Senior Consultant Product Control

Northern Trust; Illinois; On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A global financial institution is seeking a Product Control Senior Consultant to oversee daily P&L for hedge fund clients. Responsibilities include ensuring valuation integrity, performing quality control, and interacting with clients to explain valuation outcomes. Ideal candidates will have a background in financial services audit or valuation and possess strong analytical skills. This role requires a Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting and offers the opportunity to engage directly with complex investment decisions in a fast-paced professional environment.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in financial services audit, valuation, or product control.
• Bachelor’s degree related to finance or accounting.
• Experience with valuation oversight and P&L-related functions.

Responsibilities

• Own daily P&L oversight for multiple hedge fund clients.
• Perform daily quality control checks and resolve exceptions.
• Act as a client-facing authority, explaining valuation outcomes.

Skills

Trade lifecycle

Pricing and valuation across asset classes

Strong Excel skills

Experience with pricing vendors

Analytical skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field

Tools

Excel

VBA

Python

Job description

Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust is a globally respected financial institution known for operating at the intersection of fiduciary responsibility, complex financial products, and regulatory rigor.

Our Hedge Fund Services (HFS) business supports hedge funds and institutional investors with highly complex portfolios, providing the kind of front‑to‑back transparency, valuation discipline, and control environment typically examined by regulators and audit firms—but executed inside the business, not from the outside.

Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services combines institutional‑grade governance, scalable technology, and deep asset‑class expertise to deliver middle‑office and fund administration services across trading, valuation, P&L, reconciliations, accounting, NAV production, and investor reporting. This is an environment where valuation judgment, documentation, and controls actually matter—and where your work directly impacts clients, auditors, and regulators.

The Role: Product Control (Hedge Funds / Alternatives)

This role is a natural next step for professionals coming from Big 4 assurance, valuation, or financial services audit who want to move closer to the business while maintaining technical rigor and control ownership.

As a Product Control Senior Consultant, you will serve as a primary point of accountability for valuation integrity, daily and monthly P&L transparency, and pricing substantiation for hedge fund clients with complex trading strategies and asset types. You will partner directly with clients, internal control teams, offshore delivery partners, and technology groups to ensure valuations are defensible, explainable, and audit‑ready.

This is not a passive reporting role. You will actively challenge prices, investigate anomalies, document valuation outcomes, and explain P&L drivers—the same issues auditors scrutinize, but now with ownership and authority.

Key Responsibilities

• Own daily P&L oversight for multiple hedge fund clients, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and control adherence
• Perform and review daily quality control checks, resolving exceptions and initiating price challenges or re‑valuation requests
• Act as a client‑facing authority, explaining valuation outcomes and P&L movements clearly and credibly
• Deliver final daily and month‑end P&L statements, including pricing substantiation and variance analysis
• Understand, document, and explain key drivers of P&L movements across asset classes and strategies
• Manage the monthly price verification process, including evidence, reporting, and escalation where required
• Maintain and update pricing and valuation policies by asset type in line with governance standards
• Partner closely with offshore Product Control teams (India) on quality control execution and work migration
• Prepare analysis and presentations related to process improvement, valuation themes, control enhancements, and technology evolution

What Makes Role Compelling?

• Exposure to hedge funds, alternatives, and complex instruments typically reserved for senior audit engagements
• Hands‑on interaction with pricing vendors, models, and valuation governance frameworks
• A role where judgment, documentation, and challenge are valued—not just execution
• Clear alignment with future paths in product control leadership, valuation governance, or alternative asset oversight

Desired Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of the trade lifecycle, pricing, and valuation across multiple asset classes (e.g., Fixed Income, Rates, Credit Derivatives, Equities, FX)
• Experience working with pricing vendors such as Markit, BVAL, LoanX, IDC/ICE, or similar
• Solid grasp of daily P&L processes, including T+0 estimates, T+1 actuals, and valuation discrepancy resolution
• Advanced Excel skills; experience with VBA, Python, or data‑handling tools is a plus
• Ability to prioritize, multi‑task, and operate effectively under tight deadlines
• Familiarity with alternative investment administrators, custodians, and service providers

Qualifications

• 3+years of experience in one or more of the following:
• Financial services audit or assurance (Big 4 or equivalent)
• Valuation or pricing oversight
• Product control, middle office, or alternative asset operations
• P&L, performance, or NAV‑related functions
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field
• CPA, CFA, or progress toward certification is valued (not required)

The Environment

This is a fast‑paced, professional, and highly collaborative environment that values precision, accountability, and continuous improvement. Success requires strong analytical skills, attention to detail, clear communication, and comfort operating where financial complexity and regulatory expectations intersect.