Senior Director, Finance

Description

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

The Zell Family Office (ZFO) is a division of Chai Trust Company LLC, a private Illinois trust company which has served the needs of Sam Zell and his family for decades. ZFO was created in 2022 to provide a suite of services to three generations of Zell family members. ZFO goes beyond traditional wealth and capital management, focusing on helping the family to flourish in all aspects of life. Its services include investment management of a complex and significant set of investment portfolios and assets, accounting and reporting, tax, treasury and trust, legal and compliance, and Family Engagement and Learning. ZFO fosters the family’s human capital development through learning and governance support. Every part of ZFO is dedicated to protecting and growing the family’s human and financial capital and supporting the family’s legacy.

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POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Zell Family Office (ZFO) is seeking a Senior Director of Finance to lead the finance function across our multi-entity family office structure. This is a newly created leadership role for an experienced finance professional who thrives in a dynamic, relationship-driven environment and brings the rigor of institutional accounting to a deeply personal mission: supporting the financial well-being of the Zell family and its beneficiaries.

This role has broad ownership — from the accuracy and integrity of the books to the quality of financial reporting delivered to principals — and requires a leader who can both set strategy and stay close to the details. You will oversee a team of approximately two managers and five accountants, and serve as a key cross-functional partner to the tax, investment, treasury, financial projects, investment operations, Family Engagement & Learning teams.

WHY JOIN US

This is a rare opportunity to take on broad ownership of the accounting and reporting function within a well-resourced, values-driven family office. You will work directly with senior leadership and have a meaningful seat at the table as we continue to build and professionalize our finance organization. The Zell Family Office offers competitive compensation, a collaborative culture, and the satisfaction of work that genuinely matters to the people it serves.

Requirements

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work alongside the Family Engagement & Learning team to produce financial materials and education content accessible to family members and family foundations.
• Serve as the primary accounting liaison to the tax team, ensuring timely and accurate delivery of financial data needed for tax preparation and planning.
• Partner with the investment team on entity-level tracking, capital account maintenance, and investment-related accounting entries.
• Collaborate with the treasury team on cash management, intercompany funding, and liquidity reporting.

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, develop, and retain a team of two managers and five accountants, fostering a culture of accuracy, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Set team priorities, manage workloads across the close and reporting calendar, and build scalable processes as the organization evolves.
• Drive adoption of new processes, tools, and reporting standards across a team undergoing significant change; build buy-in without losing momentum.

Financial Reporting & FP&A

• Define the vision for what ZFO’s reporting should look like; identify the gaps, set standards, and drive adoption across the finance team and with leadership.
• Oversee the preparation and delivery of financial statements, management reports, and budget-to-actual analyses for principals and family stakeholders.
• Build and maintain living forecasts; lead the annual budgeting process in partnership with the MD of Finance; maintain rolling forecasts and variance analyses throughout the year.
• Partner with the members of the Finance team to ensure accounting outputs accurately flow into management and committee reporting, beneficiary-facing reporting, and family financial summaries.

Accounting & Close

• Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close process across multiple legal entities, including family LLCs, trusts, operating companies, and foundations.
• Ensure the accuracy and integrity of the general ledger, chart of accounts, and intercompany eliminations across a complex, multi-entity structure.
• Maintain and improve accounting policies, internal controls, and procedures to meet the standards expected of a sophisticated family office.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 15+ years of progressive accounting and finance experience, with meaningful time in a leadership role managing teams.
• CPA or MBA preferred; Big 4 or regional public accounting foundation preferred.
• Prior family office, private wealth, or closely held entity experience highly valued — comfort with the pace, discretion, and personal nature of this environment is essential.
• Deep technical accounting knowledge across multiple entity types (trusts, LLCs, foundations, operating entities).
• Experience managing accounting across multiple systems or platforms; comfort evaluating and improving technology infrastructure.
• Strong FP&A instincts — able to move between close/reporting and forward-looking analysis without losing quality in either.
• Exceptional communication skills; able to present financial information clearly to principals, family members, and non-financial stakeholders.
• High integrity and discretion; understands the confidentiality obligations inherent in family office work.
• Technology fluency and adaptability; actively leverages AI and emerging tools to improve how the finance function operates and continually assess whether current tools are the right fit and stay up to date as the technology landscape evolves.

CORE COMPETENCIES:

• Multi-Entity Technical Accounting : command of the close, general ledger, and intercompany accounting across trusts, LLCs, foundations, and operating entities, held to the standards of a sophisticated family office.
• Financial Planning & Analysis : moves fluidly between close/reporting and forward-looking budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis, turning the numbers into insight for principals and leadership.
• Leadership & Change Management : builds, develops, and retains high-performing teams while championing adoption of new processes, AI-enabled and emerging tools, and standards in an organization that is still taking shape.
• Stakeholder Communication & Partnership : presents financial information clearly to principals, family members, and non-financial stakeholders, and partners effectively across the tax, investment, treasury, and Family Engagement & Learning teams.
• Discretion & Judgment : exercises the confidentiality, integrity, and sound judgment essential to handling a family’s most personal and sensitive financial matters.