Senior Associate - Financial & Operations Advisory

Johnson Lambert LLP; North Carolina; On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days of paid time off

Half-day Fridays

Employer-subsidized medical & dental

401(k) with employer match

Paid community service days

Job summary

Johnson Lambert LLP is seeking a Senior Associate or Manager within its Financial & Operations Advisory (FOA) practice. You will handle STAT (NAIC SAP) and GAAP accounting, research complex regulatory questions, and manage engagements end-to-end with direct client interaction.

You’ll build pro formas, budgets, and KPI reports, while collaborating with cross-functional teams across Assurance, Tax, and Reinsurance. A path to Manager and growth opportunities are emphasized.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field.
• 3+ years in accounting/finance with insurance sector experience.
• Working knowledge of NAIC SAP and U.S. GAAP reporting.
• Advanced Excel and regular AI usage; comfortable with large data sets.
• Experience with at least one general ledger/ERP system.

Responsibilities

• Perform STAT (NAIC SAP) and GAAP accounting and financial statement analysis.
• Research accounting/regulatory questions and draft technical memos.
• Document current processes and help design improvements and automations.
• Prepare journal entries, reconciliations, and issue resolution.
• Support reinsurance accounting, settlements, and bordereaux data.
• Prepare statutory filings using annual statement software.
• Assist with RBC, GCC, UCAA filings and data calls.
• Build pro forma statements, budgets, and KPI packages.

Skills

GAAP knowledge

Excel skills

AI familiarity

Data analysis

Communication skills

Time management

Self-starter

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance

Tools

ERP system

Annual statement software

AI tools

Job description

We are looking for a Senior Associate who gets things done. A technically strong insurance accounting professional who produces high-quality deliverables, owns smaller projects end to end, and wants a clear path to Manager. You'll work directly with FOA leadership on a wide range of client challenges across STAT and GAAP reporting, regulatory filings, reinsurance, reconciliations, and system and process projects.

This role suits someone who is entrepreneurial, curious, and energized by variety: no two engagements look the same. If you want your compensation and advancement to reflect the outcomes you deliver, this is the place to build that career.

ABOUT JOHNSON LAMBERT

Johnson Lambert LLP is a national CPA firm with 40+ years of niche focus on the insurance and nonprofit industries. We work with 750+ insurance clients nationwide — spanning property & casualty, life, health, title, reinsurance, captives, and MGAs — and are the 5th largest auditor of P&C insurers in the U.S. Our professionals are active in the AICPA, NAIC, and IASA, keeping us close to the issues insurance leaders face every day.

ABOUT FOA

Financial & Operations Advisory (FOA) is Johnson Lambert's newest practice area, built to complement our Audit, Tax, and Risk Advisory practices. FOA gives insurance organizations (and nonprofits) hands-on financial leadership, operational support, and technical accounting expertise, sized to the situation, working inside the client's structure, with no ramp period.

Our promise is simple: "Insurance is hard. We can help." We step in when a key role goes dark, a new system doesn't know what the old one knew, new regulatory requirements land on a stretched team, growth outpaces finance, an audit surfaces control gaps, or a strategic project has budget and backing but no owner.

FOA is in a build-and-scale phase, with a three-year plan to grow revenue and the team substantially. Joining now means helping shape the practice, its offerings, templates, technology, and culture, not just staffing it.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Client Delivery & Technical Production

• Perform STAT (NAIC SAP) and GAAP accounting and financial statement analysis in a variety of situations.
• Research accounting and regulatory questions and draft technical memos citing authoritative guidance (NAIC SSAPs, ASC 944 and related Topics).
• Document current-state processes and controls and help design and implement improvements, automations, and system conversions.
• Prepare journal entries, account reconciliations, ledger clean-ups; resolve premium, commission, loss, and agent/broker reconciliation differences with clients.
• Prepare assumed and ceded reinsurance accounting support, settlement calculations, and bordereaux data validations.
• Prepare statutory quarterly and annual statement filings using annual statement software.
• Assist with regulatory filings and calculations such as RBC, GCC, UCAA applications, and state-specific data calls, among others.
• Build and maintain pro forma financial statements, budgets, forecasts, liquidity/cash flow models, and KPI or management reporting packages.

Project Ownership

• Manage smaller engagements or workstreams end to end: plan the work, track budget-to-actual hours, meet deadlines, and communicate status to clients and FOA leadership.
• Serve as a day-to-day point of contact for client finance staff on assigned projects.
• Delegate and review work performed by Associates, Interns and other resources; provide clear instructions and constructive feedback.
• Identify scope changes and additional client needs and escalation as potential follow-on opportunities.
• Practice Building
• Contribute to FOA's template library (reconciliation workbooks, proformas, RBC/UCAA templates, engagement checklists) and quality review framework.
• Use and help refine FOA's technology stack, including AI tools, ERP/GL platforms, and annual statement software, to improve speed, quality, and realization.
• Support business development through reviewing marketing content and participating in industry events.
• Collaborate with Johnson Lambert's Audit, Reinsurance, Tax, BAS, and other teams on various projects.
• Participate in recruiting and interviewing to grow the team.
• Model FOA's culture: fun, collaborative, and challenging.

WHAT YOU BRING

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• 3+ years of progressive experience in accounting and/or finance in industry, or a combination of industry and public accounting. A portion of that experience must be in the insurance sector.
• Working knowledge of both statutory (NAIC SAP) and U.S. GAAP accounting and reporting.
• Advanced Excel skills and regular AI usage. Comfort working with large data sets.
• Experience with at least one general ledger/ERP system and the ability to learn new systems quickly.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and attention-to-detail skills, with a commitment to accurate, well-documented work.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical matters to non-accountants.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines across concurrent clients.
• Self-starter with initiative who is eager to learn.
• Positive attitude and willingness to take on new and unfamiliar challenges.

Preferred

• CPA license (or active progress toward licensure). CPA is preferred, not required.
• Hands-on experience preparing NAIC quarterly/annual statements or using annual statement software.
• Exposure to reinsurance accounting, premium/loss reconciliations, or bordereaux.
• Interest in or experience with AI and automation tools to streamline accounting work.
• Nonprofit accounting exposure is a plus.

WHO YOU ARE

• Builder mindset: you like creating something new and are comfortable with ambiguity.
• Ownership: you see a task through and raise your hand for the next one.
• Curiosity: you want to understand the "why" behind the numbers and the business.
• Growth-oriented: you want a defined path to Manager and are motivated by outcome-based rewards.

COMPENSATION, REWARDS & GROWTH

• Clear, merit-based path to Manager as the FOA team grows, with promotion driven by demonstrated capability rather than tenure alone.
• Direct exposure to firm leadership and the chance to shape a growing practice from the ground up.
• CPE support, CPA exam support, and a structured onboarding and training plan.

HOW WILL JL SUPPORT YOU:

• 25 days of paid time off for all professional level employees
• Half-day Fridays during the summer
• Employer-subsidized medical & dental benefits for both employee and family
• 401(k) with employer match
• 2 paid days off annually for personal community service activities

This position may be filled at either the Senior Associate or Manager level depending on candidate qualifications and experience.

Equity note: Research suggests that women and Black, Indigenous, and other persons of color are less likely than men or White job seekers to apply for positions unless they are confident they meet 100% of the qualifications.

Johnson Lambert prides itself for the hands-on approach and relationships we build with future employees, employees, and clients. We believe each application is the potential for a future relationship with JL. Therefore, a member of our HR team personally reviews all applications submitted.