Financial Reporting Governance Professional

Job Summary

A unique opportunity to join our Centre of Excellence for Fund Accounting in Pune and assist in the governance, control, and management of financial reporting processes for a designated set of Funds/entities.

You will become an integral part of the Fund Accounting Team in London with daily interactions with the Operations team, including Strategy Accounting Leads and Fund Controllers.

This exciting role provides a chance to interact and coordinate with multiple stakeholders across various locations, both internal and external to our client, including client's Group Finance, tax, and legal functions, as well as Fund Administrators, and Auditors.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Lead and support the oversight and delivery of monthly/quarterly financial, investor, and regulatory reporting.
2. Oversight and high-level knowledge of multiple different strategies/assets classes.
3. Support the annual financial statement review and management of the audit process, ensuring team delivery in line with KPIs.
4. Interaction with Fund Administrators to ensure accuracy and timeliness of financial and investor reporting, considering insights from the wider team.
5. Lead/support designated Fund cash and liquidity management, including bridge facilities, treasury positions, and counterparty exposure.
6. Review of monthly bank reconciliations.
7. Review of invoices in adherence with client's firm-wide and Fund-specific policies.
8. Support the end-to-end payment process of invoices, including recharge costs to the Fund.
9. Support in capital activities (capital calls and distributions) with shadow calculations and first review of related information produced by Fund Administrators.
10. Assist in monitoring compliance with Fund LPA and side letter agreements.
11. Support the development of processes and controls in India COE.
12. Support formal documentation of technical matters and judgments about complex accounting matters, including broader fund matters impacting the Fund's financial records.
13. Support review of performance fee calculations.
14. Support formulation of responses to investor queries (external) and internal Investor Relations Team.
15. Support review and understanding of detail behind investment valuations and other valuation information for suitability for financial reporting.
16. Support management of complexity of fund structures and governing documents to reflect intended tax planning.
17. Back-up and cover will also be provided to other functional support areas within Operations or to other team members on an ad-hoc basis.

Group Reporting:

1. Final Review/Shadowing of Management Fees and subsequent reporting to client's Group Finance function.
2. Lead the reporting of AUM/FUM information to client's Group Finance function.
3. Lead workstream in relation to gathering other ad hoc data requests from PLC Group Finance.

Administrator Oversight, Systems, and Process Management:

1. Lead Fund Administrator assessments and feedback, including monitoring administrator delivery against SLAs and KPIs.
2. Lead workstream with client's Operations teams to ensure deals are correctly recorded in client's in-house systems and take responsibility for maintaining data integrity.
3. Take a lead in ensuring adequate process documentation and control for your areas of responsibility.

Projects:

1. Lead ad-hoc projects for continuous improvement to the Fund Accounting operating model and for overall betterment of the function.

People Management:

1. Responsible for overseeing a team of up to 6 Fund Accountants to provide direction, guidance, and review.
2. Responsible for training and development of team, including timely performance and 1:1 reviews and training requirements.

COE Specific Responsibilities:

1. Lead efficiency initiatives and act as main point of contact for developing transformation ideas from India.
2. Ensure all operational metrics, management reporting requirements, and requests are completed on time for entire team, along with owning documentation by ensuring timely update.
3. Keep Fund Accounting Lead COE lead abreast of all material issues impacting client deliverables, SLAs, and KPIs, ensuring timely escalation for any issues/delays/challenges.
4. Develop operational risk best practices and risk mitigation strategies for overall betterment of fund accounting.
5. Ensure all mandatory trainings, policy, and procedures are followed by the team with no breaches.
6. Provide active support to Fund Accounting Lead COE on any internal deliverables, ensuring it is always prioritized.

Key Requirements/Qualifications:

• CA, ACCA, CPA, CMA, or master's degree in finance/accounting/business with at least 10+ PQE in either Fund Administration, Private Equity & Venture Capital, and/or accounting experience gained in an Asset Manager or Fund Administrator.
• Proven experience in Private Equity/Alternative Asset Industry of 7+ years.
• Strong knowledge of private fund structures (Debt and/or equity) and reporting requirements.
• Advanced Excel skills, including financial modelling and PowerPoint.
• Ability to meet deadlines, solve problems with strong analytical skills, and detail orientation.
• Proven experience of managing a team.

Desirable:

• Strong technical knowledge of IFRS, US GAAP, and/or Lux GAAP.
• Understanding of financial instruments across the capital structure.
• Thorough understanding of carry structures and waterfalls desirable.
• Experience of complex private equity fund fee calculations and reporting matters.

Personal Attributes:

• Highly driven and motivated.
• Formidable team player with ability to lead - collaboration with local and global team.
• Contribute to positive work environment.
• Excellent time management and organisational skills to meet tight deadlines and manage multiple tasks.
• Confident and strong communicator, with advanced interpersonal skills.

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