Sr Manager, Alternative Asset Services-PCA
Posted Jul 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a time you found a mistake your team had already sent to a client. How did you handle it?
What they are checking: Honesty and speed in correcting errors with third-party clients, plus fixing the process that allowed it.
Describe a time you improved a manual process in fund administration. What did it save and what did it risk?
What they are checking: Whether they improve workflows with controls in mind instead of just speed.
How do you keep a team motivated through quarter-end and audit season when hours are long?
What they are checking: Whether they manage workload and morale in a deadline-driven function so good people stay.
What would you do
A client's CFO disputes a number in the quarterly investor report the day before it goes out. What do you do?
What they are checking: Balancing deadline pressure against accuracy, and knowing when to delay rather than send something wrong.
How do you review a junior accountant's work on a fund close when you have several funds closing the same week?
What they are checking: Ability to prioritize review by risk and complexity while still developing the people doing the work.
A client asks you to book a transaction in a way you think doesn't follow their fund agreement. How do you respond?
What they are checking: Willingness to push back on a client, citing the limited partnership agreement, while staying service-minded.
About the work
Walk me through how you'd process a capital call for a buyout fund, from notice to investors through the accounting entries.
What they are checking: Hands-on knowledge of drawdown mechanics, investor allocations and how the books reflect commitments and contributions.
Our fund products include venture, buyout, mezzanine, life sciences, secondaries and fund of funds. Which have you supported, and what's different about accounting for them?
What they are checking: Whether they understand how valuation, income and reporting differ across private fund strategies.
How does a distribution waterfall work, and where do errors most often creep in?
What they are checking: Understanding of return of capital, preferred return, catch-up and carried interest, and the care those calculations need.
How would you explain the difference between a fund's NAV and its partners' capital account balances to a new team member?
What they are checking: Clarity on core private equity fund concepts and the ability to teach them simply.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Northern Trust.