Director of Financial Systems

Lead, Mentor, and Manage

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.

Strategy and Roadmap

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.

Budget and Vendor Relationships

Maintain full ownership of the Financial Systems budget and all related vendor relationships and contract negotiations, ensuring favorable terms and service levels.

Emerging Technology Roadmap

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.

System Security and Data Integrity

Maintain 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.

Reporting Tools and Dashboards

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.

System Operations and Support

Ensure the continuous operation, uptime, and reliability of accounting systems, performing or directing data analysis to identify and resolve issues.

Data Feeds and Integrations

Lead the design, configuration, and troubleshooting of data feeds, APIs, and system integrations between core financial systems and third-party vendor platforms.

Project Management

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.

End-User Training and Documentation

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.

Collaboration and Business Requirements

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.

Integration of New Clients

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

• 15+ years of financial systems experience within a law firm environment;
• 10+ years of experience managing and developing teams;
• 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

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.