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Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP · 6 days ago

Associate Director, Finance Practice

New York, United States

Full-time

Onsite

Lead/Staff, Director/Executive

$300K/yr - $325K/yr

5+ years exp

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is an elite global law firm known for its exceptional legal and business services. The Associate Director, Finance Practice will oversee the administration of the Finance Group, focusing on talent management, staffing, business development, and strategic planning.

AdviceConsultingLegalProfessional Services

Comp. & Benefits

Responsibilities

Assists in preparing the annual practice group business plan, assist with managing implementation, monitoring progress and suggesting proactive measures to achieve priorities

Manages strategic initiatives and other projects, including collaborating with Business Development/Marketing

Manages and supports staffing together with the group’s staffing Partners and PGCs, ensuring that each attorney (i.e., special counsel and associates) is fully utilized, while balancing client needs with development goals

Proactively monitors group activity, including individual attorney activity and client-matter status, to inform staffing

Manages work assignment policies, procedures and systems, including work assignment tracking, time-entry compliance, vacation requests/approvals, etc

Conducts outreach to associates regarding capacity, interest and overall workflow, and monitors time and availability of attorneys to effectively assign and reallocate matters as necessary to maximize overall productivity

Liaises with partner leads of Finance sub-groups (i.e. infrastructure finance, structured finance) to monitor and ensure consistency in approach to staffing; coordinates with staffing Partners to discuss and implement procedures to foster broader group cohesion

Synthesizes, analyses and presents data to the PGCs and management as appropriate

Develops in-depth understanding of development needs within the group and manages attorney satisfaction and retention initiatives

Prepares and follows through on individual attorney development plans

Acts as a confidant for attorneys

Guides and coach’s attorneys and connects them to Firm or other resources

Identifies training needs and works with practice resources personnel to develop substantive programs

Helps to manage the counsel compensation process for the group

Tracks the group’s pipeline for promotion

Manages the annual promotion process for the group, including business case development and drafting promotion memos

Monitor and push forward various AI-related projects

Coordinates with internal Finance recruiting team regarding entry-level and lateral hiring needs, including maintaining and reporting on leverage levels, recruiting goals, progress against those goals, reporting on challenges and market intelligence

Interfaces with external recruiters and with our internal recruiting team to ensure appropriate and timely follow up and no missed deadlines

Coordinates onboarding, integration and follow up check-ins of entry-level and lateral attorneys into the group

Supports the integration of lateral partners, including helping to prepare integration plans and facilitating connections within the group and across the Firm

Maintains attorney rosters, email distribution lists, and other attorney and practice group information, including responsibility lists

Organizes, helps set agenda for and supports Partner meetings; follows through on action items to drive progress

Supervises practice group meetings and training logistics – a bridge between professional development and practice resources functions

Helps to oversee various group-wide initiatives, including managing periodic updates to 'best practices' memo, matter opening policies and procedures, matter coding, updating annotated issues list etc

Responds to a wide variety of requests

Acts as point person for problem-solving and resolution

Monitors group financials and helps to address issues and opportunities

Requests or runs reports and analyses data to inform decision-making

Monitors client coverage/business development function – work with client coverage team to ensure contact lists are being kept up to date, that coverage meetings (and follow up) are occurring, that BD events are being properly communicated internally

Regular meetings with PGCs on BD initiatives / to dos

Helps coordinate and, where requested, participate in various BD events/trips

Develops and manages initiatives to create a cohesive team and meaningful connections within the group – e.g. annual offsite

Facilitates communication within the group, including proactively developing and managing various practice group communications, e.g., intranet page, email communications and announcements, PGC talking points, practice group presentations, AGM presentation, year-end reviews, periodic updates, etc

Coordinate annual 1:1 meetings with partners and senior attorneys

Qualification

Finance Practice ManagementBusiness DevelopmentProject ManagementAnalytical SkillsInterpersonal SkillsTeam BuildingCommunication SkillsLeadershipOrganizational SkillsIntegrity

Required

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (oral and written); sound judgment to effectively gain credibility and trust

Well-honed financial, analytical, and project management skills, ability to multitask, and track record of strong, demonstrated leadership

An inclusive approach, with the flexibility to build consensus and find creative solutions

Ability to adhere to the highest process standards with extremely strong organizational skills and excellent follow through

Ability to work under pressure and shifting priorities; must have flexibility to work outside regular business hours, as needed

Integrity, maturity, and fairness in dealing with people and confidential information

Education: Bachelor's degree required

Preferred

JD preferred

5+ years' law firm practice management (or similar) experience in a corporate practice setting is preferred if candidate does not possess a Juris Doctor (JD)