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Senior Consultant, Client Solutions – Front Office Solutions

Employer
Northern Trust
Location
Chicago, Illinois
Salary
Based on Experience
Closing date
May 9, 2021

Job Details

Senior Consultant, Client Solutions – Front Office Solutions

CORPORATE PROFILE
Northern Trust provides innovative financial services and guidance to corporations, institutions and affluent families and individuals globally. With 130 years of financial experience and over 20,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.
As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company that is committed to strengthening the communities we serve! We recognize the value of inclusion and diversity in culture, in thought, and in experience, which is why Forbes ranked us the top employer for Diversity in 2018. 
We’d love to learn more about how your interests and experience could be a fit with one of the world’s most admired and ethical companies. Build your career with us and apply today. 

BUSINESS UNIT DESCRIPTION
Front Office Solutions is a new strategic business for Northern Trust that provides a holistic digital+ service offering for some of the most sophisticated institutional investors across the globe, including foundations, endowments, pension funds, corporations, insurance companies, central banks and sovereign wealth funds. As asset owners engage in more complex, data-driven investment approaches to asset allocation, their operational needs and demands for high quality data have skyrocketed. Front Office Solutions provides a holistic, full-service, multi-asset solution that aims to empower in-house investment teams and support their important mission by providing a more comprehensive set of operational services and analytics including portfolio management, investment decision support, operational risk management, CRM/document management and workflow tools. 
The Senior Consultant will work primarily independently and be responsible for investment data management that will provide clients with the holistic data sets they need to fulfill their various stakeholder requirements including researching and identifying solutions for data management challenges for institutional clients. Additionally, the Senior Consultant will be expected to manage selected client-focused projects substantially independently.

SENIOR CONSULTANT POSITION
Northern Trust is seeking an experienced candidate for a Senior Consultant position to join our Front Office Solutions business. The Senior Consultant is expected to have solid, core institutional investments knowledge as well as specialized knowledge based on experience and applicable certifications. Specialized, in-depth knowledge should be held in at least one of the following three areas: 1) Alternative Investments (Private Equity & Hedge Funds), 2) Performance Measurement & Analytics, and 3) Fund Accounting/Operations.
The Senior Consultant will have more depth and breadth of knowledge/experience as compared to more junior members of the designated client solutions team and may have developing knowledge/experience across all three of the key areas.. The Senior Consultant will be regarded as a subject matter expert in the targeted area(s) and a key contributor on the designate client solutions team.

UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL KNOWLEDGE
Alternative Investments
• Acts as daily point of contact for alternative asset client queries:
o Acts as a subject matter expert for alternative asset queries
o Assists in review of all other queries
• Responsible for supporting data management with respect to alternative asset transactional impacts and interpretation of complex capital account statements and transaction notices. Responsible for communicating with team members how the data should be captured.
• Responsible for secondary or final review of NAV, allocation and underlying client performance for alternative investments.
• Serves as secondary or final reviewer of single, conventional and blended benchmark calculations; reviewer of Public Market Equivalent (PME) benchmark calculations.
• Assists in training new FOS partners in the alternative asset space.  Operations
• Acts as daily point of contact for operational client queries:
o Acts as subject matter expert for accounting and general operational queries, including, Cost Basis Analysis, Cash Movement, Pricing, Gain & Loss Analysis, Account and Position Reconciliation
o Assists in review of all other queries
• Responsible for supporting data management with respect to transactional impacts on accounting, realized gain / loss, cost, etc.
• Acts as point of initial review for all investment data. Includes review of (but not limited to) Data Quality Review.
• Assists in training new FOS partners in the accounting and operational space. Performance Measurement & Analytics
• Acts as daily point of contact for client performance queries:
o Acts as a subject matter expert for general performance queries
o Assists in review of all other queries
• Responsible for supporting data management related to transactional impacts and cash flow timing impacts on performance output.
o Responsible for handling multiple performance calculation methodologies, including Gross, Net All, Net Manager, and IRRs.
o Responsible for handling benchmarks across the full spectrum of asset classes. Responsible for blended benchmark calculations and any associated customization.
o Responsible for understanding and helping manage Public Market Equivalent (PME) benchmark calculations.
o Ability to help generate and interpret performance attribution results at the manager and total fund (policy) levels.
• Acts as point of initial review for all investment data. Includes review of (but not limited to) Performance & Analytics Data.
• Serves as secondary or final reviewer of single, conventional and blended benchmark calculations.
• Assists in training new FOS partners in the performance measurement and analytics space.  COMMON,

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES – ALL SENIOR CONSULTANT POSITIONS
• Acts as point of secondary or final review for all investment data. Includes review of (but not limited to):
o Investment transactions (typically statement-based for alternative assets; file-based for public markets)
o Investment valuations (typically statement-based for alternative assets; file-based for public markets)
o Manager Estimates
o Plan Income / Expense Items
o Plan Contributions / Spending Withdrawals
o Underlying Manager Exposure Data
o Benchmark Data
• Responsible for secondary or final review of all investment reconciliations. Includes reconciliation of cash, positions, performance, transactions, alternative investment metrics (unfunded commitment, etc.).
• Serves as secondary or final reviewer of investment and composite performance calculations, including time weighted return and IRR calculations.
• Reviews proxy return settings at the investment level.
• Participates in initial client discovery sessions, assists in project planning, setting client expectations and facilitating continuous client updates throughout the onboarding process.
• Responsible for the review of all historic data entry and reconciliations during client onboarding.
• Participates in ongoing process improvement discussions where feasible including:
o Process improvement through technical skills development
o Third party vendor sourcing
o Ongoing Front Office Solutions program build (fee billing, legal contracts, training, etc.)
• Conducts ongoing training activities as required for clients and new FOS team members, supporting full service clients and software-only clients.
• Supports training materials and leads training sessions on daily operational activities as well as system capabilities

