Commercial Finance Manager

Role Overview

• Responsible for business partnering legal teams, delivering excellent service and a customer-focussed approach to support the Shakespeare Martineau brand.
• Monitoring and reporting on activity throughout the month to help team leads manage performance.
• Creating and delivering insightful reporting, analysis and commentary for monthly MI including performance against targets, utilisation, management of working capital.
• Identifying areas that are not performing to expectation and providing recommendations for improvement to monthly trading meetings.
• Preparation of annual budgets and semi-annual forecasts, working with stakeholders to help set and challenge.
• Responding in a timely manner to ad-hoc analysis and information requests from fee earners and other stakeholders.
• Preparation and challenge of business cases for recruitment to ensure ROI in line with brand expectations, working closely with people teams.
• Preparation of historical profitability analysis to support decision-making including tender submissions.
• Critical review of internal processes, identifying and implementing improvements and efficiencies.
• Coaching fee earners to upskill knowledge and performance in relation to financial management
• Collaborating and liaising with the firm’s central finance teams. You will possess excellent skills in analysis and interpretation of financial MI and have a passion for adding value to the business. This is an opportunity for a commercially minded finance professional who enjoys working with people, solving problems and making a meaningful impact in a fast-paced professional services environment.

Requirements

• To be a qualified accountant with one of the following qualifications (ACA/ACCA/CIMA).
• Demonstrable experience of finance business partnering with a commercial mind-set.
• Legal or professional services experience desirable.
• Extensive experience of working with large planning and forecasting applications, e.g. IBM Planning and Analytics or similar.
• Advanced level Excel skills, in particular being able to create appropriate financial models.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build rapport, credibility and manage expectations with a variety of stakeholders
• To be a commercially aware self-starter, pro-active with the ability to work at both a strategic and detailed operational level.
• Flexibility and the ability to operate in a changing environment, prioritising workload to meet deadlines.

Benefits

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work. We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it. We have the following hubs across the UK: Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Sheffield, Stratford upon Avon and in the South East; Brighton, Chichester, Crawley, East Grinstead, Eastbourne, Lewes, Seaford, Storrington, Southampton & Tunbridge Wells. This is a hybrid role and can be based from any of our hubs with a regular need to collaborate in our Birmingham hub. Additional information: Want to find more about our amazing benefits? Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward. Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here. Equal opportunities: Ampa Group is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.