Senior Accountant

Senior Accountant II, Corporate Controllership – JLL

Location: Chicago - Onsite

What this job involves:

As a Senior Accountant II within JLL's Corporate Controllership team, you'll serve as a strategic finance partner supporting JLL Spark and other corporate investments. This role combines technical accounting expertise with business partnership, where you'll be responsible for complex valuation analysis, investment accounting, and financial reporting that directly informs senior management decision-making. You'll work at the intersection of accounting policy, investment performance tracking, and SOX compliance, ensuring accurate financial statements through rigorous month-end close processes and balance sheet reviews. This position offers a unique opportunity to gain deep exposure to venture capital accounting, work closely with business leadership across JLL's innovation ecosystem, and apply both routine and non-routine accounting principles in a dynamic corporate environment. As part of a value-added controllership function, you'll contribute to financial transparency and control procedures that support JLL's strategic growth initiatives.

What your day-to-day will look like:

• Lead month-end close activities for JLL Spark and other strategic investments, performing detailed valuation analysis and maintaining comprehensive investment roll forwards that accurately reflect portfolio performance and accounting treatment.
• Collaborate with investment teams, business partners, and deal sponsors to understand original underwriting assumptions, ongoing strategic considerations, and evolving business conditions that impact valuation conclusions.
• Collect and analyze key performance metrics from investment contacts, tracking operational initiatives and financial performance indicators that inform valuation assessments and accounting judgments.
• Partner closely with business leadership to ensure transparency, completeness, and accuracy of investment valuations, associated journal entries, and financial statement disclosures, serving as the accounting expert for complex transactions.
• Work proactively with business development teams to identify transaction pipeline activity, review accounting implications of proposed deals, and provide technical accounting conclusions for new investment structures.
• Coordinate and own external audit activities related to investments and controllership areas, preparing comprehensive work papers, responding to auditor inquiries, and ensuring smooth audit execution.
• Execute ad-hoc close activities and special projects across other JLL Technologies business lines as needed, bringing technical accounting expertise to emerging initiatives and non-routine transactions.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or related field with 4+ years of progressive accounting experience in corporate environments or public accounting firms.
• Proven analytical and problem-solving abilities, with demonstrated capacity to navigate complex accounting issues and develop well-supported technical conclusions.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy with highly organized approach to managing multiple deliverables, deadlines, and stakeholder expectations simultaneously.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with ability to translate complex accounting concepts for business partners and present recommendations to senior management.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications with advanced Excel skills, including financial modeling, complex formulas, pivot tables, and data analysis capabilities.
• Demonstrated capability to work effectively across functions and organizations, building collaborative relationships with business partners, auditors, and cross-functional teams.
• Outstanding analytical and quantitative abilities, including comfort reviewing and understanding financial models, investment projections, and valuation methodologies.

Preferred Qualifications:

• SEC reporting experience, including familiarity with public company disclosure requirements and financial statement presentation standards.
• Valuation accounting experience, particularly with fair value measurements, Level 3 assets, and complex investment structures under ASC 820 and ASC 321/323.
• CPA certification or active progress toward CPA completion.
• Experience with venture capital or private equity accounting, including understanding of investment lifecycle from initial funding through exit events.
• Background in Big Four public accounting or corporate controllership roles with exposure to technical accounting research and policy application.
• Familiarity with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements and internal control frameworks.
• Experience with enterprise financial systems such as OneStream, SAP, or similar consolidation and reporting platforms.