Director of Financial Systems

The Director of Financial Systems is responsible for the strategy implementation and ongoing support of the Firms financial systems and processes leading the Financial Systems team and owning the security performance and reliability of all systems used in furtherance of the Firms finance a Microsoft-centric technology environment where Aderant Expert serves as the Firms primary ERP the Director combines hands-on technical fluency including SQL and programming knowledge with strong people-management and project leadership skills to guide the team on technical approach and problem-solving oversee data integrations and reporting solutions and drive successful implementations of new and upgraded systems. The Director owns the Financial Systems budget and vendor relationships leads the groups emerging technology roadmap and supports the integration of new offices practice groups and acquired client bases into the Firms financial systems. This position reports to the Senior Director of Finance.

This position may be based in any of our U.S. offices with a preference for the Bay Area California locations. The role requires a minimum of one day per week in the office with additional onsite presence as needed to support business and client needs. Candidates based outside of the Bay Area will be expected to travel to our Bay Area offices several times per year for in-person collaboration with the core team. This is a full-time exempt position.

Job Description:

• Lead mentor and manage the Financial Systems staff including any contract and temporary staff providing hands-on technical guidance on approach architecture and problem-solving and building the teams fluency in emerging technologies and development practices. Assess the teams capacity and workload on an on-going basis re-organizing priorities and securing additional resources as applicable.
• Develop and own the Firms financial systems strategy and roadmap including Aderant Expert (the Firms primary ERP) and other financial applications (i.e Emburse Billblast BigHand apps ARCS Laurel Time Entry in-house apps etc) along with their integrations with other firmwide applications.
• Maintain full ownership of the Financial Systems budget and all related vendor relationships and contract negotiations ensuring favorable terms and service levels.
• Own the Financial Systems groups emerging technology roadmap identifying processes (e.g. invoice processing reconciliation reporting exception handling) where newer technologies can reduce manual effort and improve accuracy; remain current on industry trends emerging technologies and regulatory changes and lead evaluation and adoption accordingly.
• Oversee system security user access controls data integrity and governance of core financial system master files; ensure technology solutions used with financial and client data meet the Firms data governance and confidentiality standards.
• Direct the design development and support of reporting tools dashboards and self-service data solutions that give firm users direct access to financial and billing data and partner with IT to define data feed strategies and refresh cycles for analytics platforms.
• Ensure the continuous operation uptime and reliability of accounting systems performing or directing data analysis to identify and resolve issues.
• Own the design configuration and troubleshooting of data feeds APIs and system integrations between core financial systems and third-party vendor platforms.
• Lead project management for system implementations upgrades and migrations including scoping budgeting testing documentation and change management coordinating cross-functional teams involving Finance IT and outside vendors/consultants.
• Oversee the development and delivery of end-user training and documentation for financial systems and custom programs in partnership with the IT Training Department as applicable.
• Partner with the Firm and Finance leadership and collaborate with IT and other cross-functional stakeholders to translate business requirements into system solutions that support accurate accounting and financial reporting; maintain in-depth knowledge of Firm business objectives and represent Financial Systems in firm-wide technology governance and planning discussions.
• Support the integration of new offices practice groups or acquired client bases into the Firms financial systems and reporting processes.

Desired Skills and Qualifications:

• Strong working knowledge of Aderant (or a comparable legal financial ERP) architecture configuration and reporting; familiarity with legal-industry financial applications such as Emburse BillBlast BigHand ARCS and Laurel are a strong plus.
• Strong hands-on proficiency in SQL and one or moreprogramming/scriptinglanguages (e.g. /C# Python) with the ability to write review and troubleshoot code and to guide programmers and application developers on technical approach and architecture.
• Deep familiarity with the Microsoft technology stack (Windows Server SQL Server Azure Fabric SSRS SharePoint Power Platform Microsoft 365).
• Proven ability to lead mentor and develop technical teams.
• Strong project management skills; PMP or similar certification a plus.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders.
• High degree of discretion given the confidential and sensitive nature of financial data.
• Strong vendor management and contract negotiation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects in a fast-paced deadline-driven environment.
• Direct experience with Aderant strongly preferred.

Required qualifications include 15 years of financial systems experience within a law firm environment 10 years of experience managing and developing teams and a demonstrated track record of leading system implementations and cross-functional technology initiatives. A required bachelors degree in Computer Science Information Systems Accounting Finance or a related field is also necessary; an advanced degree is preferred.

The anticipated range for this position is: $186000 - $279000