Chief Accounting Officer - EU in London

The Chief Accounting Officer – Europe (CAO Europe) is the senior accounting and financial reporting leader for Realterm’s European platform. The role has full accountability for accounting integrity, financial reporting, and internal controls across all European fund, property, and management company entities.

The CAO Europe leads European fund accounting and reporting, property accounting, accounting operations, treasury oversight, and regional management company accounting and budgeting. The role manages internal teams and third-party service providers and serves as the senior European accounting counterpart to executive leadership and global finance and acts as the primary accounting advisor to the CFO Europe and is a key liaison to the Global Chief Accounting Officer.

Core Responsibilities

• Accounting Leadership & Governance: Serve as the senior accountable leader for European accounting and financial reporting, with authority over accounting outcomes, controls, and standards. Ensure accurate, timely, and consistent financial reporting across all European entities. Establish and maintain robust internal controls, governance practices, and risk management frameworks. Establish and continuously evolve scalable, well-controlled accounting processes that can withstand growth, structural complexity, and team changes. Interpret complex fund structures and transactions and translate accounting conclusions into clear, decision-oriented communication for senior leadership and non-accounting stakeholders. Maintain awareness of evolving European regulatory requirements and ensure accounting practices and reporting remain compliant across all applicable jurisdictions. Serve as a business partner to internal customers including fund and asset management, investments, capital markets, tax, debt and others. Proactively develop an effective relationship with the business leaders, understand, anticipate and balance objectives of stakeholders and deliver effective solutions.
• Fund Accounting & Investor Reporting: Own and oversee all European fund accounting and financial reporting activities. Accountable for accurate monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements, capital calls, distributions, waterfalls, and partner capital account reporting. Serve as the primary accounting relationship contact for fund administrators, depositaries, auditors and other external advisors. Ensure the accuracy and integrity of financial data and disclosures that feed into regulatory reporting and limited partner obligations, including INREV, SFDR and other related financial reporting requirements applicable to European fund structures. Own the European audit process, including coordinating audit timelines across fund and property entities, managing technical accounting positions and driving completion of audited financial statements.
• Third-Party Provider Management: Coordinate with legal, compliance, and external advisors to ensure ongoing adherence to AIFMD regulatory reporting requirements across European fund entities. Manage the depositary relationship for European fund structures, ensuring compliance with AIFMD obligations including cash monitoring, asset verification, and periodic reporting requirements. Own senior-level relationships with third-party fund administrators and property accounting service providers. Define and enforce service scope, KPIs, and governance standards, and retain authority to escalate, re-scope, or transition when service levels, judgment, or quality do not meet expectations. Ensure providers operate within Realterm’s processes, control framework, and reporting standards.
• Property Accounting & Accounting Operations: Lead all European property accounting and accounting operations, including activities performed by outsourced providers. Oversee property-level accounting, accounts payable, lease accounting, and operating expense controls. Establish standardized accounting processes across portfolios, jurisdictions, and providers while appropriately accommodating structural and regulatory differences. Ensure property-level activity is clearly understood in terms of fund-level, management company, and investor reporting implications.
• Treasury & Cash Management Oversight: Provide senior oversight of European treasury activities, including cash management, banking relationships, and payment controls. Coordinate with global treasury on liquidity planning, FX exposure, and restricted cash arrangements. Assess and communicate the accounting and reporting implications of treasury, liquidity, and FX decisions. Ensure strong alignment between treasury activity, accounting treatment, and financial reporting.
• Management Company Accounting & Budgeting: Lead preparation, monitoring, and reporting of the European management company budget. Oversee management company accounting, including allocations, cost recovery, and intercompany charges. Analyze budget-to-actual performance and support forecasting and long-range planning.
• Systems & Technology (Yardi): Serve as the European accounting functional owner for Yardi, ensuring system configuration supports efficient close, transparency, and scalability. Ensure effective and consistent use of Yardi across internal teams and third-party providers. Drive continuous improvement in system usage to enhance insight, control, and decision-making. Research and identify ways to incorporate AI into standard business functions and encourage team to expand use of similar technologies.
• Talent Leadership & Capability Building: Lead, mentor, and develop European accounting teams, with a focus on technical judgment, systems thinking, and leadership capability. Establish clear role expectations, development paths, and succession plans to ensure strong retention and internal progression. Coach senior team members to operate effectively at higher levels of complexity and responsibility. Foster a culture of development, accountability, and long-term career growth.

Education & Experience: Bachelors degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or other related field. Masters degree preferred. CPA, ACA, ACCA, or equivalent professional accounting qualification required. 15+ years of progressive accounting leadership experience, with demonstrated senior-level judgment in complex environments.Qualifications: Significant experience in real estate, private funds, or asset management, including complex structures and multi-entity reporting. Strong technical knowledge of accounting standards as applied to real estate fund structures. Direct, hands-on experience with Yardi required. Proven experience managing third-party fund administrators and property accounting providers. Experience leading, developing, and promoting senior accounting talent. Experience operating in a multi-country European environment with third-party providers.