Finance Business Manager

Kennedys is looking for a Finance Business Manager to join our Finance team based in London. The successful Finance Business Manager will be responsible for business partnering within the UK Commercial and Healthcare divisions and is responsible for commercial advice, reporting and analysis across the teams that make up the UK Commercial and Healthcare divisions. They are  made up of 6 teams each led by a Team Partner and the combined revenue of the divisions make up 10% of global revenues.

This is both a strategic and commercial role, working closely with business leaders to drive Kennedys performance. Many of the senior leadership of the firm fall within the divisions and any financial business partner can have influence over key decisions of the firm

Team

Kennedys Finance team support the firm globally producing timely and accurate financial and management information, reporting solutions and operational support to maintain the high standard of service offered to the firm's internal and external clients.

Our Finance team is made up of Group Financial Reporting, Client Reporting and Insights, Pricing, Finance Systems and Finance Operations (billing, credit control, cashiers, finance database). The UK Finance team based in Chelmsford and London support UK and international operations.

Finance has a presence in multiple international offices.

Key responsibilities 

• Business partner to Senior Leadership and the Business Team Leads across the UK Commercial and Healthcare Divisions, providing financial guidance and insights to maximize profitability. It is essential to build credibility as a trusted advisor and that requires strong communication skills. To become the go to Finance person for the Commercial and Healthcare Divisions
• Responsible for leading Annual Planning Process and Forecasting cycles for the UK Teams and Clients. Liaise with Global Financial Reporting Team on the Operating Expense budget process and with HR for headcount planning
• Responsible for production and analysis of key commercial reporting. Insights on monthly performance including working capital analysis. This includes preparation of Finance Board Reports, client level profitability analysis, case matter level analysis and headcount reports
• Business partner with the UK Divisional leads for BD and HR for strategic and commercial decision making, including resourcing and service delivery.

Required experience 

• Qualified accountant (preferably Big 4), ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or MBA
• Previous experience as a Business Partner Finance Lead in an international law firm (possibly professional services) firm
• Strong finance knowledge including understanding of maximising profitability and working capital practices
• Commercial acumen and excellent communications skills a must
• Advanced skills in Excel, Powerpoint and Word
• Experience in finance systems, preferably Elite 3E
• Beneficial to have experience in PowerBi or Tableau
• Beneficial to have experience in Workday, Hyperion or equivalent 
• Previous experience in multi-currency environment. 

Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to be made in order to submit your application to Kennedys. 

*where a level of experience is indicated, this is a guideline only and represents the amount of time we would usually expect a candidate to accumulate the requisite level of experience. This does not preclude applications from candidates with more or less experience.