Client Monies Compliance Advisor

It’s the people at Shakespeare Martineau that make us so special. By understanding what our people want, giving them the support they need, recognising everyone’s contribution and realising the unique power of teams, together we win.   As a firm we are focused on proactively building and developing diverse teams, bringing different backgrounds, personalities and perspectives together. We play to our strengths, pushing ourselves to be consistently better than yesterday and deliver amazing solutions for our clients. We empower our teams with a high degree of individual responsibility; we self-manage and encourage everyone to be responsible for their own learning, knowing it makes us even better at what we do!    

We believe in trusting our people to make the right decisions for themselves, from when and where you work, to how you dress; we focus on outputs.  

Want to find more about our amazing benefits?

Our Finance team is made up of over 40 people who work from a variety of our office locations. The work is split into four core areas; Financial Accounting, Financial Operations, Business Partnering and Partner Services.

We are looking for a Client Monies Compliance Advisor to join our friendly and busy finance team in Birmingham. This role is based in our Financial Operations team and will report into the Legal Cashier Team Leader. 

Your key duties will be:

• acting as an in-house champion for Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Accounts Rules and their application within Shakespeare Martineau LLP
• monitoring client money balances, transactions and controls, ensuring at all times full compliance with SRA Accounts Rules requirements, CoFA responsibilities and internal policies
• raising issues and possible breaches with matter fee earners and partners, advising on the corrective actions required
• liaising with the SRA with regards to old residual balances and the subsequent criteria and steps required to facilitate their return to the client or transfer to charity
• maintaining SRA Register of Breaches and Potential Breaches. Following up on any documentation and consistent breaches with relevant Partners, MFE’s and legal teams to prevent repetition
• ensuring the CoFA is informed of any risks arising as a result of breaches to SRA Accounts Rules
• identifying and delivering continuous improvements with processes surrounding client money management whilst adhering to controls and processes

Skills and experience you will have:

• at least 12 months’ previous experience in a similar role with understanding of SRA / VAT rules
• previous experience working within a legal or finance environment would be ideal
• knowledge of Axxia / Aderant systems would be desirable

Key competencies you will need:

• discretion in dealing with sensitive, confidential information
• resilience, maturity and judgement to prioritise and escalate issues as they arise 
• determination to follow through issues to successful resolution and ongoing improvement in compliance processes and standards
• calm, clear and flexible communication skills and the ability to explain finance issues to non-finance teams
• solid problem solving skills

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 hubs in Birmingham, Leicester, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon and Sheffield. This role will ideally be based from our Birmingham office (we will happily consider other Midlands based offices) with some home working.  

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.

Shakespeare Martineau 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.