Senior Specialist, Fund/Client Accounting

Role Responsibilities

• Perform end-to-end oversight of the NAV process for German special investment funds, from transaction and position completeness through valuation, accruals, reconciliations, NAV analysis, exception clearance, final sign-off and release readiness.
• Review NAV calculations and movements for completeness, accuracy and reasonableness, using fund-specific tolerances, materiality thresholds, investment guidelines and valuation requirements appropriate to institutional mandates.
• Oversee cash, position, transaction and income reconciliations and investigate breaks across the accounting records, brokers, data providers, asset managers and German depositaries (Verwahrstellen).
• Act as a senior operational contact for German depositaries, driving timely clarification of NAV differences, valuation questions, open receivables and payables, settlement issues, collateral balances and other matters affecting NAV approval.
• Review the accounting and valuation of complex financial instruments, including OTC derivatives, structured products, complex fixed-income instruments, securities lending, repos, collateral and margin movements, applying appropriate escalation and evidence standards.
• Oversee fund-specific and non-standard structures common in institutional mandates, including master-fund and segment-level accounting, multi-currency and multi-share-class arrangements, individual fee models, performance fees, in-specie activity and investor-specific requirements.
• Assess significant NAV and P&L movements, pricing exceptions, stale or model-based valuations, late or backdated activity, corporate actions, income events, FX effects and manual accounting adjustments, ensuring that conclusions are documented and auditable.
• Lead the resolution and escalation of material or recurring exceptions, coordinate impact assessments and root-cause analysis, and support corrective and preventive actions across Fund Accounting, Data Management, Pricing, Derivatives Operations, Technology and other stakeholders.

Required Expertise

German Special Fund and NAV Expertise

• Deep practical understanding of German special investment funds and institutional fund structures, including the differences from publicly distributed funds in investor base, contractual design, operating model, reporting expectations and degree of fund-specific configuration.
• Strong knowledge of German investment fund accounting and valuation requirements, including KAGB and KARBV, and the ability to apply legal, contractual and fund-specific requirements within a controlled NAV oversight framework.
• Demonstrated experience across the full NAV lifecycle, including transaction capture, cash and position reconciliation, income and expense accruals, valuation, realised and unrealised P&L, capital activity, NAV movement analysis, exception management, sign-off and post-NAV follow-up.
• Ability to understand segment and master-fund relationships and to challenge the consistency of positions, accounting results, expenses, capital activity and NAVs across relevant calculation levels.

Complex Instruments, OTC Derivatives and Valuation

• Advanced knowledge of equities, fixed income and complex debt instruments, including inflation-linked, floating-rate, callable, convertible, asset-backed, mortgage-backed and other structured instruments.
• Strong practical knowledge of OTC derivatives such as interest-rate swaps, credit-default swaps, total-return swaps, FX forwards, options and other bilateral or centrally cleared instruments, including valuation, cash flows, accruals, collateral, margin and lifecycle events.
• Ability to review observable and model-based valuations, challenge pricing sources and assumptions, assess valuation changes and determine when additional evidence, independent validation or escalation is required.

Depositary Collaboration, Controls and Professional Capabilities

• Extensive experience working with German depositaries and a clear understanding of the information, reconciliations, explanations and evidence required to support timely NAV confirmation and fulfil the respective responsibilities of Fund Accounting, the KVG and the depositary.
• At least five years of relevant experience in German fund accounting, NAV oversight, fund administration, depositary operations, investment operations or a comparable financial-services environment, with meaningful exposure to German special funds.
• Strong analytical judgement, risk awareness and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritise time-critical NAV issues, challenge incomplete explanations and make well-supported escalation decisions.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills and the confidence to work with institutional clients, asset managers, German depositaries, auditors, external service providers, internal control functions and technology teams.
• Very good written and spoken German and English are required. Good knowledge of Microsoft Office, especially Excel, is expected. Experience with XENTIS, Eagle or comparable fund-accounting platforms and with data analytics, automation or AI-enabled tools is an advantage.

What Success Looks Like

• Accurate, complete and timely NAV oversight for German special funds, supported by clear evidence and a reliable audit trail.
• Complex instruments, OTC positions and bespoke fund structures are understood, challenged and represented correctly in the accounting and valuation process.
• NAV differences and operational exceptions are resolved efficiently with clear ownership across Fund Accounting, asset managers, service providers and German depositaries.
• Recurring issues are reduced through effective root-cause analysis, stronger controls, improved data quality and practical process enhancements.