Independence Senior Associate

We are the leading provider of professional services to the middle market globally, our purpose is to instill confidence in a world of change, empowering our clients and people to realize their full potential. Our exceptional people are the key to our unrivaled, inclusive culture and talent experience and our ability to be compelling to our clients. You’ll find an environment that inspires and empowers you to thrive both personally and professionally. There’s no one like you and that’s why there’s nowhere like RSM.

The PE independence senior associate assists with managing risk to the Firm regarding independence requirements of regulatory bodies including the Securities Exchange Commission, Public Accounting Oversight Board and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The position is a member of the National Office of Ethics and Independence team, assisting engagement teams with compliance with independence policies, including assistance with policy development, performing the initial evaluation of engagement specific independence consultations, and assisting the personal independence team with consultations. This position is a member of the centralized team providing independence monitoring support to engagement teams serving clients with complex organization structures. Relocation is not required.

Essential Duties

• Manage quarterly independence search initiation, triage, and clearance and resolution processes including providing engagement teams with documentation supporting the conflicts resolution conclusions.
• Work with LOB service teams during client and engagement acceptance to complete the conflict search from initiation through resolution in a centralized manner (aside from party searches, which will continue to be performed by the centralized conflicts team).
• Assist engagement teams and relationship leaders with managing risk for overall relationship Primary independence contact point for all engagement teams serving the High Risk CSO Primary independence contact for High Risk COS relationship leaders
• Maintain affiliate trees for private equity client relationships in the firm’s entity management system as directed by the National Office of Ethics and Independence.  Includes gathering data and information about affiliates from structure charts and public resources.
• Consult with client service teams (business developers / relationship leaders) regarding current engagements and pursuits to assess immediate and future independence implications of all components of the relationship between the Firm and High Risk complex organizational structures clients.
• Advise on independence implications of various client relationship and business decisions (such as vendor resale agreements, selecting optional SEC independence for an entire family tree, prospective services and their future impacts, etc.).

EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS

(MUST NOTE REQUIRED OR PREFERRED)

• Bachelor’s degree (required) in Accounting or related degree (preferred)
• Eligible to obtain CPA license (preferred)

TECHNICAL/SOFT SKILLS

(MUST NOTE REQUIRED OR PREFERRED)

• Learning to read and apply rules, regulations, policies and procedures – required
• Awareness of SEC, PCAOB and AICPA Independence rules and ability to recognize the potential impact of changes to firm policies, processes and personnel (preferred)
• Learning to communicate information clearly and concisely, in writing to diverse audiences across the firm and to outside professional contacts (required)
• Developing conflict resolution skills (required)
• Proficient in use of Microsoft Office products including familiarity with SharePoint as a document repository (required)
• Learning to identify and recommend process improvement and efficiency (required)
• Learning to develop and maintain applicable professional and internal contacts, resources and networks (preferred)
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and discretion (required)

EXPERIENCE

(MUST NOTE REQUIRED OR PREFERRED)

• A minimum of three to six years of experience in public accounting is required
• Experience with and understanding of private equity structures – preferred
• Experience with the application of the SEC independence rules - preferred

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

(MUST NOTE REQUIRED OR PREFERRED)

• Business Awareness: The demonstration of an understanding of the impact of regulatory controls on business conditions – required

• Customer Focus: Acts to make things better by ma