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The Commercial Advisor roll is required to support the commercial services finance function for the Middle East, incorporating pricing, billing and collection. The position reports to the Working Capital & Pricing Manager.
Key Responsibilities
Act as a first point of contact and trusted advisor for Partners and matter teams on queries relating to working capital, pricing and revenue.
You will meet with partners and other lawyers on a regular basis to discuss billing and collection issues, review WIP and ensure compliance with client specific billing requirements.
Work collaboratively with the Operational O2C team in Delhi for billing and collection activities performed on behalf of the ME Region and act as the primary point of contact between Partners and the Operational O2C team.
You will be involved in supporting the preparation of bills. These may be highly complex with time breakdowns, and in differing formats in accordance with client billing arrangements.
You will liaise closely with and progress-chase Partners/lawyers to ensure early return of approved billing guides with narratives provided by lawyers to ensure billing targets are met.
You will be responsible for the prompt resolution of billing queries, estimates, time transfers, creating Excel reports on ad hoc basis and assist partners with pricing analysis.
Responsible for matter level escalation to Head of Finance to enable prompt resolution of issues.
Provide updates to support regular cash flow forecasting.
Ensure compliance with internal policies on working capital management such as IFRS 15 and write-off procedures.
Steer the monthly collection focus with the support of the credit control manager and the Delhi collection team, including calling and writing to clients directly and taking follow up actions.
You will meet regularly (minimum of monthly) with your assigned Partners where you will provide updates on their working capital position and agree any remedial action required.
You will correspond with and chase overseas offices and counsel to obtain details of costs.
You will have responsibility for understanding the receipting of funds and compliance with Solicitors Accounts Rules.
Client relationship management:
You will liaise directly with clients and develop relationships with stakeholders and primary client contacts in key client organisations to facilitate the billing and collection process.
Attending internal and external client meetings to discuss lock-up performance, key drivers or address any client concerns against KPIs.
Provide local Partners with a point of contact to discuss and coordinate finance related operational issues.
Ensure changes to client O2C processes and ways of working are communicated to the relevant fee-earner and business professional teams, clearly explaining the impact of those changes.
Attend client relationship meetings and establish regular dialogue with client operation teams where required.
Pricing and profitability:
You will be involved in client and matter profitability analysis, working closely with the partners and with the Business Development team.
You will increasingly be involved at the start of matters in the review of engagement letters to ensure billing is set-up correctly at the start in terms of pricing and efficient billing logistics.
Monitor WIP and Debt balances against agreed matter budgets including out-of-scope work and pro-actively discuss risks and issues with Partners, including the impact on revenue and profitability as a result of provisions and potential write-offs.
Continually assess and understand where issues are and how they can be addressed, providing and implementing pragmatic solutions to ensure robust working capital management.
You will take part in the annual audit process assisting the Head of Finance, Middle East in the provision of information to the auditors for both management and statutory/tax audits.
You will take part in the provision of information during the internal audit process.
Skills and experience
You will be a highly motivated and proactive team player, accustomed to working in a very busy environment.
You will be a graduate and have a minimum of three years’ working capital experience, ideally in a legal or other professional services environment.
Inter-personal skills are vitally important, as working closely with the firm’s finance team, secretaries, partners and lawyers is an integral part of the role. You will be confident, influential and be able to adapt your communication style appropriately.
You will have dealt with full life cycle of working capital management ideally be conversant with the Solicitors Accounts Rules and Anti-Money Laundering regulations.
Experience in pricing and matter profitability analytics will be advantageous.
You will also have proven experience of working to and achieving deadlines.
You will ideally have a detailed knowledge of the firm’s Global Practice Management System (GPMS) or similar systems used by international organisations in the field.
About the firm
At Clifford Chance, you’ll be joining a global team of bright minds in one of the world’s leading law firms. With over 30 offices across the world, we have an unrivalled scale and depth, which uniquely places us to advise market-leading clients on complex deals that frequently headline the business and financial news. Whatever your area of expertise, you’ll find a range of career opportunities across our teams. Our firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective and give our people a stimulating and expansive career. Whichever area of the business you join, you’ll become an integral part an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Whatever your plans for the future, the next step towards building a dynamic career with a bright future is with Clifford Chance.
To find out more about what it is like to work in Clifford Chance in Dubai, please visit link.
Equal opportunities
At Clifford Chance we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our Firm and society.
We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age. This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.
Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. Find out more here.
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