Director of Accounting & Controller

Our client is a privately held commercial real estate development firm headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, with a primary focus on the development, redevelopment, and repositioning of commercial real estate assets across the Western United States. The firm’s portfolio is primarily composed of state-of-the-art industrial properties, along with experiential and grocery-anchored retail assets, representing approximately 1.4 million square feet of developed and repositioned assets under management as well as 870,000 square feet of additional pipeline developments throughout Western U.S. markets.

The firm operates as a vertically integrated developer, managing projects across the full lifecycle—from site acquisition and entitlement through design, construction oversight, leasing, and ongoing asset management. Our client is also an active acquiror of core, core plus and value-add assets. The firm maintains a disciplined investment approach centered on capital efficiency, and risk mitigation. The firm partners closely with its family-office capital provider, institutional lenders, business partners, and third-party consultants to execute projects under conservative leverage structures and clearly defined return and covenant parameters.

Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President of Investment Management, the Director of Accounting & Controller is responsible for directing and managing all financial oversight, accounting, record keeping, budgeting, cost control, and financial reporting and analysis for the company.

This executive provides executive leadership across accounting, reporting, covenant compliance, risk management, and administrative oversight. The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience leading financial operations for complex real estate entities, managing lender and investor reporting, and overseeing financial controls and risk management frameworks.

Strong technology and systems acumen is required, including leadership of the implementation, optimization, and full utilization of Yardi, as well as evaluation and selection of document management, retention, and data systems. This position works closely with the Family Office capital provider, external accountants, tax advisors, lenders, and legal counsel to support investment, development, and operating activities.

Accounting Operations & Controls:

• Oversee accounting systems, processes, and procedures to ensure efficient operation of the financial function.
• Ensure accounting records are consistent, accurate, and supported by appropriate controls, checks, and balances.
• Maintain up-to-date and accurate records for all financial transactions, including:
• Inflows and outflows
• Budgets
• Investments
• Receivables and payables
• Insurance
• Expense reports
• Maintain and analyze all general ledger accounts, accounts payable/accounts receivable, and fixed asset activities, ensuring accurate and timely processing of transactions.
• Prepare monthly financial close, financial statements, and bank reconciliations for bank and credit accounts.

Tax, External Coordination & Payroll:

• Liaise with external accountants to minimize tax liabilities through effective tax structures and/or formation of entities used for investing with minimal tax consequences.
• Provide services for payroll and other financial areas.
• Coordinate with the family office, including making requests for capital calls.
• Manage and prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reporting for managed entities, including:
• Cash flow projections.
• Quarterly covenant tests
• Monitoring and reporting of covenant compliance.
• Prepare and maintain consolidated financial forecasts and variance analysis versus prior periods and budget.
• Provide detailed analysis of all revenue and cost variances.
• Participate in special projects and financial analyses as needed, including:
• Creation and maintenance of portfolio dashboards and KPIs
• Cost basis analysis
• Historical and projected cash flows
• Valuation analyses
• Participate in quarterly financial review meetings.

Budgeting, Forecasting & Systems:

• Manage the preparation of the annual budget and forecast cycles the firm and all operating entities.
• Manage the continued implementation and full utilization of Yardi to drive operational efficiency, including:
• Accounts receivable and accounts payable
• Effective and usable reporting
• Strong budgeting and forecasting capabilities
• Coordinate accounting and compliance for credit and loan agreements, including:
• Financial reporting to lenders
• Principal and interest payments
• Calculation, tracking, and reporting of covenant compliance.
• Lead efforts to evaluate and implement alternative record systems to the current Syncplicity file and database management system.

Entity Management & Compensation Support:

• Create and maintain ownership and entity organizational charts.
• Assist with coordination of new entity formations with outside counsel.
• Assist with monitoring and calculation of promote and bonus payments.
• Administer, develop, and monitor internal…