Help build the operating platform for private markets.

About Zive AI

Zive AI is an AI-native fund administration platform built for venture capital, private equity, real estate, and other private-market funds. Our platform combines fund accounting, investor reporting, capital administration, portfolio tracking, compliance workflows, and AI-assisted operations in one system.

Zive supports emerging managers, institutional investment firms, and fund administrators across 180+ funds and $10B+ in assets under administration. We are building the operating platform for private markets, moving fund administration from manual systems of record to intelligent systems of action.

The Role

Zive is hiring an experienced Fund Controller to oversee accounting and administration for venture capital and private equity funds.

This is a hands-on leadership role. The Fund Controller will be accountable for the accuracy and timely delivery of fund financials, NAVs, capital account statements, capital calls, distributions, management fee calculations, carried-interest waterfalls, and audit support.

The role also includes reviewing the work of fund accountants, communicating directly with GPs and CFOs, onboarding new funds, interpreting governing agreements, and helping Zive translate fund administration processes into scalable, technology-enabled workflows.

The ideal candidate combines strong private-fund accounting knowledge with sound judgment, client-management skills, and an interest in improving how fund administration is performed through automation and AI.

Reporting to: Head of Fund Administration / Founder & CEO

Key Responsibilities

Fund Accounting and Financial Reporting

• Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close process for assigned VC and PE funds.
• Review journal entries, trial balances, general ledgers, investment schedules, financial statements, and supporting workpapers.
• Prepare and review NAV calculations and investor capital account statements.
• Maintain accurate accounting for investments, realized and unrealized gains and losses, investment income, fund expenses, organizational costs, and intercompany balances.
• Review cash, bank, custody, portfolio, and capital activity reconciliations.
• Ensure accounting treatment complies with US GAAP, including ASC 946 and ASC 820 where applicable.
• Review financial statements, footnote disclosures, and investor-reporting packages.
• Maintain complete, audit-ready documentation supporting reported balances.

Capital Administration

• Review capital call and distribution calculations, allocation schedules, investor notices, and accounting entries.
• Maintain investor commitments, contributions, unfunded commitments, ownership percentages, and capital account activity.
• Calculate and review management fees, fee offsets, waivers, organizational expense allocations, and other fund-level charges.
• Prepare and review equalization, subsequent-closing, commitment-increase, investor-transfer, and defaulting-investor calculations.
• Confirm that allocations are consistent with the fund's LPA, subscription documents, side letters, and governing economic terms.
• Coordinate and verify investor wire instructions and distribution payment schedules.

Waterfalls and Carried Interest

• Build and review fund-level and deal-level distribution waterfalls.
• Calculate preferred returns, return of capital, GP catch-up, carried interest, clawback exposure, and incentive allocations.
• Review accrued carry and partner allocation calculations.
• Translate LPA provisions into documented calculation rules and validate the resulting outputs.
• Clearly explain waterfall calculations and economic outcomes to clients, auditors, and internal teams.

Investment Accounting and Valuation

• Maintain schedules of investments for equity, preferred stock, SAFEs, convertible notes, fund interests, debt instruments, and other private-market securities.
• Review investment purchases, conversions, exits, write-offs, recapitalizations, stock distributions, and other lifecycle events.
• Coordinate quarterly valuation updates with GPs and portfolio teams.
• Review valuation support and ensure changes are recorded consistently with the fund's valuation policy and applicable accounting guidance.
• Oversee cost-basis continuity and realized and unrealized gain or loss calculations.

Client Ownership

• Serve as the primary accounting contact for fund managers, CFOs, operating partners, and other client stakeholders.
• Lead recurring close, reporting, onboarding, and issue-resolution calls.
• Explain accounting conclusions and fund economics in clear business language.
• Proactively identify missing information, inconsistencies, reporting risks, and upcoming deadlines.
• Manage multiple client deliverables while maintaining accuracy and responsiveness.
• Build trusted, long-term relationships with clients.

Fund Onboarding

• Lead the accounting onboarding of new funds and fund families.
• Review LPAs, side letters, subscription agreements, prior financial statements, tax returns, capital statements, bank records, and historical accounting files.
• Establish opening balances, investor records, investment positions, charts of accounts, allocation rules, fee schedules, and waterfall terms.
• Reconcile historical activity and identify gaps before accepting opening balances.
• Coordinate with clients and prior administrators to complete an orderly transition.
• Document fund-specific accounting policies, contractual terms, exceptions, and approval requirements.

