Internal Control Specialist: Non-Financial Risk

TITLE: ITEM PROCESSING SR SPECIALIST STATUS: NON-EXEMPT REPORTS TO: SUP - ITEM PROCESSING OPS DEPARTMENT: ITEM PROCESSING JOB CODE: 11655 PAY RANGE: $28.00 - $29.50 HOURLY   GENERAL DESCRIPTION: As an Item Processing Senior Specialist at Golden 1 Credit Union, this role assumes a leadership position within the Item Processing department. The incumbent will leverage advanced expertise to ensure the efficient and accurate execution of financial transactions, contributing significantly to the overall success of departmental operations. TASKS, DUTIES, FUNCTIONS: * Exhibit leadership by overseeing ATM and mobile deposits, loan and Visa payments, and bill pay transactions to ensure adherence to daily service level agreements. * Allocate daily tasks based on transaction volumes to ensure timely completion. * Review, decide whether to accept or reject check deposits or payments at a higher tier limit per item than other departmental employees, currently assigned the highest tier below management level. * Handle tier 2 escalations, demonstrating advanced problem-solving skills for more complex issues. * Monitor and identify fraudulent or suspicious activity during the clearing process of items. * Lead in maintaining meticulous records and daily transaction reconciliation in adherence to established policies and procedures. * Implement quality control measures to uphold the highest standards in departmental operations. * Collaborate with departmental leadership in the execution of strategic initiatives, projects, and service packs. * Provide subject matter expertise on departmental duties and responsibilities. * Deliver exemplary service to members, branches, and other department staff, ensuring a high level of satisfaction. * Address escalated issues with professionalism and effective resolution strategies. * Lead efforts in detecting and preventing fraudulent checks, staying abreast of industry trends and best practices. * Ensure strict adherence to credit union policies, procedures, and compliance requirements. * Provide guidance to staff to ensure they stay within assigned limits and adhere to established policies and procedures. * Develop and conduct training sessions for new employees, ensuring a comprehensive onboarding process and fostering a knowledgeable and skilled team. Additionally, provide ongoing training and support to existing team members to enhance their proficiency and adaptability within the department. * Monitor the workflow, overseeing a wide variety of tasks to maintain efficiency and effectiveness. * Ensure that the team stays within assigned limits, maintaining meticulous records, and balancing daily transactions. * Receive and process a variety of financial transactions, including checks, deposits, bill pay and other related items made through the mail, mobile and/or ATM channels. * Utilize item processing systems and tools to ensure accurate and timely completion of transactions. * Conduct thorough research and promptly respond to inquiries from members, branches, and departments. * Identify and proficiently resolve, or guide others in resolving, issues that deviate from the routine course of business, particularly those linked to intricate or substantial transactions. * Exercise utmost care and judgment in recognizing member-related or system integrity issues, ensuring prompt escalation to the appropriate level of management for immediate resolution. In cases where members may be affected, prioritize timely communication to management, enabling the dissemination of proper notifications throughout the company. * Provide a high level of service to members, branches, and other department personnel. * Communicate and interact proactively with members and internal business partners, helping on department-related processes. * Foster a motivational atmosphere by coaching, monitoring, and providing positive feedback to enhance team performance. * Closely monitor and uphold the transport system, promptly reporting any system issues to management. This proactive approach ensures that vendors are promptly engaged to identify and implement timely resolutions. * Contribute expertise to support the successful execution of departmental initiatives. * Organize, prioritize, and perform multiple tasks simultaneously while being detailed oriented. * Collaborate with the fraud prevention team to enhance security protocols and minimize risks associated with fraudulent activities. * Lead GL and reconciliation processes, including those associated with ATM transactions and other GLs related to check processing within accounting. * Generate and deliver monthly reports to uphold quality control standards for work related to Reg CC. * Strong understanding of Funds Availability, Reg CC, and Fraud detection. * Maintain a thorough understanding of state and federal laws