Fern was incorporated in 1979 and specialises in the development and implementation of banking systems to the following range of customers: credit unions, development banks, micro finance institutions, savings and loans organisations, community banks.

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The company's head office is in the centre of Belfast 500 meters from the Divis St - Westlink junction and there are offices in Dublin and Fiji.

Fern has clients in the following overseas locations S Africa, Spain, Australasia, Central America and the Caribbean - as well as throughout the UK and Ireland.

Technical environment

The development platform used is Microsoft .NET with C# programming language and MS SQL database.

Application Environment

Fern provides banking software to a range of customers large and small. The system allows customers to record both online and batch transactions for savings, loans, interest calculation and fees. The system provides detailed and summary financial reports and information from Cash Management, through Arrears Analysis, Portfolio Management to financial reports such as Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

Products and Services

The two main products are :

Cubis 8 - a savings and loans product specially designed for credit unions and savings & loans organisations.Written in FoxPro it is installed in 200 sites in 20 different countries.

Abacus OneWorld - a banking system specifically designed for a wider range of savings & loans organisations from small community banks to development banks and building societies

Services include:

• implementation,
• Training,
• Customisation,
• Data Migration,
• Project Management
• Customer Support
• System Audits
• Compliance Monitoring
• Governance Reviews

This is a senior post for candidates who can demonstrate the necessary skills to manage a team of consultants implementing financial services applications in a range of client sites from small networks up to networks covering 50 branches.

The ideal candidate will have a good understanding of accounting, programming and systems development. The ability to deal with clients at a senior and Board level would be an advantage.

Willingness and the capability to travel overseas for one to four week assignments will be essential.

Fern places high regard for the main customer contact personnel as this often is the customer's main perception of the company. Good communication skills are essential and having a natural empathy with customers in need of urgent assistance would be an advantage.

The ideal candidate will be able to analyse the problem quickly, articulate a response that is comprehensible to the customer in a sympathetic manner. A clear understanding of computerised accounting systems is necessary plus knowledge of basic hardware, operating system and networks.

Being organised to record the essential details in the customers' electronic file is essential and working positively as part of a team will allow the company to fulfil its commitments to the customer.