Senior Fund Accountant

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world's most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.
Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.
With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Role / Department

A vacancy has arisen in our Private Equity (PE) Operations team. Northern Trust offers a first‑class service to a variety of PE clients and works closely to ensure deliverables are met. You will be a key member within the administration team whilst providing additional support to the wider team that administers either a variety of clients or a single large client with an active investment portfolio.
Key components of the role include liaising with internal teams and the Investment Advisor, completing various non‑accounting tasks, completing all aspects of accounting and dealing with ad‑hoc queries as they arise, all within scheduled timeframes and ensuring that all client KPIs are met.

The Key Responsibilities of the Role Include

Client Contact

• Providing a premier client service by building strong relationships with the Investment Advisor and other third parties;
• Developing a thorough knowledge of your client and their bespoke requirements regarding key processes;
• Working closely with the client to resolve complex issues and queries;
• Working with other teams within NT to ensure the delivery of client deliverables;
• Responsible for the delivery of key client tasks, organising others in the team to meet deadlines;
• Ability to run projects with the client around a variety of complex tasks;
• Understanding of fund administration business.

Team Administration

• Own the monitoring of assigned mailboxes and completing tasks assigned by management;
• Support basic training of tasks learned on‑the‑job;
• Support other team members with workload and rotate tasks regularly;
• Perform reviews of junior team members' work.

General Tasks May Include

• Complex accounts preparation/review under various GAAP/IFRS standards;
• Bookkeeping / cash management;
• Investments: update and maintain investment and portfolio records on behalf of clients, including processing purchases and disposals, recording income receipts, revising quarterly valuations and understanding other complex investment transactions and restructurings;
• Investor calls/distributions: calculate call/distribution amounts for recommendation by client; liaise with client and investors regarding receipt/payment of monies; liaise with financial institutions receiving or making payments of fund and maintain accounting records;
• Develop client‑specific knowledge to facilitate ad‑hoc queries; detailed understanding of fund structures and how they interact;
• Investor reporting: complete mandatory/regular reporting for investors where quantitative data is part of the response;
• AIFMD and Solvency II reporting: review exported data from accounting systems and file mandatory reports with regulators/investors as applicable;
• Tax reporting: provide information for tax returns to internal and external tax professionals; review qualitative and quantitative data before submitting returns to investors; liaise with other internal departments such as CDD and Tax across jurisdictions (FATCA & CRS; UK, German and US mandates);
• Organisation of the Accounting Team: ensure agreed timetables are adhered to, proactive communication is maintained, improve processes and mandate prioritisation and mandatory escalation;
• Other: prepare and circulate accounts and tax timetables; advise on potential accounting issues & best practices; prepare management fee and carried interest calculations; update SharePoint‑based workflows; liaise with other Northern Trust departments and jurisdictions; maintain client relationships; resolve queries efficiently and promote communication.

Risk Management & Efficiencies

• Identify efficiencies and improvement opportunities to reduce risk and improve effectiveness;
• Ensure available technology is utilised efficiently;
• Work with technology teams to resolve issues and improve processes;
• Collaborate with legal/compliance to ensure funds comply with relevant authorities;
• Report operational issues to manager promptly;
• Flag expected delivery delays early;
• Act as subject‑matter expert and self‑direct departmental tasks;
• Review daily controls, communicate improvements or procedural changes.

Skills / Qualifications

• Accounting qualification (ACA or ACCA preferred) with knowledge of UK, US and Luxembourg GAAP; partial qualification or at least 2 years of relevant experience acceptable;
• Understanding of Guernsey Company / POI / Partnership laws and awareness of legal developments;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Confidence communicating with clients and senior stakeholders;
• Analytical and problem‑solving skills;
• Self‑organized with prioritisation and deadline management;
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, especially Excel; Investran knowledge an advantage;
• Self‑starter, teamwork, self‑directed under pressure with minimal supervision;
• Professional judgement and self‑review of own work.

Working With Us

As a Northern Trust partner you will participate in a flexible and collaborative work culture with financial strength and stability. Movement within the organisation is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you will work for an inclusive workplace committed to bettering communities.
Philanthropy remains integral to our heritage; employees worldwide commit time and talent to improve communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with health conditions and disabilities throughout the employment process. Contact the HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com if an accommodation is required.