Policy: Solid understanding of US Gen