Division Manager, Treasury Investments at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Full Time

Job Title: Division Manager, Treasury Investments

Position Number: 50092459
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Position Grade: PL2

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 Treasury department is responsible for raising funds from capital markets, managing and investing the Bank Group’s liquidity and shareholders’ funds, processing and settling all financial transactions and managing the institution’s banking relationships.
• The Division is responsible for treasury investment activities including the management of several fixed-income portfolios, the execution of foreign exchange and money market transactions and innovations in investments.

The Position
The Division Manager will organize and manage the work program of the Division,  provide guidance to the team, and specifically:

• Oversee the management of the African Development Bank Group treasury assets in its liquid currencies versus a benchmark(s) or fixed liability schedule in accordance with the investment guidelines and risk parameters.
• Oversee the production and review of periodic reports for the Asset Liability Management Committee and the Board. Monitor and report on market developments, and trends in the asset management industry.
• Oversee proposals in order to review the Bank Group’s investment management framework, financial policies, and procedures. Review and comment on proposals from other divisions to ensure alignment with the overall objectives of the Bank.
• Provide leadership in maintaining and managing professional relationships with the investment community; represent the Bank at conferences.
• Oversee capacity building in asset management and risk management; oversee advisory services.
• Develop and lead the Division’s work program and be responsible for the attainment of the relevant key performance indicators.

Key Functions
Under the Supervision of the Director the Division Manager will:
Portfolio management:

• Supervise the management of the Bank Group’s treasury assets in its liquid currencies with the objective of capital preservation, profitability, and liquidity maintenance according to the investment guidelines of each specific entity by ensuring that portfolios are managed within the entity’s guidelines and risk parameters; Supervises the development of the Investment Process and the implementation of the Strategic Asset Allocation.
• Supervise the management of cash collateral by ensuring the investment of cash received as credit support in short-dated instruments with the objective of covering the financial costs.
• Supervise the Bank’s short-term funding strategy and its execution by issuing Euro-Commercial Papers to cover short-term liquidity gaps, posting regular levels for Euro-Commercial Papers to increase the visibility of the Bank, and assessing other alternative short-term funding options such as repo transactions.
• Supervise the selection process for external portfolio managers; supervise external portfolio managers’ activities to ensure adequate management of the Bank’s assets by conducting regular meetings and reviewing performance reports.
• Supervise the execution of money market and foreign exchange transactions by ensuring their timeliness and alignment with the recommendations of the working groups.
• Supervise the credit analysis process by ensuring that specific issuers/counterparties are assessed to ensure their creditworthiness.
• Supervise innovation in investment products and strategies by evaluating proposals that are submitted by members of the team and providing concrete feedback; proposals are cleared by the Division manager before they are submitted to the working groups.

Financial Policies:

• Contribute to the formulation and reviews the African Development Bank Group’s financial policies by making appropriate policy recommendation to Senior Management, the Board and the Asset Liability Management Committee; Participates in the review of other financial policies including borrowing and currency management policies by providing feedback to proposals from other Divisions.
• Ensure that Process Manuals of the Division are up-to-date by supervising their periodic review.

Market Intelligence & Reporting:

• Keep Senior Management and Board up-to-date on the investment strategy and developments in the financial markets by (i) providing regular updates at Strategy Meetings and through notes, (ii) responding to information requests from the Treasurer, the Asset Liability Management Committee, the Board, and the rest of the Bank, (iii) supervising the production of monthly and quarterly reports presenting performance results and market developments (iv) presenting capital markets developments, outlook, strategy and investment performance to the monthly Asset Liability Management Committee  (v) supervising the production of weekly economic and bond market reports prepared by the division.

Advisory & Capacity Building:

• Provide technical assistance to other divisions in areas of risk hedging, fixed income trading, and valuation of bonds and derivatives by reviewing reports produced by other divisions, and responding to specific technical requests.
• Supervise the provision of advisory services and technical assistance to African Central Banks and other financial institutions on fixed income investment management, and risk hedging by responding to specific technical requests or reviewing proposals or policies.
• Supervise the design of courses and programs targeted at senior management, middle managers and officers of Central banks and other financial institutions.
• Participate in the Staff Retirement Plan Investment Committee and the Medical Benefit Plan Financial Management Committee by providing feedback on proposals and technical advice.

External Relationships:

• Provide leadership in maintaining and managing professional relationships with the investment community, dealer counterparties, central banks and other professionals operating in financial markets, by coordinating responses to information requests, representing the Bank at conferences and supervising the expansion of the list of existing Global Master Repurchase Agreement and International Swaps and Derivatives Association agreements.

Analytics, Models and System Development:

• Supervise the development of analytics tools in the team to improve the team’s capacity to capture and monitor risks; Such improvements include the implementation of portfolio analytical tools, such as P&L attribution analysis, cash flow projections analysis.
• Supervise key system development projects designed to improve operational efficiency; Examples include the functional testing of the deployment of Straight Through Processing and electronic trading platforms.

Staff & Budget Management:

• Manage staff performance by establishing the work program of the Division, setting clear objectives for each member of the Division and providing regular feedback on performance; Performance reviews are conducted according to the Bank’s Human Resource calendar.
• Promote and supports personal development of staff in the Division, by establishing knowledge sharing and training programmes to keep the team abreast of new developments in portfolio management and techniques.
• Ensure business continuity by designating two adequate back-ups for each activity; Ensures that all relevant documents are both electronically and physically filed.

People management:

• Manage staff performance in line with the Bank’s guidelines, ensuring that objectives are set and agreed upon with each staff during the work program discussion in January, that feedback on performance are given throughout the year and that mid-year and annual reviews of performance are conducted in line with the Bank’s calendar.
• Ensure good performance ensuring that staff are coached, have a clear understanding of their job, and are aware of market developments by establishing knowledge sharing and training programs.
• Building talent and people’s capabilities for the future by supporting and leveraging the diversity of staff and create growth opportunities for others, encouraging them to stretch beyond their current experience or comfort zone.
• Provide ongoing feedback and development, including long term career development and
• Mentoring, as well as hold their team members accountable for developing others.

Management of the division:

• Ensure the smooth functioning of the division, by establishing and assigning the annual work program to staff at the beginning of each January, ensuring that budget is commensurate with needs and strictly monitored.
• Ensure that there is business continuity by ensuring that all activities have at least two proper back up, by implementing succession planning, and ensuring that all relevant documents are both electronically and physically filed.
• Mitigate operational risk by ensuring that the division’s procedure manual are updated at all times and ensuring compliance with internal procedures and practices. The division’s processes should be reviewed and continuously enhanced.
• Ensure that the process and controls of the division are strong, and effective so that Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and Audit reviews are positive.
• Conduct at least monthly staff meetings with the various teams.
• Perform other duties as assigned by supervisors.

Competencies (Skills, Experience and Knowledge)

• Hold at least a Master’s Degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, Statistics or another relevant quantitative discipline. Relevant professional certification such as Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or International Capital Market Association (ICMA) is a plus.
• Have a minimum of eight (8) years of relevant and practical experience in international capital markets in general and with special emphasis on active management of complex fixed-income portfolios. Practical experience in managing a team of portfolio managers and/or traders.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of financial instruments, particularly bonds, structured products, derivatives, and risk management concepts.
• Ability to demonstrate strong numeracy skills.
• Ability to manage a team with the right balance of flexibility and control while cultivating a culture of rigour within the team.
• Ability to communicate effectively (Written and Oral) in English, with a working knowledge of French.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications and preferably, SAP CML.

Application Closing Date
4th January, 2024.