Senior Payroll and Fiduciary Staff Costs Accountant

Position title: Senior Payroll and Fiduciary Staff Costs Accountant
Grade: PL-5
Position N°: NA
Reference: ADB/10/044
Publication date: 20/04/2010
Closing date: 23/05/2010
Objectives
The goal of the Division is to provide effective and efficient services in the design and implementation of benefits programs. It is committed to the formulation and implementation of compensation polices and designing of benefits regimes that are consistent with the practices in HR Management to ensuring that regimes are internally equitable and externally competitive.
The functions of the Division include, among others, organizational design, job classification, payroll administration, management of education grant, salary advances, leave, oversight for field offices, assumption of duty and end of term benefits.
Duties and responsibilities
Under the general supervision of the Division Manager, the incumbent will perform the following duties and  responsibilities:
Accounting and Fiduciary Activities

• Verification of payroll costs to ensure in line with International Financial Reporting Standards;
• Generating of payment proposals for the entire Division, checking for accuracy and follow up with section heads for final verification before forwarding to Treasury for disbursement;
• Ensuring completeness of payroll and staff benefit postings in Financial Records;
• Ensuring consistency of HR and FI records;
• Ensuring reasonableness checks and analytical reviews for payroll expenses and staff benefits by comparing once period to another, provide explanations and reports on variances and supply input for monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements;
• Preparing reports requested by Accounting Department for grants and any other funds for reporting;
• Participating in the review and formulation of accounting procedures, policies and practices for payroll and staff benefits expenses;
• Performing Benchmarking by assessing the best practices for other organizations; analyze their methodologies and procedures and draft issues paper and recommendations for their adaptability to the Bank’s environment;
• Advising Management on methods to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the control environment over payroll and other staff benefits;
• Key Interface for Internal and External Audit Activities;
• Working with the Internal Control Unit (ICU) to document all CHRM2 process and key internal Control Point paying particular attention to existing and mitigating controls;
• Advice of Segregation of Duties (SOD) activities within the Division and Advice of Process Improvements to improve the internal control environment over staff expenses;
• Follow up of account reconciliations for suspense accounts and accounts receivables.

Reporting and Actuarial Activities

• Key Budget Focal Point for Staff Expenditure Costs and Personal Cost planning;
• Responding to requests from Management on actuarial issues such as payroll and staff expenditure analysis which are useful for decision making and projections of future requirements;
• Establishing and coordinating (in CHRM2 and other FI-Integrated applications) the use of rigorous structured systems analyses techniques in the development of data collection, entry manipulation and reports;
• Determining the need for effective user interfaces and tools required for the operation of SAP systems such as Business Warehouse.

Organisation Structure Oversight and Position Budgeting Control

• Administration of the Organization Structure to ensure that all changes are in line with approved positions and maintained to enable the functioning of other processes such as job classification, recruitment, staff movement, salary budget management, payroll  and the Bank approval processes;
• HR Organization Data Clean Up to ensure consistency of data with new UA budgeting rules;
• Administration of Position Budgeting Control in order to ensure that: Funds Pre-commitments and commitments are updated with positions.

Functional and Technical Assistance

• Providing functional and technical assistance to staff in the Division and Field Office Administration and Finance Officers/Assistants;
• Providing continuous training for other HR and FI users in the resolution of all Internal Control and Reconciliation related issues on staff costs;
• Proposing changes to current configuration to improve controls and maximize efficiency. This will include liaising with the HRIS/Payroll Officer; Other sections heads; CIMM; COBS etc.;
• Proposing suggestions to HR process Reengineering in line with new developments in other areas.

Other

• Representing the department at meetings or working groups as may be required by exigencies of duty;
• Performing any other assignments as requested by management.

Selection Criteria
Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• Minimum of a Master’s Degree or its equivalent in Financial Accounting, Cost & Management Accounting or other related disciplines.  An accounting qualification will be an added advantage;
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant practical working experience in a large volume and busy computerised HR benefits unit and/or experience in an External Audit Firm;
• Good understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards and best practices;
• Good understanding of staff benefits processes;
• Keen internal and/or external audit oversight and COSO Risk Assessment requirements;
• Good mastery of SAP or other Integrated Accounting Software;
• Good analytical skills; detailed oriented; ability to work independently to resolve complex issues and problems when they arise;
• Ability to interpret and translate business needs in a way that reflects HR staff compensation issues.
• Ability to meet strict deadlines and work under pressure;
• High level skills in communication and project management; excellent client orientation;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English or French, with a working knowledge of the other language;
• Competence in the use of Bank standard software (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint).

Only applicants who fully meet the Bank’s requirements and are being considered for interview will be contacted. Applicants will only be considered if they submit (preferably electronically, to: recruit@afdb.org) a fully completed Personal History Form (PHF), available from the Bank’s web site, and attach a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae (CV) indicating date of birth and nationality. The President, ADB, reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level.
The African Development Bank is an equal opportunities employer and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

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