Job Description Summary:
The Director of Financial Systems is responsible for the strategy, implementation, and ongoing support of the Firm's financial systems and processes, leading the Financial Systems team and owning the security, performance, and reliability of all systems used in furtherance of the Firm's finance function. In a Microsoft-centric technology environment where Aderant Expert serves as the Firm's 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 group's emerging technology roadmap, and supports the integration of new offices, practice groups, and acquired client bases into the Firm's 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 team's fluency in emerging technologies and development practices. Assess the team’s capacity and workload on an on-going basis re-organizing priorities and securing additional resources as applicable.
- Develop and own the Firm's financial systems strategy and roadmap, including Aderant Expert (the Firm's 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 group's 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 Firm's 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 Firm's 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 more programming/scripting languages (e.g., PowerShell, .NET/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 bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Accounting, Finance, or a related field is also necessary; an advanced degree is preferred.
Benefits and Compensation Details:
At Fenwick, we believe that our partners and employees are our most important asset. Helping you and your families achieve and maintain good health - physical, emotional, and financial - is the reason we offer a comprehensive benefit program. We provide benefits to eligible employees under plans such as Healthcare, Life Insurance, Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Wellbeing. Except as otherwise required by law, temporary employees are generally not entitled to these benefits.
The anticipated range for this position is:
$186,000 - $279,000
Depending on the role, the actual base salary offered may depend upon a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job.
A discretionary bonus for eligible employees may also be available based on performance. Additional information about employee eligibility for benefits and discretionary bonus will be made available upon request.