Associate Director, Finance

About the role

Nearwater Capital is seeking an experienced accounting and reporting leader to bring an outsourced function in house and build out financial reporting, consolidation, and the underlying systems that support it. You will own day to day accounting and management reporting while also driving the evaluation and implementation of the platforms, whether a general ledger system or a dedicated consolidation tool, that the function needs as the firm grows. You will operate in a dynamic, deal driven environment where financial reporting must keep pace with a complex and evolving portfolio of structured finance transactions, with real ownership over how the function is built. This is a hands on leadership role that blends technical accounting depth with systems strategy and cross functional collaboration. The position is centered on owning the end to end reporting lifecycle and ensuring that controls, transparency, and efficiency are embedded from the start.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Own day to day accounting and financial reporting for the firm, including entity level and consolidated reporting across all legal entities, intercompany eliminations, and multi currency reporting.
• Bring in house work currently performed by a third party, building the internal capability, process, and controls to support it going forward.
• Oversee preparation and sign off of external financial statements and internal management reporting in accordance with US GAAP (IFRS knowledge a plus).
• Produce and maintain KPI/KRI reporting used by the business and risk teams, including spreads, transaction costs, margin, new counterparty costs, fail charges, and liquidity metrics.
• Support management company accounting and reporting.
• Respond to ad hoc reporting requests from senior leadership and other stakeholders, slicing data in different ways to support business development and decision making.
• Evaluate, select, and lead implementation of the systems that support reporting and consolidation, whether a dedicated consolidation/reporting platform (e.g. OneStream, Workiva, SAP BPC) or a general ledger/ERP system (e.g. NetSuite), from business case through go live.
• Drive reporting process transformation, including designing and implementing centralized reporting workflows that improve governance, transparency, and efficiency across accounting, finance, and external reporting.
• Define and govern the Global Chart of Accounts framework, driving standardization across entities and enforcing change control standards.
• Assess the US GAAP reporting and consolidation impact of new financing structures and instruments prior to close, partnering with the business on new products and initiatives, including technical accounting analysis and memos on complex transactions (e.g. business combinations, goodwill impairment, investment structures).
• Use technology to build KPI dashboards and enhanced executive financial packs that give insight into the key drivers of firm performance.
• Coordinate cross functionally across accounting, FP A, tax, legal, and operations, and act as a key liaison with external auditors, tax advisors, lenders, and senior stakeholders on all financial reporting, accounting, and systems matters.

Requirements

• 8-12+ years of experience in financial reporting, accounting, or public accounting, Background in banking, broker dealer, asset management/private equity, or other financial services strongly preferred.
• A path through public accounting/audit (Big 4 or similar), particularly with investment management or financial services clients, is a strong and valued route into this role, combined with in-house reporting experience.
• Comfort with complex or complicated products such as derivatives. Direct structured finance experience is a plus but not required, provided you can get up the learning curve on complex products.
• Experience across global entities and multiple jurisdictions, including foreign currency exposure. Experience in our specific locations (New York, Dublin) is a plus.
• A track record of having driven consolidation across entities and jurisdictions, ideally at meaningful scale (e.g. consolidation across hundreds of legal entities).
• Hands on experience with systems implementation, ideally a consolidation/reporting platform (e.g. OneStream, Workiva, SAP BPC) or a general ledger/ERP system (e.g. NetSuite). Open to strong candidates whose implementation experience is GL/ERP based rather than dedicated consolidation tooling.
• Experience partnering across FP A, tax, legal, and external auditors to deliver quarterly and annual reporting on time and accurately.
• Expert level US GAAP technical knowledge and practical application in a complex reporting environment.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast moving, high volume environment.
• Strong leadership and mentorship skills, with experience building and developing high performing finance teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts to non specialists.
• Proven commitment to internal controls, process rigor, and compliance within a regulated financial services environment.

Practical notes

• Hours: Full time.

The role at Nearwater Capital is designed for a senior finance professional who is ready to take ownership of a critical function and shape the future of financial reporting in a growing, deal intensive firm. You will be responsible for transforming an outsourced operation into a scalable, in house capability while ensuring that reporting remains accurate, timely, and aligned with evolving business needs. Success in this position will depend on your ability to manage technical complexity, implement robust systems and processes, and communicate effectively with both finance and non finance stakeholders. You will be expected to think strategically about the long term architecture of reporting and consolidation while delivering high quality outputs on a daily basis. The ideal candidate brings a blend of technical accounting expertise, systems knowledge, and leadership experience that enables them to build and lead a high performing team. This position requires comfort with ambiguity, strong problem solving skills, and the ability to thrive in a fast paced, dynamic environment. If you are passionate about building best in class financial reporting capabilities and want to have a direct impact on how the firm scales, this role may be a strong fit.