and regulations related to credit union compliance including bank secrecy and anti-money laundering laws appropriate to the position. * Compile and manage departmental statistics and reports. Generate administrative reports and conduct information gathering as needed. * Provide additional support throughout the department and perform other tasks and duties assigned as needed to maintain daily operations. * Utilizing critical thinking skills in order to identify gaps or updates within internal processes to create efficiencies on production areas. * Maintaining routine monthly audits and addressing findings to staff as needed. Tracking errors and monitoring for improvement. * Performing various job duties based on staffing and production needs. PHYSICAL SKILLS, ABILITIES, AND EXERTION UTILIZED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE TASK: 1. Effective oral and written communication skills required. 2. Strong knowledge in Check Acceptance, Funds Availability and Fraud detection. 3. Critical thinking skills needed to identify possible fraudulent activity and member escalations or inquires. 4. Must possess sufficient manual dexterity to skillfully operate an on-line computer terminal and other standard office equipment, such as financial calculators, personal computer, facsimile machine, and telephone. ORGANIZATIONAL CONTACTS & RELATIONSHIPS: 1. INTERNAL: Branches, Contact Center, other departments 2. EXTERNAL: Members, other financial institutions, correspondent bank, and vendors QUALIFICATIONS: 1. EDUCATION: * Successful completion of High School or GED required. * Associated degree in related field or equivalent experience.   2. EXPERIENCE:   * 5+ years’ experience in item processing, cash management, operations, or related financial roles. * 3+ years of hands-on experience in customer service roles, showcasing a consistent commitment to delivering exceptional support. 3. KNOWLEDGE / SKILLS: 1. * Proven experience as an Item Processing Specialist or in a similar role. * Advanced knowledge of financial transactions and compliance requirements, specifically in funds availability and Reg CC.  * Exceptional problem-solving skills with the ability to handle tier 2 escalations. * Strong leadership and collaboration skills to contribute to strategic initiatives. * Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. * Familiarity with fraud prevention technologies and best practices. * Proficient computer skills and software experience. PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: 1. Prolonged sitting throughout the workday with occasional mobility required. 2. Corrected vision within the normal range. 3. Hearing within normal range.  A device to enhance hearing will be provided if needed. 4. Occasional movements throughout the department daily to interact with staff, accomplish tasks, etc. LICENSES / CERTIFICATIONS:  #LI-Hybrid THIS JOB DESCRIPTION PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF THE GENERAL SCOPE AND LEVEL OF WORK EXPECTED TO BE PERFORMED, BUT IT IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF ALL DUTIES OR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE POSITION. THE CREDIT UNION RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY, ADD, OR REMOVE DUTIES AS NEEDED WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE. EMPLOYEES MAY BE REQUIRED TO PERFORM ADDITIONAL TASKS AND DUTIES AS DIRECTED BY THEIR SUPERVISOR, PROVIDED SUCH TASKS ARE WITHIN THE EMPLOYEE’S KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES, OR CAN BE PERFORMED WITH REASONABLE TRAINING. NOTHING IN THIS JOB DESCRIPTION ALTERS THE AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP OR LIMITS THE CREDIT UNION’S RIGHT TO ASSIGN OR REASSIGN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES TO THIS POSITION AT ANY TIME. REV. 4.14.2025 #LI-Hybrid

Thank you for your interest in joining Alcazar Energy! Each role at our company offers the chance to make a tangible impact on the global shift towards sustainable energy. As you consider applying, reflect on how your unique skills, passion, and vision align with our mission to innovate and energize the world responsibly. Responsibilities: The Associate will own day-to-day borrower-side administration of the firm's project-financed SPVs from financial close through construction and into operations. The work covers the full set of borrower obligations under a typical DFI/commercial lender financing package, including: * Compliance monitoring — tracking and managing conditions subsequent, ongoing reporting obligations and information covenants across the Common Terms Agreement, individual Facility Agreements, Accounts Agreement, hedging documentation and project documents (EPC, BoP, TSA, TOMA, PPA, offtake and grid agreements). The Associate should be comfortable reading the underlying documents and identifying obligations