Associate Director of Finance

Associate Director of Pricing and Analytics

Job Description

Position Type: Exempt, Full time

Hybrid 1-3 days in office [1 day required]

Location: Downtown Los Angeles

SUMMARY

The Associate Director of Pricing and Analytics collaborates with the Director of Pricing & Analytics, leaders in the Financial Services Group, the Marketing team, IT, and Partners of the firm to implement and support the development, approval and ongoing evaluation of billing rates and alternative fee arrangements. This individual will provide financial consulting to Partners and executive management, including formulating pricing strategies and managing legal fees and costs against client and Partner expectations. This role is a hands-on position requiring a confident and self-starting team player with the ability to advance the capabilities of this function. The Associate Director of Pricing and Analytics has strong analytical, communication, and systems skills to support the firm's partners and engage with clients when appropriate. The ability to build credibility and rapport with attorneys, team members, and across departments is critical.

JOB FUNCTIONS

• Collaborate with our Partners to respond to complex pricing requests such as competitive pitches, budgets, rates analysis and client negotiations.
  • Define scope and develop task-based budgets.
  • Structure and evaluate alternate pricing proposals and prepare risk and reward analyses.
  • client rate analysis and recommendations.
  • Improve processes to review and approve AFAs, client rates, and evaluate pricing programs.
• Define and refine our pricing framework for multiple litigation tasks or phases (analytics).
  • Define approach, analyze and interpret comparable matter data, and correct for anomalies.
  • Refine metrics and increase the number of exemplars for future use.
  • Expand the database of pricing and cost benchmarks and models (market segment, case type, etc.)
  • Build and/or acquire competitive pricing capabilities, considering external sources.
• Provide attorneys and other department heads with relevant data to assist with business development efforts.
  • Create, optimize, and publish proposal tracking and client health dashboards.
  • Provide customized modeling, performance, and benchmarking analyses and ad-hoc reports.
• Directly manage staff, including performance management, workforce planning and day-to-day operations.
  • Delegate and prioritize incoming requests and balance team workload.
  • Mentor and develop team.
• Lead in technological initiatives to automate and enhance our budgeting and analytics processes and expand our competitive intelligence capabilities.
  • Lead administrator for technology solutions with responsibility to optimize utilization and processes.
  • Implement software solutions and work with IT and vendors.
  • Develop and create custom reports.

COMPETENCIES

Teamwork and Cooperation

Treats others with respect; works well with others; asks for help when necessary; willing to share credit; avoids pointing fingers or assigning blame; volunteers to help others when available to do so; empathetic to others.

Communication

Communicates clearly and appropriately with adequate frequency and tools; understands the need for regular, timely and high-quality communication; listens actively and asks appropriate questions; understands the message.

Flexibility

Adapts to changing conditions; willing to do something new/different; open to change; accepting differences.

Problem Solving

Seeks solutions to problems; proposes creative and effective solutions to problems; examines underlying cause of problems when seeking a solution.

Service Focus

Desires to help or serve those requesting service to meet their needs, responsive and available when needed, proactively anticipates needs and expectations and acts accordingly to support the success of the Firm.

Self-Development

Uses constructive feedback to improve; learns from mistakes; shows eagerness and capacity to learn; attends available training; shows interest in improving self; proactively looks for opportunities to gain experience in a range of responsibilities.

Organization and Time Management

Orderly in approach to work; able to plan and execute work effectively and accurately; tracks and follows through on requests; maintains a well-organized and clean work area; prioritizes and understands urgency; able to be punctual and prepared; manages multiple tasks simultaneously.

Composure

Understands what triggers emotions and uses that knowledge to maintain a professional presence.

Analytical Thinking

Works systematically and logically to analyze information, identify causations and anticipate results. Investigates issues by drawing on own experience and knowledge and calls on other resources as necessary

Integrity

Deals with ethical issues appropriately. Acts in a way that is consistent with Firm values.

TOOLS

• VoIP, web and video applications such as Teams and RingCentral
• Software systems, particularly:
  • MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, OneNote).
  • SQL, SSRS, R, or Python.
  • BudgetManager, 3E, and dashboarding tools.
  • Project management tools (e.g., Asana).
• Other software as required.

MINIMUM JOB QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree required, MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of financial planning and analysis (FP&A) experience or related experience involving data analysis and substantial quantitative modeling and forecasting.
• 5+ years of prior managerial experience is strongly preferred with a demonstrated ability to roll-up sleeves and work closely with team members and cross-functional departments.
• Experience implementing a financial or budgeting system is preferred.
• The ability to communicate effectively with internal and external clients including attorneys, management, firm clients, and vendors.
• Excellent customer service skills that allow you to effectively manage expectations and build relationships.
• The ability to challenge current ideas, methods, and processes, proposing alternatives in a way that creates trust and builds consultative relationships.
• The ability to prioritize team assignments while meeting time-sensitive deadlines.
• Advanced skills in MS Excel, MS Access, SQL, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Prior law firm experience is helpful but not required.