Senior Financial Analyst

Watson Farley & Williams is an international law firm advising on complex disputes and transactions through local knowledge and an integrated international network.  We have a strong sector focus, combining our technical excellence with deep industry knowledge across Energy, Transport and associated Infrastructure.

The firm has achieved rapid expansion and year-on-year growth owed almost entirely to a focused strategy, strong leadership and the quality of its people.  The next stage in the firm’s growth plan is to achieve full-service strength within core sectors across the global platform.

We strive for excellence in all that we do and view investment in our people as key to achieving our business goals and values, which rest on developing deep and long-lasting relationships externally and internally through respect, sharing, communication and integrity.

Our global practice is integrated across our offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and North America delivering consistently high levels of service across borders and locally through a deep understanding of local business customs and culture.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace to attract and retain the most talented people from all backgrounds and cultures.  We believe in celebrating difference and that people from any background can rise to the top, ensuring opportunities to develop and progress are available for all.

An opportunity has arisen for a Senior Financial Analyst to join the Financial Control team. The role will lead the production of the Management accounts and annual budget whilst bringing a change mindset to develop the current processes. The role will require good analytical skills, attention to detail and good communication skills and will mix process with projects and business partnering.

Matt Lucas, Financial Controller

Management accounting:

• Production of the consolidated Management accounts including income statements and KPI data.
• Maintaining, updating and recommending changes to the general ledger.
• Being responsible for key account reconciliations including accruals, prepayments and fixed assets for a range of offices.
• Being a key contact to Business Functions Directors and Office Managers for costs and Practice Group Leaders and Office Heads for revenue. 
• Arranging and attending monthly meetings to:
  • Produce a continually updated profit forecast.
  • Produce monthly and ad hoc variance analysis and commentary.
  • Challenge movements from budget.
  • Understand any projects and future plans including both cost and cash flow impacts.
• Development of monthly departmental packs including both cost and headcount reports for Business Functions Directors and performance reports for Department Heads.
• Assisting in the development of a range of cost allocations including global, regional and local office recharges.

Budgeting:

• Assisting with the annual budgeting process including meeting with Business Functions Directors, Practice Group Leaders, Office Managers and Office Heads.
• Agreeing salary costs and headcount with HR departments continually reconciling salary headcounts against revenue headcounts.
• Developing the budgeting process, recommending and implementing changes to timelines, processes, templates and systems.
• Production of the annual cost rates.
• Production of the budget phasing and system loads.
• Assisting with the production of the presentation slides to be presented to the Managing Partner.

Other:

• Assisting with the annual PWC and quarterly Deloitte benchmarking survey submissions.
• Assisting with queries resulting from the annual statutory auditors particularly relating to accruals, prepayments and fixed assets.
• Being a key contact to the International Finance teams.
• Assisting with the training, development and delegation of work to the junior members of the team.
• Dealing with ad hoc queries.
• Reviewing and approving client and office payments in partnership with cashier colleagues.

• Qualified ACA/ACCA/CIMA.
• Excellent Excel skills.
• Experience of dealing with partners and senior management.
• Experience of working through change.
• Experience in a law firm or professional services environment.

• Knowledge of Power BI and Aderant Expert would be preferable.

We offer a competitive benefits and wellbeing package for all employees.

The Firm promotes a culture of agility and flexibility and is fully supportive of flexible working arrangements where these can be accommodated.

Respect for different backgrounds and perspectives is at the heart of our firm’s core values and we recognise the importance of fostering an inclusive environment that allows everyone to reach their full potential. This is a key feature of our Global Code of Conduct, which places diversity and inclusion at the centre of our firm’s ways of working.

We believe that exceptional client service can only be delivered by exceptional people. For this reason, we aim to attract, retain and develop the best talent from a wide range of backgrounds. All decisions relating to employment will be objective and based on merit and ability.

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are as inclusive and barrier-free as possible. This includes making adjustments for candidates with a disability or long-term health condition.  If you require adjustments to be made at any stage of the recruitment process, we’d encourage you to get in touch with a member of our team who would be happy to discuss options with you.