Financial Governance Specialist

We are seeking a highly skilled Financial Governance Specialist to join our Centre of Excellence for Fund Accounting in Pune.

The successful candidate will assist in the governance, control, and management of financial reporting processes for designated funds/entities and provide administrative oversight support. They will work closely with the Operations team in London, including Strategy Accounting Leads and Fund Controllers.

This exciting role offers a unique opportunity to interact and coordinate with multiple stakeholders across various locations, both internal and external to our client, including but not limited to Group Finance, Tax, and Legal functions, as well as Fund Administrators and Auditors.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and support the delivery of monthly/quarterly financial, investor, and regulatory reporting.
• Oversight and high-level knowledge over number of different strategies/assets classes.
• Support annual financial statement review and management of the audit process, ensuring delivery in line with KPIs.
• Interact with Fund Administrators to ensure accuracy and timeliness of financial and investor reporting, incorporating insights from the wider team.
• Lead/support designated fund cash and liquidity management, including bridge facilities, treasury positions, and counterparty exposure.
• Review monthly bank reconciliations.
• Review invoices in adherence with firm-wide and fund-specific policies.
• Support end-to-end payment processing of invoices, including recharge costs to the fund.
• Support capital activities (capital calls and distributions) with shadow calculations and first review of related information produced by Fund Administrators.
• Assist in monitoring compliance of the Fund LPA and side letter agreements.
• Support development of processes and controls in India COE.
• Support formal documentation of technical matters and judgments about complex accounting matters, including broader fund matters impacting financial records.
• Support review of performance fee calculations.
• Support formulating responses to investor queries (external) and internal Investor Relations Team.
• Support review and understanding of investment valuations and other valuation information for suitability for financial reporting.
• Support management of fund structure complexity and governing documents to reflect intended tax planning.
• Provide back-up and cover to other functional support areas within Operations or to other team members on an ad-hoc basis.

Group Reporting:

• Final review/shadowing of management fees and subsequent reporting to Group Finance function.
• Lead reporting of AUM/FUM information to Group Finance function.
• Lead workstream in gathering ad-hoc data requests from PLC Group Finance.

Administrator Oversight, Systems, and Process Management:

• Lead Fund Administrator assessments and feedback, monitoring administrator delivery against SLAs and KPIs.
• Lead workstream with Operations teams to ensure deals are correctly recorded in in-house systems, maintaining data integrity.
• Take lead in ensuring adequate process documentation and control for areas of responsibility.

Projects:

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

People Management:

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

COE Specific Responsibilities:

• Lead efficiency initiatives and act as main point of contact for developing transformation ideas from India.
• Ensure all operational metrics, management reporting requirements, and requests are completed on time for the entire team, owning documentation and ensuring timely updates.
• 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.
• Develop operational risk best practices and risk mitigation strategies for the overall betterment of fund accounting.
• Ensure all mandatory trainings, policy, and procedures are followed by the team with no breaches.
• Provide active support to Fund Accounting Lead COE on any internal deliverables and ensure it is prioritized.

Key Requirements/Qualifications:

• Demonstrable experience of 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 modeling and PowerPoint.
• Ability to meet deadlines; solve problems with strong analytical skills with 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.