[Hiring] Director External Financial Reporting and Technical Accounting @First Acceptance

Role Description

The Director, External Financial Reporting and Technical Accounting reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for the integrity, transparency, and compliance of the Company's external financial reporting under U.S. GAAP and other applicable financial reporting and regulatory requirements. This role serves as the Company's principal technical accounting authority and leads the preparation of financial statements, lender and investor reporting, financial disclosures, accounting policies, and other external reporting deliverables.

As a key member of the finance leadership team, the Director partners closely with executive management, legal counsel, external auditors, operational leaders, and other stakeholders to:

• Evaluate complex transactions
• Maintain high-quality financial reporting
• Strengthen internal controls
• Support strategic business initiatives

The position plays a critical role in safeguarding the Company's financial credibility, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting informed decision-making by executive leadership, lenders, investors, and the Board of Directors.

As the Company continues to grow and evaluate strategic capital market opportunities, this role will be instrumental in building and maintaining a financial reporting, governance, and control environment capable of supporting increasingly complex reporting requirements, including potential future public company reporting obligations.

Qualifications

• CPA certification and a bachelor's degree in accounting or finance are required.
• 10+ years of progressive accounting, financial reporting, and technical accounting experience, including Property & Casualty insurance experience and significant U.S. GAAP exposure.
• Deep expertise in U.S. GAAP and statutory accounting (SAP/NAIC), including SSAPs, NAIC Annual/Quarterly Statement instructions, and disclosure requirements.
• Demonstrated experience researching, evaluating, documenting, and communicating complex accounting issues and conclusions.
• Experience leading external audits and managing relationships with independent auditors and/or regulators.
• Experience developing and maintaining accounting policies, procedures, and internal controls over financial reporting.
• Proven experience operating in a high-growth or complex insurance environment; non-standard auto insurance experience preferred.
• Experience with public-company reporting requirements, SEC reporting, SOX readiness/compliance, or capital markets transactions strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity, manage multiple priorities, drive process improvement, and influence cross-functional partners and senior leaders.
• Strong analytical, organizational, project-management, problem-solving, and communication skills, including the ability to explain complex accounting matters to financial and non-financial stakeholders.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, ERP systems, financial reporting platforms, and other reporting technologies.

Requirements

• Serve as the Company's primary technical accounting resource for complex, unusual, and non-routine transactions.
• Research, evaluate, and document accounting conclusions under U.S. GAAP.
• Prepare technical accounting memoranda and position papers supporting significant accounting judgments and policies.
• Assess accounting implications related to acquisitions, financings, new business initiatives, strategic transactions, and capital market activities.
• Provide practical guidance to business and finance leaders on emerging accounting matters and complex transactions.
• Monitor new accounting pronouncements and regulatory developments and evaluate their impact on financial reporting, systems, operations, and disclosures.

Benefits

• Oversee and strengthen internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR).
• Lead management's assessment of disclosure controls and financial reporting controls.
• Support Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) readiness initiatives and governance activities as the organization evolves.
• Monitor control effectiveness and implement improvements as business complexity and reporting obligations grow.
• Partner with management and auditors to identify and remediate control deficiencies and process gaps.

Audit and Regulatory Oversight

• Coordinate, along with the corporate controller, all aspects of the annual financial statement audit and interim review processes.
• Serve as a key liaison between the Company and its independent auditors.
• Assist in the coordination of audit planning, information requests, testing activities, and resolution of accounting and reporting matters.
• Facilitate communications with regulators and external stakeholders regarding financial reporting matters as required.
• Ensure timely completion of audit deliverables and reporting obligations.

Strategic Finance Leadership

• Function as a trusted advisor to the Chief Financial Officer and executive leadership team on accounting, financial reporting, governance, and compliance matters.
• Support strategic initiatives by evaluating accounting, reporting, disclosure, and control implications during planning and execution.
• Partner with FP&A, Treasury, Legal, Operations, Human Resources, and other business leaders to support corporate objectives.
• Lead, develop, and mentor accounting and financial reporting professionals while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and technical excellence.
• Proactively identify opportunities to enhance reporting quality, strengthen controls, improve efficiency, and support organizational growth.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that an employee must meet to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

• Regularly required to perform manual tasks, including hand and finger use and control operations.
• Tasks may also require the ability to talk or hear.
• Frequently sit, bend, and reach with hands and arms, and occasionally required to stand and walk.
• May occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Possess the capacity to learn, concentrate, think, and read.
• Often communicate and interact with others while working.