Investment Accountant - Remote - AZ

Awarded a Healthiest Employer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona aims to fulfill its mission to inspire health and make it easy. AZ Blue offers a variety of health insurance products and services to meet the diverse needs of individuals, families, and small and large businesses as well as providing information and tools to help individuals make better health decisions.

At AZ Blue, we have a hybrid workforce strategy, called Workability, that offers flexibility with how and where employees work. Our positions are classified as hybrid, onsite or remote. While the majority of our employees are hybrid, the following classifications drive our current minimum onsite requirements:

Hybrid People Leaders: must reside in AZ, required to be onsite at least twice per week

Hybrid Individual Contributors: must reside in AZ, unless otherwise cited within this posting, required to be onsite at least once per week

Hybrid 2 (Operational Roles such as but not limited to: Customer Service, Claims Processors, and Correspondence positions): must reside in AZ, unless otherwise cited within this posting, required to be onsite at least once per month

Onsite: daily onsite requirement based on the essential functions of the job

Remote: not held to onsite requirements, however, leadership can request presence onsite for business reasons including but not limited to staff meetings, one-on-ones, training, and team building

Please note that onsite requirements may change in the future, based on business need, and job responsibilities. Most employees should expect onsite requirements and at a minimum of once per week.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

The Investment Accountant is responsible for all investment accounting (Statutory, GAAP and NAIC experience), monthly close activities, reconciliations, reporting, audit support, and related process improvements. This role helps ensure accurate and timely accounting results, compliance with statutory, regulatory, and company requirements, and clear documentation of investment accounting activity for management review.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Required Work Experience

- 7 or more years of progressive accounting or finance experience, including investment accounting, statutory reporting, GAAP reporting, regulatory reporting, internal controls, audit support, or related financial reporting responsibilities.

- Demonstrated people leadership experience, including coaching, reviewing work, setting expectations, and managing accountability for deadlines and deliverables.

Required Education

- Bachelor’s Degree in accounting, business, or related field.

Required Licenses

- N/A

Required Certifications

- N/A

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Preferred Work Experience

- 10 or more years of investment accounting or finance experience in a regulated insurance or financial services environment.

- Prior experience managing statutory, GAAP, NAIC, or investment accounting reporting functions.

Preferred Education

- Master’s Degree in accounting, business, or related field of study.

Preferred Licenses

- Certified Public Accountant Certification (CPA)

Preferred Certifications

- N/A

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

- Responsible for monthly investment accounting close activities and related reporting requirements, including preparation of journal entries, reconciliations, roll forwards, and supporting schedules.

- Responsible for statutory, GAAP, and NAIC investment schedules, footnotes, regulatory reporting, and management reporting deliverables related to investments.

- Ensure investment accounting data is accurate, complete, appropriately classified, and supported by clear documentation.

- Maintain strong working knowledge of insurance company investment accounting concepts, including securities, investment income, realized and unrealized gains and losses, impairment considerations, fair value, and statutory reporting requirements.

- Monitor applicable statutory, NAIC, regulatory, and company policy requirements and assess impacts to investment accounting and reporting processes.

- Support internal and external audits by coordinating requests, producing clear and concise documentation, resolving issues, and ensuring timely responses.

- Maintain and strengthen internal controls over investment accounting, reconciliations, reporting, and close activities; assess risks and recommend control enhancements as needed.

- Ensure process documentation is current, complete, and updated for regulatory, business, system, or control changes.

- Prepare and review concise analytics, schedules, and explanations of investment accounting results for management and senior finance leadership.

- Communicate accounting results, key drivers, risks, open items, and process issues clearly to finance partners, management, auditors, and cross-functional stakeholders.

- Lead remediation activities and process updates related to audit findings, control enhancements, regulatory changes, or reporting changes.

- Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, accuracy, documentation, consistency, automation, and data quality across investment accounting processes.

- Partner with Treasury, Finance, Actuarial, Tax, Compliance, Technology, and other stakeholders to support complete and accurate investment accounting and reporting.

- Manage multiple priorities, plan close and reporting activities in advance, meet internal and external deadlines, and escalate issues timely with recommended solutions.

- Promote a collaborative, resilient, and continuous-improvement oriented team environment.

EXPECTATIONS BY LEVEL

Problem Solving

Level 1:

Asks questions/ability to analyze data and identify issues.

Level 2:

Identifies issues and is able to resolve independently. Actively seeks process improvements.

Level 3:

Identifies less obvious issues timely and lays out solid options to consider. Actively seeks process improvements.

Technical Skills

Level 1:

Ability to learn and apply learned concepts. Learn and use business application as required for job.

Level 2:

Demonstrates good understanding of data and financial principles. Proficient in Excel to create effective and efficient reports.

Level 3:

Can simplify complex processes and willing to re-engineer processes from scratch. Able to consider appropriate use of software/tools for each job.

Productivity

Level 1:

Observes work hours, manages PTO and notifies manager of schedule changes. Utilizes existing processes and methods for efficiency.

Level 2:

Begins to separate and combine tasks into an efficient workflow. Finds ways to work smarter that produces the work in less time.

Level 3:

Identifies material factors in the analysis. Able to lead team on multiple projects/tasks effectively by communicating, planning and meeting goals set.

Accuracy

Level 1:

Analyzes own work and checks for correctness. Does not repeat errors.

Level 2:

Contributes by peer reviewing co-workers work.

Level 3:

Finds new ways to improve accuracy.

Interpersonal Skills

Level 1:

Respectful of others, builds credibility and rapport by responding timely to inquiries and admitting to mistakes.

Level 2:

Does not become defensive when encountering resistance. Able to maintain composure under stress.

Level 3:

Able to confidently lead team(s) on projects and provide feedback and training.

Time Management

Level 1:

Sets and meets reasonable deadlines. Gives ample notice to management regarding delays or help needed.

Level 2:

Able to plan projects and set priorities with some assistance from management.

Level 3:

Leads projects independently with minimal assistance. Keeping management well informed.

Initiative

Level 1:

Is proactive with little to no dead time.

Level 2:

Asks why we do things. Interested in expanding current knowledge and makes recommendations beyond specific assignments.

Level 3:

Looks for new ways to improve. Researches beyond specific assignment. Makes suggestions and implements new w