Finance Business Controller

The role

The DLA Global Service Centre (GSC) provides and supports financial, HR and IT services to DLA Piper in almost 30 countries. Within Finance, the GSC delivers a wide range of services including master data management, cash management, supplier payments, systems support, billing and collections, and financial reporting. GSC is also providing full range of HR and IT services.
 

DLA Piper is embarking on one of the most important Finance transformation programmes that the Firm has ever undertaken. We are significantly changing how we operate and the role of Finance across our International business. Over the next 2-3 years we will re-think and streamline current processes, implement world class technology, and deliver enhanced levels of insights across our international business. The GSC will be pivotal to the success of this enterprise-wide transformation program by expanding its capabilities, investing in automation tools, and upskilling its workforce to deliver cost efficient services with improved quality and control. For example, DLA is currently investing in the development of SAP, cash and expense management, and workflow management systems, among other things in order to gain productivity insights that help optimize and steer certain processes.
 

In this context you will be facilitating, coordinating, and playing a key role in the annual planning process, ongoing financial forecasting, tracking capex and workforce management controlling, reporting on performance against plan / forecast, and supporting Senior Controllers in delivering these overarching projects.
 

Based on data insights and financial reviews, you will challenge and support the GSC Leadership achieve its development plans and optimise labour costs, thereby strengthening Finance position to enable further (international) growth in a cost-efficient way.
 

To support the GSC development roadmap you will have a proven track-record of driving business outcomes through keen financial insight and business and workforce management modelling. You will be a tenured financial planning & analysis expert with experience in shared service environment. This will be combined with a solid understanding of our transformation roadmap and future finance target organizational model. You will have the opportunity to build new reporting processes and data insights from scratch to create a 360-degree financial and operational picture of the GSC that reflects the execution of its development strategy. You will introduce automated reporting processes, dashboards, and tools to create real-time reporting with forward-looking insights. You will achieve this by actively liaising and building relationships with the Central UK finance teams, the GSC department heads, the Head of Finance Shared Services and the GSC Senior Finance Manager. You will be excellent communicator with senior leaders and will use the financial plan and forecast to support the strategy, providing analysis and course correction insight where required. 
 

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Drive the planning and reforecasting processes for GSC, as well as ongoing business controllership of financial performance. Working cross functionally with central teams (Finance, IT and HR) to build and maintain the annual budget, departmental budgets, and tracking and reporting of P&L and Capex against the budget / forecasts 
• Prepare monthly and ad hoc financial analyses to help drive improvements in the business and provide decision support where there is a deviation in financial performance to the budget / forecast. 
• Collaborate with GSC department heads to develop and monitor departmental budgets
• Play a key role in the liaison with the central finance teams to deliver planning and forecasting processes, monthly business performance reporting, acting as the liaison between the central teams and the GSC budget holders.
• Act as a challenging and supportive business partner to challenge budget and forecast assumptions, and ongoing business performance and controllership based on sound analysis of internal and external performance and business drivers
• Act as a Finance business partner for finance modelling on transformation projects enabling GSC’s development strategy 
• Partner with the Europe Business Controller to enhance and accelerate the financial reporting process, build and deliver business performance reporting/operating dashboards.

ABOUT YOU

• At least ten (10) years of experience in a controlling position preferably in a shared service environment
• Possess strong analytical acumen and numeracy skills
• Strategic thinking/planning
• Solid experience of financial modelling and business/investment case preparations
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills including the ability to: present and discuss financial information to a culturally diverse group of people and engage and influence senior management
• Fluent English and Polish
• Experience in preparing and delivering senior management level communications.
• Highly analytical, detail-oriented with a commitment to creating a high-quality product.  Naturally inquisitive and able to extract information from various sources to identify and understand the underlying issue. Not afraid to question results.
• Expert in data modelling and visualization tools (e.g. Power BI) is plus
• Excellent Excel, PowerPoint and Word skills
• Experience in financial software (SAP is plus)
• Able to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment and adapt to change
• Ability to judge and manage priorities effectively and work to tight timescales

ABOUT US

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.
 

OUR VALUES

In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

 

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.
 

HYBRID WORKING

We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

 

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.