Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis

Job Description

At K&L Gates, we are looking for smart, imaginative and hard-working people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and ideas to join us. Perhaps our search for talented visionaries and your search for important and impactful work lead to the same place.

The Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis leads the firm’s planning, forecasting, reporting, and decision-support activities while managing and developing FP&A staff. The role serves as a strategic financial partner to practice, business, and administrative leadership, translating financial and operational performance into actionable insights and recommendations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
• Lead the firm’s budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning activities, ensuring timely and accurate deliverables aligned with organizational objectives.

• Manage and develop FP&A staff through priority setting, coaching, performance feedback, cross training, and conducting performance evaluations.

• Analyze financial and operational performance, including revenue, productivity, utilization, inventory, expenses, and profitability, identifying key drivers, variances, risks, and opportunities.

• Serve as a strategic financial partner to Partners, Directors of Administration, Practice Group and Practice Area leadership, and functional leaders through regular financial and business reviews.

• Prepare and present management reporting and financial analyses that clearly communicate performance, business drivers, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.

• Lead budgeting and forecasting activities, incorporating business assumptions, trends, scenario modeling, and sensitivity analysis to improve forecast accuracy and support business decisions.

• Partner with Business Development and other administrative functions on business reviews, strategic initiatives, and operational decisions, including ROI analysis.

• Support workforce planning, headcount reporting, capital budgeting, financial surveys, and other ad hoc financial analyses.

• Drive improvements to FP&A processes, reporting, analytical tools, and automation to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and decision support.

• Participate in and, as appropriate, lead financial system implementations, conversions, enhancements, and reporting initiatives, including requirements gathering, testing, implementation, and user adoption.

• Collaborate across Finance and other administrative functions to align financial assumptions, reporting, planning activities, and priorities.

• Develop team building through cross-training, knowledge sharing, and exposure to broader FP&A and Finance responsibilities.

• Maintain effective financial controls and support compliance with applicable firm policies, procedures, accounting requirements, and reporting standards.

• Maintain appropriate documentation of key FP&A processes, models, assumptions, procedures, and controls.

• Support special projects and other Finance priorities as needed.

Experience and Skills Required
Education and Professional Experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant professional experience.

• Demonstrated FP&A experience, including budgeting, forecasting, management reporting, variance analysis, financial modeling, and strategic planning.

• Experience managing or leading finance or accounting professionals, with demonstrated ability to develop, coach, and motivate team members.

• Strong understanding of financial statements, accounting concepts, financial reporting, and the relationship between operational activity and financial performance.

• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex financial and operational information, identify key business and profitability drivers, and develop actionable recommendations.

Business Partnership and Leadership
• Demonstrated ability to serve as a trusted financial business partner and build effective relationships with senior leaders, practice and office leadership, Finance, Business Development, and other functional teams.

• Demonstrated ability to influence decisions through financial analysis, insight, and sound business judgment, including situations where the individual may not have direct authority.

Technical and Analytical Skills
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills with strong financial modeling, data analysis, and presentation capabilities.

Strong analytical, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate analysis into practical business recommendations.

• Experience applying financial modeling, sensitivity analysis, trend analysis, scenario planning, and other forecasting techniques.

• Experience leveraging financial systems, reporting tools, large data sets, and automation to improve analysis, reporting, and FP&A processes.

• Experience participating in system implementations, enhancements, conversions, or reporting improvements.

Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to clearly communicate financial information and recommendations to financial and non-financial audiences.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliverables in a deadline-driven environment while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.

Preferred Qualifications
• MBA, advanced degree, CPA, or other relevant professional designation.

• Previous law firm, professional services, or similarly complex organizational experience.

• Experience with Elite or another enterprise financial management platform.

• Experience with Axiom reporting and Oracle budgeting applications.

• Understanding of professional-services economics, including client and matter performance, revenue, inventory, headcount, compensation, utilization, productivity, business development spending, profitability, and expense management.