Senior Manager - Financial Planning and Analysis

Lathrop GPM, one of the nation's leading law firms, has an immediate opening for a Senior Manager - Financial Planning & Analysis in Kansas City, MO, Dallas, TX, Minneapolis, MN or Chicago, IL. This role leads the firm’s planning, forecasting, and performance analytics, turning data into actionable insights for executives, practice leaders, and operations.

About the role

The Senior Manager – FP&A designs and operates a proactive reporting cadence, governs data integrity across financial systems, and delivers business intelligence with real-time visibility. The successful candidate combines rigorous analytical acumen with strong stakeholder management to drive measurable improvements in pricing, profitability, resourcing, and growth.

Responsibilities

• Proactive Reporting & Executive Insights
  • Own a predictable reporting rhythm (weekly/monthly/quarterly) covering revenue, margin, utilization, rate realization, pricing, and client/matter profitability.
  • Publish early warning dashboards and variance bridges (actual vs. budget/forecast) with root cause analysis and recommended actions.
  • Drive rolling 12–18 month forecasts; scenario and sensitivity modeling for economic, rate, and volume changes.
  • Deliver KPIs, narratives, and visualizations.
• Business Intelligence (BI) & Automation
  • Manage data models that standardize metrics across finance and operations.
  • Build self-service analytics for practice leads and managers; create certified datasets, measures, and report templates.
  • Automate recurrent reporting (scheduling, alerting) to reduce cycle times and manual touchpoints.
• Data Integrity & Governance
  • Establish and enforce data quality standards: definitions, validation rules, reconciliation routines.
  • Partner with Technology Services to maintain secure data pipelines, access controls, and audit trails.
  • Lead periodic data quality reviews (rates, arrangements, timekeeping, client/matter attributes) and remediations.
• Planning Process Leadership
  • Manage the annual budgeting process and quarterly reforecasts; set calendars, templates, assumptions, and milestones.
• Stakeholder Management & Change Leadership
  • Serve as the finance liaison to practice groups and administrative leaders; translate insights into action plans.
  • Lead cross-functional projects with defined outcomes and timelines.
• Team Leadership & Development
  • Manage and mentor FP&A analysts; set goals, review performance, and develop modeling capabilities.
  • Establish standards of work for models, decks, and dashboards to ensure consistency, accuracy, and readability.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field; MBA or CPA preferred.
• 8–10+ years of progressive FP&A experience, including 3+ years in a management role, preferably in a law firm setting.
• Demonstrated leadership of proactive reporting programs, modeling, and forecast cycles.
• Advanced Excel (modeling) and business intelligence software experience.
• Experience with ERP/financial systems (e.g., Elite 3E/Enterprise, Intapp, or comparable) and data tools.
• Strong command of scenario analysis, driver-based modeling, and profitability frameworks.
• Meticulous approach to data integrity: validation and reconciliation.
• Ability to distill complexity into clear, compelling recommendations.
• Bias for action: converts insights into prioritized initiatives with measurable impact.
• Stakeholder influence: earns trust with partners, practice leaders, and executives.
• Change leadership: designs repeatable processes and improves adoption of analytics.

Pay

Current anticipated salary range for applicants in MN: $140,000 - $190,000. For applicants in IL: $147,000 - $200,000. Actual salary will vary and may be above or below the range.

Benefits

• Full comprehensive benefit plan including healthcare, retirement plan, and paid days off (PTO, parental leave, short/long-term disability).
• Hybrid working environment.