Director of Finance

About Davis Graham & Stubbs

For over a century, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP (DGS) has ranked among the region's most prominent law firms, consistently offering quality legal services to emerging and established businesses of the Rocky Mountain West. While the firm's Denver location and intermediate size allow a close personal relationship with local and regional clients, our technology and broad experience allow us to partner effectively with businesses and their investors throughout the world. DGS serves clients nationally and internationally, with a strong focus on corporate finance and governance, mergers and acquisitions, natural resources, environmental law, real estate, intellectual property, and complex litigation. Our lawyers have experience working with companies in the energy, mining, technology, hospitality, private equity, manufacturing, asset management, and aviation industries.

Summary

Supervisory responsibility and oversight for all financial, accounting, billing, cash management, reporting, analysis, and financial planning functions and personnel; ensures that all business activities are executed with a strong discipline regarding internal controls; provides status of the firms financial condition by collecting, interpreting, and reporting firm-wide operating results and key performance indicators; provides analyses, projections, benchmarking, and other reports of segment productivity and profitability; manages strategic changes and maintenance upgrades to the firms financial and new business systems and processes; manages the annual budget and financial planning process and achieves budget objectives; identifies areas of concern and opportunities for improvement in the firms financial performance; advise and negotiates contracts as requested; supervises financial and compliance audits; oversees compliance with federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Essential Functions

1. Directs the day-to-day tasks, work quality, performance, and professional development of staff in the firms Finance & Accounting Department, providing coaching and constructive suggestions for improvement;
2. Oversee the integrity of the firms general ledger, treasury functions, and fixed asset and lease accounting systems, ensuring that all business activities are executed with strong discipline surrounding internal controls;
3. Provide the status of the financial condition of the firm by collecting, interpreting, and reporting key financial data, including monthly and quarterly reports on results of operations;
4. Provide financial reports as requested, such as comparison and analysis of key performance indicators against plan, working capital and cash flow analyses, financial projections, statistical benchmarking, trend analysis, practice group performance, compensation analyses, attorney productivity, practice profitability, etc.
5. Directs the firms billing and collections function, with attention to operational efficiency and improvement of key performance indicators such as standard realization, collection rates, billing speed, average WIP and AR days, and accounts receivable writeoffs;
6. Ensure financial systems are continuously operational and remain in balance;
7. Enhance executive reports, performance metrics, system dashboards, and financial models as necessary to improve efficacy and usability;
8. Direct and manage strategic changes and maintenance upgrades to the firms financial and new business systems and processes to meet evolving client, firm, and business intelligence needs;
9. Direct the annual budget and financial planning process by communicating with administrative managers, establishing schedules, collecting, analyzing, and consolidating revenue and operations projections, drafting plan assumptions, and coordinating the implementation of an approved budget;
10. Achieve budget objectives by providing monthly budget reports to firm leadership and management, analyzing variances, scheduling expenditures, educating practice group leaders and administrative managers, and initiating corrective action;
11. Act as an advisor and negotiate from a financial perspective any firm contracts, as requested.
12. In consultation with the Chief Financial Officer, oversee compliance with federal, state, and local legal requirements by researching laws, consulting with outside advisors, filing financial reports relating to the supervised functional areas, and overseeing financial and compliance audits;
13. Identify areas of concern and opportunities for advancements in the firms financial performance, efficiency, or profitability, and assist with efforts to make such improvements;
14. Oversee the firms relationship with vendors to the supervised functional areas, including bank and deposit relationships, with attention to internal controls;
15. Prepare submissions for various government and industry financial surveys and information requests;
16. Identify and use computer software that effectively supports analyses and decision-making;
17. Act as a back-up to personnel in the Finance & Accounting Department; and
18. Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Skills/Abilities

1. Excellent verbal and written communication skills
2. Thorough knowledge of financial and legal best practices and requirements with a proven ability to provide sound and ethical financial counsel to firm leadership
3. Thorough understanding of and personal involvement with systems and methodologies of finance and administration
4. Ability to establish work priorities and provide follow through to insure completion of activities, both personally and within department
5. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
6. Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
7. Strong supervisory and leadership skills
8. Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and related software
9. Proficiency with or the ability to quickly learn the firms accounting, timekeeping, and billing software

Supervisory Role

This position is responsible for the direct supervision of the Accounting Manager, the Billing & Collections Supervisor, Financial Systems Administrator(s), and the Financial Systems Coordinator, and the indirect supervision of all employees within the department. Responsible for the performance management and hiring of the employees within the department.

Work Environment

This position is currently a hybrid environment with 50% time expected to be onsite in a processional office. Because this position will be handling client information, employees must work from a home office and not a public location during any periods not in the office. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, printers, and copiers.

Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP has adopted a mandatory vaccination policy to safeguard the health of our partners and employees from the hazard of COVID-19. All partners and employees of DGS, except for partners and employees who do not work where other individuals (such as coworkers or clients) are present must be fully vaccinated. Employees may request an exception from mandatory vaccination based on medical reasons or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. Subject to applicable law, employees may be eligible for a reasonable accommodation if they cannot be vaccinated and/or wear a face covering (as otherwise required by the policy).

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time, benefit eligible position. Typical days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. This position occasionally requires extended hours and weekend work. Some flexibility in hours is allowed.

Required Education and Experience

Bachelors degree in finance, business, or accounting

Minimum of seven years of experience in financial management, budgeting, tax accounting, and/or sophisticated financial analysis

Preferred Education and Experience

CPA and/or MBA preferred

Law firm experience

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

DGS offers the following benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment, Pre-Tax Transportation Program, Flexible Spending Account, Employee Assistance Program, Identity Theft, Pet Insurance, and Retirement Plan(s). DGS also offers paid vacation and sick leave.

Please click for more information about DGS Benefits

Davis Graham & Stubbs provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, genetic information, military status or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.