Audit and Tax Coordination

• Lead audit preparation and serve as a primary contact for external auditors.
• Prepare and review audit schedules, confirmations, financial statements, footnotes, valuation support, and requested workpapers.
• Track audit requests and resolve questions through completion.
• Coordinate with tax providers on partner allocations, tax-basis information, K-1 support, and annual tax deliverables.
• Help ensure consistency across the general ledger, investor capital accounts, financial statements, and tax reporting.

Team Leadership and Quality Control

• Review and approve work prepared by fund accountants and senior fund accountants.
• Assign work, monitor deadlines, provide technical guidance, and support team development.
• Establish repeatable close checklists, review procedures, and escalation standards.
• Investigate exceptions identified through Zive's accounting controls and quality-assurance processes.
• Take ownership of correcting root causes rather than limiting review to the immediate output.
• Help build a culture of accuracy, documentation, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Product and Process Improvement

• Partner with Zive's product, engineering, AI, and operations teams to improve fund administration workflows.
• Translate accounting requirements and LPA provisions into product rules, controls, and test cases.
• Evaluate AI-generated classifications, reconciliations, journal entries, calculations, and reports.
• Identify opportunities to automate repetitive work while preserving appropriate review and approval controls.
• Test new platform capabilities and provide structured feedback before client release.
• Help design scalable operating procedures for VC and PE fund administration.

Required Qualifications

• Chartered Accountant, CPA, ACCA, or comparable professional accounting qualification.
• At least seven years of accounting, audit, or fund administration experience.
• At least three years of direct experience with venture capital, private equity, real estate, private credit, or other closed-end funds.
• Strong understanding of fund accounting, partnership accounting, and investor capital activity.
• Experience preparing or reviewing NAVs, financial statements, capital account statements, capital calls, distributions, management fees, and carried-interest waterfalls.
• Working knowledge of US GAAP and investment-company accounting, including ASC 946 and ASC 820.
• Experience reviewing LPAs, side letters, and fund economic terms.
• Experience managing audits and responding directly to external auditors.
• Strong Excel skills, including complex formulas, reconciliations, and financial models.
• Experience reviewing the work of other fund accountants.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple funds and reporting deadlines without sacrificing accuracy.
• Willingness to work with a distributed team and maintain reasonable overlap with US business hours.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience administering both venture capital and private equity funds.
• Experience with fund-of-funds, SPVs, parallel funds, feeder funds, blockers, or management-company accounting.
• Experience with Investran, Allvue, eFront, FIS Private Capital Suite, NetSuite, QuickBooks, or comparable accounting platforms.
• Experience onboarding funds from another administrator or reconstructing historical books and records.
• Familiarity with ILPA reporting standards.
• Experience with advanced Excel, Power Query, Power BI, APIs, or workflow automation.
• Experience in a fund administrator, alternative-investment manager, Big Four firm, or institutional investment organization.
• Prior experience working in a fast-growing technology company.
• Interest in AI-assisted accounting and the ability to evaluate automated outputs critically.

What Success Looks Like

During the first six months, the Fund Controller will:

• Assume ownership of a portfolio of VC and PE fund clients.
• Deliver accurate and timely closes, financial statements, NAVs, and investor reports.
• Establish strong working relationships with assigned GPs and CFOs.
• Improve the consistency and audit readiness of client workpapers.
• Reduce preventable review comments and recurring reconciliation issues.
• Successfully onboard new funds onto the Zive platform.
• Help convert fund accounting knowledge into scalable workflows, controls, and product improvements.
• Develop and mentor fund accounting team members.

What We Value

• Accuracy and a strong control mindset.
• Ownership of outcomes from source document through final reporting.
• The judgment to recognize when a technically correct calculation is based on the wrong contractual term.
• Clear documentation and the ability to prove how a number was derived.
• Comfort working directly with clients and resolving difficult accounting questions.
• Curiosity about technology and practical ideas for improving manual processes.
• A willingness to operate both strategically and hands-on.
• High integrity, sound judgment, and respect for confidential financial information.

Why Join Zive

• Help build the next generation of private-market fund administration.
• Work across venture capital, private equity, SPVs, and complex fund structures.
• Influence both client delivery and the development of an AI-native accounting platform.
• Take meaningful ownership in a growing company with institutional and emerging-manager clients.
• Work directly with experienced fund operators, accountants, engineers, and company leadership.
• Help establish the accounting controls and operating standards that will support Zive's continued growth.

Apply at [email protected]