Operations Officer - Data Governance- Washington, DC

Job #:	121873
Title:	Operations Officer - Data Governance
Job Stream:	Financial Sector
Location:	Washington, DC
Closing Date:	10/22/2012
Background / General description:
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing private sector investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. The Information Quality Group (IQ Group) is the focal point for enterprise-wide data governance at IFC. The data governance mandate of the IQ Group confers the authority to: • Define and oversee principles, policies, procedures and guidelines to ensure the sustainable quality of IFC’s information assets. • Develop corporate consensus on enterprise-wide corporate data standards (terminology, naming conventions, business rules, formulas for defined calculations and reportable measures) which, once approved, are expected to be used consistently (and applied to IT solutions) to ensure clarity and consensus on the contextual meaning and usage across all corporate uses. • Resolve data issues through recommended improvements in business processes, corporate standards, systems, and/or reporting tools to support business operations, financial and operational reporting and analytics, effective risk management, and decision-making at all levels of the organization. Reporting to the Head of the IQ Group, this position will augment the IQ Group’s resources with an experienced and seasoned professional to play a leading and highly visible role in data governance activities supporting IFC’s investment operations, addressing new investment product innovation and standard definition, and contributing to the strategic evolution of the data governance function at IFC. Significant opportunities exist to work with senior leaders and influence corporate standards and decision-making resources. More generally, this position will serve as spokesperson for the data governance mandate, develop relationships and networks across the IFC and WBG to strengthen the information quality culture, and independently manage assigned IQ projects from inception to final delivery.
Duties and Accountabilities:
I. Primary responsibilities, include, but are not limited to, the following: a) Serve the IQ Group’s mandated function as the independent middle office control point between investment operations staff and back office functions such as transaction processing and portfolio valuation. This includes ensuring alignment with financial and management reporting and other portfolio requirements. b) Manage and resolve investment processing issues with confidence and authority, such as exceptional requirements or non-standard clearance processes, to serve investment transaction teams and management, IFC's clients, shareholders, and stakeholders, and ensure compliance with internal controls and IFC's operational procedures. c) Lead and actively manage the evolution of IFC’s investment product classification standards to meet IFC’s changing business needs. Chair and facilitate cross-functional working group(s) and/or subject matter expert teams to develop, define, and approve changes to the schema. Provide advice and guidance on new product innovation, assessment of operational processes and potential improvements, business and technical change requirements and project planning, and successful implementation across IFC’s IT systems and operational workflow processes, and reporting and analytic tools. d) Leverage expertise and influencing skills to strengthen cooperation and ensure effective alignment of data governance policies, principles, and corporate standards with IT software development and maintenance activities with the aim of optimizing integration of IFC’s enterprise-wide information resources to support a single version of the truth across IFC. e) Contribute to development of comprehensive documentation to identify and define specific data sources, definitions, gaps and omissions related to all strategic pillars, focus areas, corporate and departmental scorecard metrics for internal and external publication. f) Contribute to productive engagement with IT / Business Intelligence staff and investment stakeholders to improve IFC staff access to and use of operational data. Provide insight and recommendations for development and/or enhancement of reporting tools to provide maximum transparency of IFC’s information assets as a foundational principle for ensuring data quality visibility and accountability. g) Contribute to development of effective and reliable data quality exception alerts and monitoring opportunities to identify and resolve operations-related and mission-critical data quality issues. h) Develop training opportunities, coursework, and tip-sheets to guide staff on best practices and awareness of accountability for data quality with knowledge about how to achieve data accuracy, completeness, and timeliness. II. Secondary responsibilities, shared by all IQ Group team members: i) Contribute to strategic planning for evolution of Information Quality Group’s function within the organization. j) Contribute to quarterly reporting on all IQ Group activities, issues, and achievements for distribution to IFC Management and the Corporate Risk Committee (CRC). k) Positively influence the design and execution of corporate initiatives with the aim of ensuring sustainable high quality data and protecting IFC’s information assets. l) Serve as an advocate and spokesperson across the organization and externally for the business value of data governance practices and principles. Maintain professional relationships and memberships to stay abreast of industry-wide best practices, tools and technology.
Selection Criteria:
The successful candidate will be a professional who is detail oriented with a mild tendency to perfectionism, which is tempered by pragmatism, creativity, and a bias for action. This is a position which demands energy and enthusiasm to meet surprising challenges and opportunities every day, using what was learned yesterday as the basis for innovative solutions and insights today. Other essential qualifications include: • 15 years of progressive advancement in the private sector or 10 years experience with advanced degree. • Strong knowledge of financial investment operations and/or expertise in information management and governance best practices. • Reputation for integrity and credibility. • Self-confident and quick learner with proven ability to make sound, timely business decisions even when information is limited or decisions may not be desirable for all stakeholders. Comfortable admitting mistakes and escalating issues transparently and with integrity. • Strength in leading and facilitating cross-functional teams to common purpose and corporate best interests. Exceptional organizational skills and ability to lead meetings and agendas effectively. • Strong public speaking and persuasive presentation skills with ability to tailor the message to the audience and mobilize stakeholder support. • Demonstrated project management and change management expertise with ability to successfully manage expectations, mobilize and sustain support, and deliver successful outcomes across simultaneous and multiple high priority projects. • Proficient in managing relationships and working collaboratively across functions and many stakeholders.
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