Chief Financial Accountant - Expenditure Control at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/17/316
Location: Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: PL3
Position N°: 50093776

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for Finance oversees the financial management of the Bank Group. This encompasses the Bank Group’s treasury activities including borrowings from the capital markets and investment activities; controllership functions including financial reporting and loan administration; strategic resource mobilization and the strengthening of the non-statutory financial resources and instruments; the overall asset/liability management for the Bank Group.

The Hiring Department/Division

• The Financial Control Department is responsible for accounting for the financial consequences of the Bank Group’s transactions and decisions, and for the preparation, fair presentation and overall integrity of the internal financial reports and published financial statements. The department is also responsible for loan administration and accounting and related fiduciary responsibilities, including disbursement of funds to projects and programs financed by the Bank Group. Lastly, the department provides decision support and expertise in the development and implementation of financial control policies, operational and financial strategies and related information systems.
• The primary purpose of the Bank’s Administrative Expense division is to provide efficient transaction processing services with respect to the capital and administrative expenses of the Bank and of all bilateral funds. The Division not only ensures that expenses incurred are in accordance with Bank policies, but also actively seeks opportunities for savings for the Bank in the management of expenses.

The Position

• The responsibility of the Chief Financial Accountant will be to maintain the highest standards of internal control in the administrative expenses management process and Disbursement of grants and provide high-level professional advice on disbursement procedures for grants managed by the division and for administrative expenses at the level of the Headquarters and all countries offices.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision and guidance of the Division Manager, Administrative Expenses, the Chief Financial Accountant for Administrative Expenses will perform the following:

• Supervise verification of all types of payments and journal vouchers to ensure correctness and proper application of international Accounting Standards in the treatment of transactions, except for loan-related and pension payments;
• Manage the payment proposals process by ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of proposal confirmations to treasury for disbursement;
• Act as Administrative Expense Division’s budget focal person for the preparation of the annual budget preparation: ensure work programme and expenditure planning inputs are well captured in budget system planning system and regularly monitor the execution of the division’s budget. Preparing documentation for staff planning and recruitment for the division when required by the Division Manager;
• Act as focal point for the Division for all Bank wide SAP Technical and Functional Upgrades as well as cross-cutting system enhancements projects being implemented by other Business units in the Bank in order to ensure adequate testing of all system enhancements impacting on the activities of the Division to ensure a seamless system integration;
• Lead the preparation of the Expenditure Hedging Effectiveness reports for monthly asset and liability comity; Provide Data Inputs on Administrative Expenses for the Annual financial Statements of African Development Bank; Provide other ad hoc Administrative Expense analysis reports as well as various routine control and Exception reports; carry out follow-up action with colleagues to resolve identified exceptions; provide statistical reports for establishment and monitoring of Key Performance Indicators for the division;
• Manage system development activities for the division. This involves analyzing user requirements for enhanced business processes, designing required specifications to enhance SAP applications based on these requirements within the Division’s overall need and objectives and liaising with the IT department to implement same, carry out data;
• Supervise and follow up on resolution on all IT and SAP technical problems and issues, follow-up and take appropriate action on Administrative Expense division Infoline weekly management reports;
• Establish procedures and controls to improve efficiency of service to identify cost savings and promote the efficient use of Bank resources in the context of decentralisation;
• Provide guidance on accounting treatment and classifications of financial transactions to all documents of the Bank;
• Monitor the deadlines / lead time for the processing of payments are respected at the level of the division and all countries offices and generate the appropriate statistic to monitor the Key Performance Indicators of payment requests;
• Monitor open items in the SAP system services rendered but not paid for;
• Ensure that general ledger and vendor accounts are regularly analysed, and that required entries are made;
• Carry out reasonableness checks and analytical review of Administrative Expenses by comparing expenses of one period to another, provide explanations and reports on the variances and supply input for monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements;
• Generate and / or prepare various SAP and other reports and follow-up of outstanding issues with  the field offices and other departments;
• Participate in the review and formulation of accounting procedures, policies and practices, drafting proposals or parts thereof and reviewing proposed drafts by other staff members;
• Assess best practices of other organizations; analyse their methodologies and procedures and draft issue papers and recommendations on their adaptability to the Bank's environment;
• Advise Management on methods to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the control environment in the department in particular and the Bank in general;
• Represent the Division on relevant Bank-wide working groups;
• Monitor the follow up and implementation of Audit recommendations.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Hold at least a Master's Degree or its equivalent in Accounting, Finance, Audit or Professional qualification from internationally recognized professional accounting body e.g CA, CPA, ACCA or Expert Comptable.
• Have a minimum of seven (7) years of practical experience in an accounting firm or international financial organization.
• Private sector experience is an added advantage
• Ability to visualize, articulate and solve complex problems, concepts and make decisions that make sense based on all available information, particularly problem solving in automated accounting environment.
• Ability to quickly analyze accounting data structures and data interrelationships and make recommendations on process, system and control improvements
• Ability to drive for achieving and surpassing targets against an internal and external standards of excellence.
• Strong knowledge of accounting and International Accounting Standards and strong data analytics skills.
• Innovation and creativity.
• Communication.
• Client orientation.
• Team working and relations.
• Problem solving.
• Operational effectiveness.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard software (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint). A very strong working knowledge of SAP R/3.
• Certification in one or more modules (preferably FI-MM) is an advantage.