Deputy Controller/Director Accounting

Position Title: Deputy Controller, Director of Accounting

Department: Accounting 

Join our Team! At IHDA we strive to create and maintain a work environment that promotes diversity, recognition and inclusion. IHDA is committed to hiring and investing in individuals of diverse talents and backgrounds to ensure a range of perspectives and experiences inform and guide our work of financing affordable housing in the state of Illinois. 

Who we are: The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) is one of the Nation’s preeminent Housing Finance Agencies and one of the State’s ten largest financial institutions. Our mission is to finance the creation and preservation of affordable housing across the state. IHDA oversees more than 20 federal and state programs on behalf of the state of Illinois and serves as one of the state’s primary resources for housing policy and program administration. For over 50 years, IHDA has led the state in financing and supporting affordable housing. 

Summary: The Illinois Housing Development Authority (“IHDA”) is the Nation’s preeminent Housing Finance Agency and one of the State’s ten largest financial institutions. We partner with lenders, developers, local government, nonprofits, community groups, homeowners and others to deliver low-cost financing programs. Operating for over 50 years, IHDA has financed more than 325,000 units of affordable housing for both multifamily developments and single-family homeownership opportunities, touching every county in the State.

Reporting directly to the Authority’s Controller, the Deputy Controller oversees the accounting operations of the Authority. This includes the full spectrum of general ledger activities required to maintain the books and records of the Authority, accounting policy governance, and accounts payable and receivable. The Deputy Controller works to ensure a comprehensive set of controls are designed and functioning to mitigate risk, enhance the timeliness and accuracy of the Authority’s reported financial results, and safeguard that financial results comply with generally accepted accounting principles. The Deputy Controller serves as the Controller in the absence of the Controller.

Essential Functions:

• Accounting Operations:
  • Designs organizational structure and formulates goals that effectively accomplish the mission of the department and support the Authority
  • Develops and maintains processes and controls that ensure sound accounting practices, including maintaining financial books and records in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
  • Ensures all entries are recorded in accordance with GAAP for governmental entities and applicable GASB pronouncements, applying technical positions issued for new pronouncements.
  • Leads month-end and year-end closing activities, including managing the closing calendar and reviewing / validating prepared financial results
  • Identifies and delivers automation and process improvement across the record-to-report cycle, using Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP capability rather than manual workaround.
  • Maintains accounting operating procedures and desktop documentation for the general ledger, close, and line-of-business accounting cycles, consistent with the Authority’s
  • accounting policies and internal control framework. Operates and evidences the controls embedded in those cycles sufficient to support independent testing.
  • Tracks and reports close cycle time, reconciliation aging, and ledger accuracy to the Controller, and drives improvement against those measures.
  • Manages the Authority’s co-sourcing (offshore) accounting support team

• Balance Sheet Control and Reconciliation:
  • Owns, executes, and certifies the reconciliation of all subsidiary ledgers and subsystems to the general ledger across both lines of business, on the established cycle and to the Authority’s
  • Balance Sheet Control standard.
  • Accountable for the substantiation of all Authority balance sheet accounts, including aging and resolution of reconciling items within established thresholds, escalation of unsupported
  • balances, and timely clearing of suspense and clearing accounts.
  • Remediates reconciliation exceptions, control deficiencies, and audit findings arising within accounting operations; owns corrective action to completion.

• Accounting Policies and Procedures:
  • Establishes and maintains accounting policies, procedures and controls that support the accounting and financial management policies of the Authority
  • Monitors and evaluates changes to accounting standards and pronouncements
  • Plans, develops and implements strategies to effectuate new or modified policies, procedures and pronouncements
  • Represents the Accounting Department at the Authority’s policy management committee

• Accounts Payable:
  • Supervises accounts payable staff and processes, including reviewing the propriety of claims, origination of payments, recording to appropriate general ledger accounts, issuing 1099-MISC and filing contracts
  • Establishes and maintains processes and controls to manage timely payment to third parties for goods and services
  • Monitors and reports on the Authority’s obligations and commitments, working in partnership with the Procurement function to identify and clear any discrepancies

• Accounts Receivable:
  • Manages fee and other billing(s), working to ensure all receipts are recorded in a timely and accurate manner
  • Ensures the timely and accurate reconciliation of accounts receivable sub-ledger positions to the general ledger
  • Establishes and maintains accounts receivable aging processes and related reporting

• Payroll:
  • Oversees the Authority’s payroll accounting in conjunction with the Human Resources Department and outside vendor

• Management and Support:
  • Manages the preparation and distribution of financial information regarding the Authority and its programs
  • Works in close partnership with the Accounting Director overseeing financial reporting, ensuring that financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted
  • accounting principles and in compliance with governmental and program-specific requirements
  • Assists the Chief Financial Officer, Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Controller by assessing accounting and financial impacts of business decisions, including impacts to financial
  • disclosures and compliance obligations
  • Develops and institutes measures to increase accounting efficiency and effectiveness
  • Manages the annual external audit process and relationship with auditors

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or related field
• CPA certification required
• Masters degree a plus
• Minimum of 8 years of work experience with progressive levels of responsibility and people management
• Technology-forward, comfortable with driving and leading change
• Skilled with process automation and the use of software/solutions to reduce manual work efforts
• Ability to analyze complex problems, interpret operational needs and develop integrated, creative solutions
• Strong critical thinking and decision-making skills
• A highly collaborative team builder, with an ability to foster a cooperative work environment coupled with a desire to develop others
• Recent Public Accounting experience preferred
• Demonstrated managerial competence required
• Strong written, presentation, and oral skills.
• Experience managing enterprise accounting and ERP solutions (Oracle, SAP, other)

Physical Requirements: Alternating between sitting, standing, and walking. Ascending and descending stairs. Crouching and stooping. Pushing and pulling. Reaching overhead or below. Repetitive task movements (filing, keyboarding, copying). Lifting, carrying, and moving objects of up to 10 -15 pounds.

What we Offer:

• Paid time off, plus paid holidays
• Currently in a hybrid work arrangement, but candidates must reside in Illinois at time of hire
• Medical/dental/vision/life insurance plans
• Short/long term disability 
• Tuition reimbursement 
• Flex spending
• 401K plan – immediate vesting
• IHDA employees may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs
• Salary range: $156,708.58 - $195,885.72

Must be a resident of Illinois or willing to relocate. Flexible scheduling is available, upon completion of a six-month probationary period.

EOE