directly, rather than relying on external counsel to flag them. * CP/CS management — building and maintaining the project's CP and CS trackers, gathering and packaging evidence, and driving the satisfaction of conditions across internal teams and external counterparties. * Drawdown and waterfall administration — preparing and submitting utilisation requests, supporting documentation packs, CP/CS evidence, and managing the project accounts waterfall (including cash sweeps, DSRA, MMRA (if applicable) and distribution mechanics). * DSCR and lock-up monitoring — calculating forward- and backward-looking DSCRs, LLCRs and other lender-defined ratios, tracking headroom to distribution lock-up triggers and providing early warning on emerging covenant risk. * Debt service and hedging administration — coordinating interest rate fixings, EURIBOR/SOFR resets, interest and principal payments, swap settlements, and reconciling against the agreed repayment schedules. * Lender reporting and engagement — preparing periodic operational and financial reports for lenders and the intercreditor agent, managing the day-to-day lender relationship at working level, supporting annual budgets and operating plans, and managing lender consents, waivers, amendments and information requests. * Asset management interface — working closely with technical, commercial and ESG colleagues to track project KPIs (availability, generation, opex, capex variance) against the base case and lender requirements, and translating operational performance into financing implications. * Model maintenance and analysis — keeping in-life project models current with actuals and updated assumptions, producing forecasts for board, lender and investor reporting, and running the DSCR, sensitivity and scenario analysis that supports refinancings, amendments and lender engagement. * Model review and governance — reviewing and challenging lender, model-auditor and counterparty model outputs for material errors and assumption integrity, and maintaining version control and a clear audit trail across the model suite. * External advisor coordination — managing inputs to and outputs from the LTA, Independent Engineer, insurance adviser, model auditor, lender legal counsel and accounts bank, and supporting any post-close advisory deliverables. * Amendments and waivers — running selective refinancings, repricings, top-ups and amendment-and-restatement processes from the sponsor side as portfolio assets mature, including drafting first-cut waiver and consent requests for lender consideration. Relationship Management: The Associate reports to the Associate Partner/Partner within the PF/Investment team and works in close collaboration with the wider investment, asset management, finance and ESG teams. The role offers direct exposure to senior management, lenders and external advisors, and a clear development path into more senior portfolio management and structuring roles within the platform. Qualifications and Skills: * 3–6 years of project finance experience, with at least 2–3 years at a developer, IPP, infrastructure fund or sponsor. * Demonstrable experience administering live project-financed SPVs end-to-end — drawdowns, lender reporting, waivers, consents, CP/CS, debt service, account waterfalls. * Advanced Excel and strong hands-on project finance modelling skills — able to maintain, interrogate and stress-test sponsor-side models (DSCR sculpting, debt sizing, sensitivity engines, three-way financial statements, tax modelling and circular references) and stand behind the outputs, rather than necessarily having built them from scratch. * Working knowledge of project finance documentation — CTAs, facility agreements, accounts agreements, intercreditor and security sharing arrangements, hedging documentation, and the principal project documents — at the level required to identify obligations and risk directly rather than via counsel. * Direct experience of DFI lending practice (IFC, EBRD and similar), including E&S reporting, is a strong advantage (not a must). * Numerate and accounting-literate, with the ability to translate technical financial analysis into clear written and verbal communication for non-specialist stakeholders. * Comfortable managing multiple live workstreams in parallel under time pressure around drawdowns, reporting deadlines and lender approvals. * A practical, hands-on disposition. The role calls for someone who is happy to be the person doing the work rather than reviewing or commissioning it from advisors. We appreciate your time in considering a career with Alcazar Energy. By joining our team, you’re choosing to stand at the forefront of the renewable energy industry, contributing to projects that prioritize integrity, quality, and sustainability. As you share our commitment to making a difference, we look forward to potentially welcoming you aboard.