Senior Associate, Finance

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a globally minded, publicly supported, non-partisan, and nonprofit think tank headquartered in Santa Monica, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. For the past three decades, the Milken Institute has served as a catalyst for practical, scalable solutions to global challenges by connecting human, financial, and educational resources to those who need them. Guided by a conviction that the best ideas, under-resourced, cannot succeed, we conduct research and analysis and convene top experts, innovators, and influencers from different backgrounds and competing viewpoints. We leverage this expertise and insight to construct programs and policy initiatives designed to help people build meaningful lives, in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities.

The Milken Institute’s events and programmatic activities involve the exchange of ideas with leaders from around the world. The Institute hosts more than 200 events each year, including our annual flagship event, Global Conference, which brings together 4,500+ participants from around the world, featuring more than 900+ speakers throughout 200+ sessions.

About the Role

The Senior Associate, Finance supports the Director of Finance in executing the Institute’s accounts receivable, invoicing, revenue operations, and general ledger-related tasks. This role owns the daily mechanics of the receivables cycle, invoice generation, cash application, and donor-related administrative work. The ideal candidate is a hands-on operator who is fluent in NetSuite and proficient in Salesforce and can move quickly across a high volume of varied, deadline-driven tasks with minimal supervision.

Responsibilities

• Invoicing: Generate, issue, and track customer/donor invoices in NetSuite with correct sales-item selection and segment-code allocation. Partner with the Director of Finance to ensure invoice coding matches how each budget was recorded. Manage donor-specific parameters, including allocations and installment schedules.
• Office Rent and Events: Handle office rent invoices and collections, common area maintenance (CAM) calculations, event sales, and revenue collection/invoices.
• Invoice customization: Tailor invoices to individual donor/funder requirements, including formatting, line-item presentation, and remittance instructions.
• AR & aging: Own AR monitoring, aging analysis, and payment follow-up with Business Development; escalate at-risk balances and reconcile the AR sub-ledger.
• Cash application: Apply incoming payments accurately and on time; research and resolve unapplied cash and update Salesforce accordingly.
• Credit card receipts: Download weekly transactions, verify against Salesforce opportunities, and post to NetSuite.
• Reconciliation & audit support: Maintain AR roll forwards and receivables schedules; prepare audit documentation (confirmations, sampling support, pledge-payment substantiation).
• Revenue support: Support revenue recognition, ensuring each agreement is reviewed and recorded per GAAP through coordination with Business Development and Operations on project agreements.
• Supplier portals: Set up and maintain the Institute’s records in donor and customer supplier/vendor portals.
• Payment forms: Complete ACH/EFT enrollment forms, banking-detail forms, and payment setup documentation.
• Questionnaires & onboarding: Complete donor and funder due-diligence questionnaires, vendor onboarding packets, and related compliance requests (e.g., W-9s, tax and charitable-status documentation).
• Business Development liaison: Work directly and continuously with the Business Development team to reconcile NetSuite and Salesforce including invoicing parameters, donor specifications, invoice allocation, and breaking arrangements out into installments.
• Additional Responsibilities: Perform general ledger accounting and reconciliations in coordination with other members and leaders of the Finance team. Prepare journal entries, including but not limited to accruals, allocations, and reclassifications. Handle other ad-hoc or special projects as assigned.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in accounting required.
• Experience: 3–5 years of relevant accounting and finance experience, with a clear concentration in accounts receivable, billing/invoicing, revenue, and collections.
• GAAP: Solid working knowledge of U.S. GAAP, including revenue recognition principles under ASC 606 and contribution accounting under ASC 958-605.
• Systems: Proficiency in NetSuite and Salesforce required.
• Excel & M365: Advanced Microsoft Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, and other advanced formulas) and strong overall Microsoft 365 skills (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint).

Schedule

This position operates on a hybrid schedule consisting of three (3) days per week in-person at the Santa Monica office location (Tuesday – Thursday), with the remaining two (2) days working remotely. This schedule is subject to change at the Institute’s discretion. Occasional travel to other offices and/or venues may be required, including international and domestic travel, and may involve work outside of traditional hours.

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan - 403b (5% match)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Personal, Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity & Paternity)
• Fertility Support
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending Account (FSAs)
• Pet Insurance Discount
• Training & Development: LinkedIn Learning – over 15,000 self-guided classes offered
• Annual Mentor Program
• Wellness Resources: Employee Assistance Program, CALM app membership