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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING |
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Position Number: 00091987 |
Description Activated On: 10/22/2025 8:50:41 AM |
Position Purpose: Describe the primary purpose of this position and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Example: Provides clerical and office support within the Division to ensure its operations are conducted efficiently and effectively. This position is responsible for the following advanced professional accounting work in the Special Investment Accounting Section (SIAS) : (1) Supervise, review, monitor and interpret the results of the daily, monthly, quarterly and fiscal year-end activities of a staff of professional accountants engaged in the analysis, reconciliation, classification and reporting of various complex and highly automated investment account activity, between our investment accounting system, Real Estate & alternative investment advisors and the custodial bank in the Special Investment Accounting Section(SIAS). The SIAS includes the System’s Real Estate, Infrastructure, Private Equity and Private Credit asset classes. (2) Supervise, review, monitor and interpret the activities for the respective asset classes which includes analysis of quarterly reports, quarterly reconciliations of cash flows, cost and net asset values, review of capital calls and distributions, and monthly reconciliations of the accounts in the general ledger with the activity that is reported, analysis of the appraisal reports for the directly held properties, analysis of the monthly income for all of the directly held properties. (3) Supervise accountants' workload, while improving current procedures or implementing new procedures as deemed necessary. (4) Serve as a SIAS operational liaison for various third-party service providers. (5) Provide technical expertise through review, research, and resolution of routine, unique or complex investment accounting transactions, which also includes serving as resource for investment accounting staff on such transactions. Also, supervise the preparation and approval of general ledger entries. (6) Review, prepare, monitor and analyze preparation of various internal and external financial, government and management reports. (7) Maintain a proficient knowledge of various investment and accounting software packages, and the investment markets and their impact on System performance. |
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Description of Duties: Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Descriptions should include the major end result of the task. Example: Types correspondence, reports, and other various documents from handwritten drafts for review and signature of the supervisor. 1) Supervise, review, monitor and interpret the results of the daily, monthly, quarterly and fiscal year-end activities of a staff of professional accountants engaged in the analysis, reconciliation, classification and reporting of various complex and highly automated investment account activity, between the investment accounting system, Private markets consultant and the custodial bank in the Special Investment Accounting Section (SIAS). The SIAS includes the System’s Real Estate, Infrastructure, Private Equity and Private Credit asset classes. Investments for Real Assets and Alternative Investments total around $25 billion and include domestic and international limited partnerships, directly held Real Estate properties, publicly & privately traded equities, mortgage notes and short-term investments. Assess and improve the Agency’s internal control structure for these investments. (2) Supervise, review, monitor and interpret the following activities for the respective asset classes: analysis of the quarterly reports that are submitted by the System’s 400 plus diverse and complex limited partnerships including changes in the valuations of portfolio holdings; quarterly reconciliations of the cash flows, cost and net asset values reported by the custodial bank, partnerships and PSERS’ Investment Office and monthly reconciliations of the accounts in the general ledger with the activity that is reported. These duties also require assessing the validity and accuracy of PSERS' capital account values as reported by the partnerships, recommending adjustments as necessary. In addition, this position is responsible for estimating the management fee expense for each partnership on a quarterly basis and preparing the journal entries to post to the general ledger. Valuation of the respective asset classes is a critical audit area for PSERS’ external auditors due to the significant degree of management judgement involved and the valuation complexity. This position is responsible for exercising significant management judgement in the valuation of these complex investments. (3) Assign work, monitor workload, evaluate performance and provide training in established and new procedures, for staff under supervision. Resolve or mediate employee work-related issues and recommend personnel actions, such as filling vacant positions. Initiate and oversee the streamlining of work processes through process review, analysis and implementation of the new or improved process. (4) Serve as SIAS operational liaison with the independent auditors, various third-party vendors and certain custodial bank functional areas. Audit liaison responsibilities include, but are not limited to, providing all of the necessary investment accounting reconciliation support, reports and analysis in order to address auditor operational requests, which allows for audit completion in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Various third-party vendor liaison responsibilities include, but are not limited to, providing all of the necessary communications, both verbally and in writing, to ensure that third-party vendors receive and transmit appropriate and pertinent information in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Certain custodial bank functional area liaison responsibilities include, but are not limited to, providing all of the necessary communications, both verbally and in writing, to ensure that the custodial bank receives and records the System’s transactions and holdings activity with regard to Special Investments in a timely and accurate manner. (5) Provide technical expertise through review, research, and resolution of routine, unique or complex investment accounting transactions, which also includes serving as a resource for investment accounting staff on such transactions. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, reviewing monthly reconciliations of cost, market value, purchases, sales, return of capital, income, gain, capital improvements, unrealized and realized currency and investment gains/losses, management fees to the general ledger for completeness and accuracy. Supervise the preparation and approval of general ledger entries and approve the need for new general ledger accounts. Ensure that generally accepted accounting principles are followed. (6) Review, prepare, monitor and analyze various segments of internal and external financial, government and management reports. Ongoing oversight report responsibilities could include, but are not limited to, the Financial Statements, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, Financial Statement Analytical Review. (7) Lead and/or participate in special projects, as assigned by the Manager, SIAS and/or Director, IA. Projects may require working in groups and/or individually. Projects may involve systems, investments, accounting or other areas. (8) Communicate, verbally and in writing, with the custodial bank, senior Treasury officials, senior management staff, investment managers, System consultants, independent auditors and various other third-party service providers in order to efficiently and effectively coordinate the transaction, reporting and performance activity of the System’s investments. Also, coordinate efforts internally and externally to ensure the records retention policy is properly followed. (9) Maintain a proficient knowledge of various investment, accounting and general-purpose software programs including BNY Nexen, Private i, Tamale and Microsoft’s suite of products including Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint. (10) This position is identified as essential level 2. It supports a critical business function and when there is a declaration of an office closing, emergency or disaster, the incumbent may be required to participate/assist in those functions to aid the business continuity process. As such, the incumbent may be required to remain at or report to work at headquarters or an alternate site and be available or reachable by telephone during the recovery process. |
Decision Making: Describe the types of decisions made by the incumbent of this position and the types of decisions referred to others. Identify the problems or issues that can be resolved at the level of this position, versus those that must be referred to the supervisor. Example: In response to a customer inquiry, this work involves researching the status of an activity and preparing a formal response for the supervisor’s signature. * Make decisions regarding the results of the daily, monthly, quarterly and fiscal year-end analysis of various complex and highly automated investment activities and transaction types, resulting in the resolution of complex reconciliation issues. Decisions could require the evaluation of generally accepted accounting principles, accounting system flows, etc. In addition, determine if the results of daily, monthly, quarterly and fiscal year-end analysis, reconciliation, classification and reporting of various complex and highly automated investment account activity requires elevation of an issue to the Manager, SIAS. * Assess and identify areas for improvement in the Agency’s internal control structure for domestic and international limited partnerships, directly held Real Estate properties and short-term investments. Recommend changes to the Manager, SIR&A. * Determine assignment of workload to staff under supervision. * Evaluate performance of staff under supervision. * Determine necessary training in established and new procedures for staff under supervision. * Resolve or mediate employee work-related issues and recommend personnel actions, such as filling vacant positions. * Initiate and oversee the streamlining of work processes through process review, analysis and implementation of new or improved processes. * Assess and identify best practices to ensure effective and efficient audits. Recommends changes to the Manager, SIAS. * Determine best practices necessary to have appropriate and pertinent information received from, and transmitted on a daily basis to, third-party service providers in a timely, accurate and complete manner. This is accomplished by efficiently and effectively coordinating the timely, accurate and complete receipt of daily transactional activity of approximately 400+ domestic and international limited partnerships and directly held Real Estate advisors on a daily basis. Coordinate the automated receipt of daily custodial data for the same set of managers. Determine issues that require elevation to the Manager, SIAS. * Assess and identify best practices to ensure that PSERS receives the contracted reconciliation and reporting benefits from the custodial bank. Necessary changes are identified and recommended to the Manager, SIAS. * Determine if monthly general ledger work is complete and accurate and that generally accepted accounting principles have been followed during the month-end reconciliation process. * Determine the need for, and approve, general ledger entries/adjustments and new accounts. Determine issues that require elevation to the Manager, SIAS. * Determine, and ensure compliance with, the requirements of various internal and external financial, government and management reports. Determine issues that require elevation to the Manager, SIAS. * Develop recommendations for policies and procedures for the independent daily investment accounting processing environment, which includes, but is not limited to, the establishment and maintenance of records of holdings, activity (transactions, income, gain, return of capital, corporate actions, etc.) and the impact of activity on PSERS' holdings such as purchases, sales, corporate actions, in the general ledger in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and investment industry practices. Changes are identified and recommended to the Manager, SISA. * Develop recommendations for policies and procedures for various office management methods, such as Investment Accounting’s policy on the storage of partnership records and documentation. |
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Requirements Profile: Identify any specific experience or requirements, such as a licensure, registration, or certification, which may be necessary to perform the functions of the position. Position-specific requirements should be consistent with a Special Requirement or other criteria identified in the classification specification covering this position. Example: Experience using Java; Professional Engineer License Experience: Licenses, registrations, or certifications: 1. N/A 2. N/A 3. N/A 4. 5. 6. |
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Essential Functions: Provide a list of essential functions for this position. Example: Transports boxes weighing up to 60 pounds.
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