UNIQUE REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
Alternative Investments
• Strong understanding of institutional investment industry, including markets, instruments, funds and fund structures, trading, etc.: 
o Deep knowledge of Alternative Assets, investment products, and related operational processes (hedge funds, private equity). Demonstrated understanding of private equity transactional impacts on unfunded commitments, market value, cost, and other metrics typically associated with private equity (TVPI, DPI, PIC, etc.).
o Demonstrated knowledge of complex capital account statements and transaction notices.
o Deep understanding of Alternative Investment products.
o Understanding of time weighted return and IRR calculations; understanding of instances when performance issues need to be escalated to a supervisor. Operations
• Strong understanding of institutional investment industry, including markets, instruments, funds and fund structures, trading, etc.:
o Deep understanding of operational processes, transactional impacts, etc.
o Familiarity with performance measurement methods and the impact of valuation and transactional activity and timing on different investment return methodologies.
o Understanding of benchmarks across multiple asset classes as well as an understanding of the benchmark provider industry.  Performance Measurements & Analytics
• Strong understanding of institutional investment industry, including markets, instruments, funds and fund structures, trading, etc.:
o Deep understanding of operational processes, transactional impacts on performance measurement.
o Deep knowledge of Performance Measurement & Analytics, including multiple performance calculation methods (time weighted and IRR calculations) and attribution analysis (understanding of instances when performance issues need to be escalated to a supervisor).
o Knowledge of GIPS Standards.
o Understanding of benchmarks across multiple asset classes as well as an understanding of the benchmark provider industry. Understanding of calculation methodologies used to produce Public Market Equivalent (PME) benchmarks.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS – ALL SENIOR CONSULTANT POSITIONS
• Experience working with complex asset owners including Endowments, Foundations, Family Offices, OCIOs, Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and institutional asset managers.
• Analytical skills.
• Advanced understanding of Microsoft Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio), with particular emphasis on Excel.
• Ability to prioritize, multi-task, and perform effectively under deadlines.
• Ability to handle multiple concurrent projects and to reconcile any conflicting priorities.
• Commitment to client project success as it may require working unconventional hours during critical project phases.
• Experience in using portfolio and performance management systems and technology
• Experience in using Research Management/CRM solutions 

PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS – ALL SENIOR CONSULTANT POSITIONS
• Experience using VBA, Python or other programming language to format large data sets.
• Prior experience with multi-asset class portfolio management software.
• Experience / orientation to operational process improvement.
• Client servicing experience. High level of comfort communicating directly with clients and client advocacy.
• Ability to work closely and collaborate with internal stakeholders.

UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS
Alternative Investments
• Minimum 6 years of industry experience working with Alternative Assets, preferably in Operations.  Operations
• Minimum 6 years of industry experience working in Investment Operations such as:
o Fund Accounting
o Financial Reporting
o Accounting
o Investment Account Data Reconciliation – Accounting and Performance
o Investment Operations (analytics, reporting, fund or investment accounting)
o Performance Measurement & Investment Data Analytics (attribution, liquidity, and exposures)
o Alternative Asset Operations Performance Measurement & Analytics
• Minimum 6 years of industry experience working in Investment Operations, preferably with a minimum of 2 years in Performance Measurement & Analytics.

QUALIFICATIONS – ALL SENIOR CONSULTANT POSITIONS
• A College or University degree.
• Completion (or progress towards) of advanced credentials (CFA, CAIA, CIPM, CPA, MBA) preferred.
• A genuine desire and capability to work in a fast-paced, professional, inclusive environment which requires teamwork, well-honed problem-solving skills, frequent re-prioritization, deadline management, ongoing and comprehensive communication, constant attention to detail, and a commitment to continuous improvement and best practices.

Company

For more than a century, Northern Trust has worked hard building our legacy of outstanding service, expertise and integrity. From a Chicago-based bank founded in 1889, we now have more than 20 international locations and 16,500 employees globally. We serve the world’s most-sophisticated clients – from sovereign wealth funds and the wealthiest individuals and families, to the most-successful hedge funds and corporate brands. We burnished our reputation as a global leader delivering innovative investment management, asset and fund administration, fiduciary and banking solutions enabled by sophisticated, leading technology. And through it all, we continually laid a solid, forward-looking foundation on which future generations can continue growing and achieving greater. As of December 31, 2015, Northern Trust Corporation had: • $117 billion in banking assets • $6.1 trillion in assets under custody • $875 billion in assets under management
Company info
Location
50 S LaSalle
M5
Chicago
IL
60603
US

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