About Ascend
Backed by the people-focused private equity firm Alpine Investors, Ascend is building a dynamic platform for regional accounting firms that enables them to stay independent while accessing the resources of a Top 25 firm to help them grow. Ascend provides access to growth capital, robust talent acquisition and training, leading quality management resources, best-of-breed technology, AI tools, offshore capabilities, shared back-office services, a catalytic leadership system, and modernized equity incentives so that firms can surmount today’s industry challenges to reach their full potential.
For more information, visit ascendtogether.com.
Position Summary
Ascend is seeking a Financial Operations Manager to own three critical operating domains for the Finance & Accounting Team: 1) Finance Team integrations, 2) Group Purchasing & Leases, and 3)Insurance management. This individual will act as the tip of the spear to ensure seamless cutovers as our acquired Partner Firms join the Ascend platform, including new treasury standups, account transfers, and other mission-critical tasks. This individual brings sunshine to Partner Firm relationships, thrives in complex multi-vendor environments, and continuously improves the systems and processes that keep Ascend’s Finance engine humming. This is a high-visibility, high-ownership role for someone who is polished with external stakeholders, organized to a fault, and relentlessly focused on continuous improvement.
The role is remote, with the option to work out of our offices in NYC or Boston.
Key Relationships
- Reports to: Controller (transitioning to Assistant Controller over time).
- Key stakeholders: Finance & Accounting Team, Partnerships Team, accounting firm subsidiaries, external vendors (JPMorgan, CoreTrust, Cresa, HUB International), and Ascend leadership.
Role Responsibilities
Finance Team Integrations
- Own the end-to-end Finance integration workstream for newly acquired Partner Firms: bank account creation (JPMorgan) and other important related cutover tasks.
- Manage Finance checklist adherence and team handoffs from Partnerships, coordinating cross-functional stakeholders to ensure milestones are hit on or ahead of schedule.
- Leverage Wrike (project management software) to build and maintain project plans across multiple simultaneous acquisitions, using Gantt charts and other tools to create clarity for all parties and proactively surface bottlenecks before they become issues.
Group Purchasing & Leases
- Own the CoreTrust group purchasing program, tracking vendor discount utilization, onboarding partner firms to available contracts, and identifying new spend categories for negotiated savings.
- Manage Ascend’s real estate portfolio in partnership with Cresa: coordinating lease reviews, renewals, and rationalization opportunities across partner firm locations to reduce occupancy cost and exposure.
Insurance Program Management (P&C)
- Coordinate Ascend’s annual insurance renewal process in partnership with HUB International, gathering exposure data across partner firms, managing timelines, and ensuring accurate and complete submissions.
- Support the CFO, VP of Finance, and Controller on Ascend’s captive insurance program – tracking workstreams, coordinating with advisors, and maintaining program documentation through standup and beyond.
Operating Standards & Continuous Improvement
- Design and maintain SOPs, checklists, and tracking systems that bring structure and repeatability to complex, multi-stakeholder workflows.
- Identify broken or inefficient processes and fix them with kindness, leveraging AI tools and automation to reduce manual burden and raise the bar for the Finance Team.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field.
- 4+ years of experience in project management, integrations, operations, or a related finance/accounting function in a fast-paced environment (management consulting, PE-backed company, banking, or high-growth startup).
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Polished communicator who interfaces well with partner firm leadership: warm, professional, and confidence-inspiring, especially under pressure or in ambiguous situations.
- Exceptional organizational skills and creates clarity in ambiguous, multi-workstream situations.
- Comfortable operating in high-growth environments where the playbook is still being written, and capable of context-switching across integration, vendor, and insurance workstreams simultaneously.
- Demonstrated continuous improvement mindset: proactively identifies broken processes, proposes solutions, and leverages AI tools to drive efficiency without waiting to be asked.
- Exposure to M&A, vendor management, or insurance/real estate administration preferred; experience in a PE-backed or multi-entity environment is a strong plus
- Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite (particularly Excel); familiarity with Wrike, JPMorgan treasury platforms, or similar project/finance tools is a plus
What You Can Count on at Ascend
We live by our values:
- Own it. We seize growth opportunities with the passion, speed, and accountability of an entrepreneur.
- Serve wholeheartedly. We love our people and serve them with positivity and kindness.
- Be excellent. We set a high bar because our mission matters.
- Win together. We stay in sync, achieve as a team, and celebrate each other.
- Bring the sunshine. We have fun and bring enthusiasm to make the journey joyful.
Compensation and Other
- Highly competitive cash and equity bonus compensation package, including attractive benefits.
- Start date is as soon as practicable.
About Alpine Investors
Alpine Investors is a people-driven private equity firm that is committed to building great companies by working with, learning from, and developing exceptional people. Alpine prides itself on fostering cultures where people value empowerment, diversity, fairness, integrity, and intellectual honesty. Founded in 2001, Alpine specializes in investments in companies in the software and services industries. Alpine has over $17 billionin AUM and has offices in San Francisco, New York, and Salt Lake City.
For more information on the firm, visit www.alpineinvestors.com
At Ascend, we provide a fair and equal employment opportunity for all candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, marital status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic. Ascend hires and promotes individuals solely based on qualifications for the position to be filled and business needs.
