Senior Financial Settlements Officer

Job Description

Job Profile:

The Senior Financial Settlements Officer is responsible for coordinating the activities of the Back Office function and managing the relationship with the OPEC Fund’s custodian and house bank relationships in order to maintain excellent service and efficiency. The position is responsible for delivering a range of operational functions that support funding, investment portfolios, approving the settlement of trades, and issuing transaction confirmations executed by the Treasury Unit. Additionally, the Senior Officer manages Business Partner Master Data, in accordance with institutional business and compliance & controls framework. Then incumbent is also expected to represent the Function in various system or instrument implementation projects and working groups.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Core Back Office Role:

• Executes day-to-day back-office clearance for all trade execution and portfolio servicing activities including trade review, settlement and documentation, trade confirmations, portfolio servicing across a range of products including bonds, debts, swaps, repos, deposits, FX transactions and exchange-traded derivatives.
• Monitors settlements of transactions, including purchase/sell, hedging and coupon payments.
• Manages relationship with OPEC Fund’s custodian(s), and is responsible for reporting, monitoring and reconciliation of OPEC Fund’s accounts.
• Builds and maintains strong relationships with internal stakeholders, especially Portfolio Management and Funding within Treasury, as well as with external partners including market counterparts, and custodians, issuing and paying Agents.
• Oversees collateral management, settlement of collateral (receiving and return, interest and other related payment) based on Risk Management’s guidelines, and reconciliation of collateral accounts.
• Ensures consistency of OPEC Fund’s global payment activities across multi-currencies through the OPEC Fund’s House Bank accounts with efficient and accurate implementation of payment.
• Confirms House bank accounts are monitored efficiently to secure sufficient liquidity for the OPEC Fund’s operational and disbursement requirements.
• Works closely with the Information Technology Unit to ensure the use of up-to-date technology for financial-related database management and foster system upgrades.
• Verifies the consistent interpretation and application of controls framework requirements across the team’s processes and work program.
• Collaborate across internal and external organizational boundaries in finding solutions and delivering results.
• Provide leadership and guidance to the Back Office team.

Coordination

• Effectively prioritizes and delegates work assignments within the team effectively, developing and implementing solutions that drive efficiency while ensuring positive experiences and interactions with the Back Office team, trade execution desk and external counterparts.
• Coordinates and communicates closely with Treasury and other counterparties as well as external service providers such as the OPEC Fund’s custodian.
• Acts as focal point for Operations, Loan Management, Procurement and House Banks in resolving issues with debit-payments and repayments.

Accounting

• Ensures the application of necessary accounting procedures corresponding to settlement activities
• Validates calculations of Member Country capital/contributions, maintenance of related databases and calculation of balances and annual share price
• Validates treasury transactions, valuations based on regular periods, calculation of accruals, realized/unrealized gains or losses, interest income on accrual basis and other tasks

Reporting

• Reviews and contributes to periodic reports for disclosure of OPEC Fund’s financial reports and for use by the OPEC Fund’s Management and Governing Board.
• Responds promptly to internal and external inquiries, underpinning OPEC Fund’s strong customer service image.

Carries out other tasks assigned by the Director, Financial Controls, that are related to the job function.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Master’s degree in Finance, Banking, Business Administration, or a closely related field
• A minimum of 10 years relevant professional experience, of which five (5) years should have been in an international development institution
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Banking, Business Administration or a closely related field combined with a minimum of 15 years of directly relevant work experience (i.e. settlement; treasury support), including at least five (5) years of progressively responsible experience, may be considered in lieu of a Master’s degree
• Deep understanding of financial instruments including loans, bonds and swaps is required
• Proficiency with commonly used treasury management systems (e.g. SAP, Bloomberg, etc.) is required
• Proven successful experience in leading and managing people and guiding and motivating teams
• Fluent in English. Good working knowledge of Arabic, French or Spanish is an added advantage.

Competencies:

• Collaboration and Teamwork - The ability to actively foster a cohesive team environment, adeptly communicate and collaborate across diverse departments to achieve shared goals, ensuring team members work cohesively and efficiently.
• Customer Centricity - The ability to focus on comprehending and addressing customer needs; consistently deliver exceptional service and foster strong, lasting customer relationships.
• Decision making - The ability to analyze information comprehensively to make well-informed decisions; assess both immediate and long-term ramifications.
• Effective Planning and Follow Up - The ability to set clear goals and priorities, skillfully organize tasks for efficiency and consistently follow through on commitments and plans
• Problem Solving Ability - The ability to identify issues adeptly, delve into root causes, and devise pragmatic solutions; demonstrate ingenuity and resourcefulness in overcoming challenges, guiding the team’s approach to complex problem-solving.

About the Organization

The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is a multilateral development finance institution, founded in 1976. The organization was established with a distinct mandate: to drive development, strengthen communities and empower people. The OPEC Fund’s work is people-centered, focusing on financing projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. OPEC Fund’s vision is a world where sustainable development is a reality for all.

The OPEC Fund is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world.

Further information about the OPEC Fund can be obtained from its web site: https://opecfund.org/career-opportunities/overview