Senior Accountant

Talcott Financial Group•Hartford, CT

10d

About The Position

Talcott Financial Group is an international life insurance group and the industry’s trusted partner for comprehensive risk solutions. Talcott creatively designs and expertly delivers responsive solutions that transfer risk and manage capital in a way that supports the strategic needs of insurers today and into the future. Talcott Financial Group has a proven track record of well-executed transactions, and the enterprise benefits from its strong financial position with over $127 billion in assets under management, its investment-grade financial strength ratings, and its partnership with Sixth Street, a leading global investment firm. Talcott Financial Group’s two core business platforms include: U.S. based Talcott Resolution and Bermuda and Cayman based Talcott Re. Overview: The Senior Accountant is an experienced accounting professional who will take ownership and accountability for all the accounting, reporting and analysis for assigned blocks of business and will work closely with other members of the accounting and reporting teams within Talcott to ensure complete, accurate and timely internal and external reporting of our financial results. The US Controllers Accounting team is responsible for the preparation and reporting of financial information for a variety of internal and external customers. This role is ideal for an accounting or finance professional interested in growing a fast-paced career at a growing life insurance / reinsurance carrier. This role offers the opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of the Company’s operations, reinsurance arrangements, and corporate business functions, while interacting with key stakeholders across the enterprise. We are looking for individuals to bring a fresh perspective to our accounting and reporting processes and controls. This role will require the ability to work independently, strong analytical capabilities, attention to detail, and a focus on maintaining strong but efficient and controlled financial reporting processes with a goal of identifying process improvements in assigned areas, while maintaining integrity and accuracy.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree in accounting required
CPA required
4-7+ years of accounting/finance experience preferably in the financial services industry or auditing
Strong baseline technical understanding of insurance and reinsurance, as well as the related accounting and reporting concepts
Experience in accounting, financial reporting, audit, financial statement preparation & analysis
Thrives in fast-paced, dynamic environments requiring significant growth and learning in a short timeframe
Demonstrates leadership capabilities through team effort, initiative, customer service, and integrity
Ability to coach and mentor less experienced staff
Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills
Strong organizational and analytical skills with proven attention to details and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment
Strong aptitude to understand and work with large data sets and synthesize the data to derive meaningful insights
Strong communication skills, both verbal and written
Individual must possess a high level of initiative, be a self-starter, self-directed, highly motivated and must be able to work in a team and build relationships
Working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, PeopleSoft/Oracle/other general ledger applications preferred

Nice To Haves

Experience with Reinsurance Transaction onboarding, or other complex technical transactions a plus

Responsibilities

Assume an active role in the US GAAP and Statutory monthly/quarterly/annual financial close process for assigned blocks on the US Accounting Team of Talcott Resolution, taking ownership of all accounting and reporting and becoming the subject matter expert for assigned blocks of business
Work with internal and external stakeholders with regard to account and reporting for assigned blocks, including resolving issues and/or working on related strategic initiatives
Responsible for the Company's external financial reporting for both US GAAP and Statutory accounting methods, as well as support other reporting bases (e.g. Bermuda accounting requirements)
Take the lead in the implementation and onboarding of new internal and external reinsurance transactions, including building settlement statements and all related GAAP and Statutory accounting entries
Support other strategic initiatives and non-BAU projects, as necessary
Analyzes and document earnings and other key financial variances, including commentary to be included in presentations to senior management
Maintains financial records of assigned functions or blocks of business and ensures that financial transactions and journal entries are properly recorded.
Streamline processes and procedures to continually improve efficiency and controls
Owns related internal controls, including performance of all SOX controls for assigned blocks and appropriate SOX documentation, as well as identification of new risks to propose and implement process and control changes independently.
Support ad-hoc financial reporting/analysis projects with little direction or supervision, including interaction and coordination with other teams or departments
May informally coach / mentor less experienced staff in areas they have become proficient in working. Ability to transition work over to less experienced staff, and perform preliminary review and assessment of the staff’s work product.