Accountant, Funds Management Finance

Challenger Limited is an ASX-listed investment management firm managing $127 billion in assets (as at 30 June 2024). Life with us is fast moving and always exciting. Together we’re driving to deliver our vision to provide our customers with financial security for a better retirement.

We achieve this goal by providing a work environment where people from diverse backgrounds, with a range of skills and experiences can contribute and succeed.

Join us as an Accountant in our Funds Management Finance team, in a permanent role.

• You'll be joining a friendly, and collaborative team, who are passionate about supporting their stakeholders and each other, striving for excellence and continuous improvement in everything they do.

• This is a senior accounting role in the team, where you’ll couple your solid technical accounting skills, critical thinking capabilities and collaborative mindset to deliver important, complex, and interesting work.

• We work flexibly from our Sydney CBD Office where you can expect to work 3 days in the office and 2 days from home.

What you’ll do

You’ll provide hands on financial control and accounting services for our Affiliate fund managers and the Funds Management (FM) business including delivery of complete, accurate and timely results and reporting.  There will also be the opportunity to support ad hoc projects and workstreams for FM initiatives including establishment of new affiliates, distribution partnership and acquisitions.

You’ll drive process improvements and automation initiatives across your portfolio of work as well as across the wider finance team. You’ll share knowledge and lead by example with exceptional attention to detail, high quality of work and value add activities.

You’ll have key responsibilities which will include (but aren’t limited to):

• Month-end processing and general ledger close.

• Preparation of monthly balance sheet reconciliations, management reporting, analytical review, and commentary.

• The provision of information for tax return completion and other tax compliance matters (BAS and FBT).

• Reporting on Affiliate compliance with regulatory capital and cash requirements, including cashflow monitoring and forecasting.

• Assisting with the preparation of statutory financial statements for Corporate and Affiliate entities.

• Preparation of audit files and liaising with auditors on audit queries.

• Board papers preparation, including workpapers for audit and risk committees; as well as preparation of accounting memos on new standards or areas of reporting.

• Developing and maintaining strong working relationships with key business stakeholders and wider finance colleagues.

• Ongoing review of procedures and processes to identify opportunities to improve efficiencies, facilitate process changes and ensure appropriate controls are enforced to manage risks.

About the Team

The FM Finance team plays a critical role in the timely delivery of results, analysis and 3-year business plan and reforecasts to key senior stakeholders at Challenger including: the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO); the FM Chief Executive; the FM CFO; Group Boards and Investor Relations.

The team also plays a critical role as the accountant for our Affiliate fund managers and is a key part of their business management on all finance matters.

Team members share common tasks and work collaboratively, as well as owning unique tasks depending on their role and experience. The wider finance team includes Life Financial Control, Group Financial Control, Business Performance, Tax and Treasury, with teams operating in a highly interactive and collaborative manner.

The skills you’ll need

You’ll be newly CA / CPA (or equivalent) qualified, or close to completion with experience within a financial accounting or financial control environment. 

You’ll have sound knowledge and experience in financial management and accounting practices and strong analytical and problem-solving skills so you can break down problems, identify key issues and remedy with a range of different options.

Working collaboratively as part of a team and engagement with business stakeholders are key parts of this role, so you’ll have a customer centric approach and be able to use your strong communication and interpersonal skills to help translate complex data in a concise and clear manner to both finance and none finance stakeholders.

You’ll also have

• Experience of identifying, assessing, and evaluating key financial controls in a finance function.

• Ideally, you’ll have worked in a financial services environment. Funds management experience is highly desirable.

• A pro-active learning approach – you are someone who wants to constantly refine and develop yourself taking every opportunity to learn and grow.

• A strong user of MS Office in particular MS Excel, you’ll be comfortable working with large amounts of data and synthesise into meaningful insights and analysis. 

• Experience with Workday, Workiva and Anaplan is highly regarded but not essential.

Additional Information

Working at Challenger means being part of a diverse, connected team that has fun and loves what they do. We’re small enough, but big enough to accelerate bold ideas, realising what’s possible for our customers and partners. 

At Challenger, we provide access to a range of exclusive employee benefits that will support you both personally and professionally and a hybrid work environment including. 

• Discretionary bonus scheme.

• Eighteen weeks paid leave for all new parents. 

• Flexibility on when, and how, parental leave is taken. 

• Challenger Day – one extra day off every year in recognition of the effort our people make. 

• Additional support leave (fertility treatment leave, gender affirmation leave). 

• Extra superannuation contributions. 

• Employee share plan. 

Visit our benefits page for more information https://www.challenger.com.au/about-us/careers/our-benefits 

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We value inclusion and diversity of thought, promote flexible working practices so our people can integrate their work and personal lives, and are proud to be a Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality.

We believe in bringing your authentic self and a belonging in our culture. We are prideful in participating in the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) as a national benchmark on LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion and best practice in Australia. We offer the opportunity for a broad career experience and value people who are inquisitive and rigorous and are driven to make a difference.

Job type:

Permanent

Posting Close Date :

14/03/2025