Credit Management Business Partner

We're Norton Rose Fulbright - a global law firm with over 50 offices and 7,000 employees worldwide. We provide the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. At Norton Rose Fulbright, our strategy and our culture are closely entwined. We know that our expansion will mean little unless it is underpinned by truly global collaboration and we understand that pioneering work only takes place when our people have room to move and think beyond boundaries. As well as the relevant skills and experience, we’re looking for people who are innovative, commercial and value the work that they do.

The Commercial Finance and Revenue Operations function encompasses Client Financial Decision Support (which includes Pricing & Commercial Insight and Client Finance Support), Finance Business Partnering (strategic financial business management and financial planning and analysis activities), Finance Business Intelligence and Revenue Operations. We support NRF leadership and wider stakeholder groups to run a successful legal practice by providing financial leadership, timely insights and initiatives designed to improve commercial confidence and decision-making quality.

This role sits within the Credit Management Business Partnering pillar and is the first line of contact for fee earners in relation to debt management and client exposure. These are future-facing roles, reflecting the needs of an ambitious and successful law firm to have proactive, value-add support from Finance. In order to be successful in delivering credit management advisory services the successful candidate will wear many hats:

• Analyst – using data and business intelligence to help inform priorities
• Storyteller – bringing numbers “to life” confidently and clearly delivering insights, recommendations and actions
• Relationship builder – gaining and maintaining trusted advisor status to ensure maximum influence and effectiveness both internally and externally
• Problem solver – taking issues away from fee earners and owning until resolution, using other SMEs as required
• Planner – always being “on the case”: anticipating and preparing for issues before they arise, taking a methodical approach to workload planning and ensuring sufficient value-add activities are being conducted to improve decision making and business profitability

Key Responsibilities

• Actively manage client debt across assigned practice area(s), liaising with colleagues across the business (Finance, BD, Client Relationship Partners) as required to understand business/client context to help prioritise and plan collection efforts which achieve/exceed cash collection and lockup targets.
• Proactively arranging regular meetings with partners who have material levels of aged lockup. Providing data, insights and recommendations to ensure efficient and effective credit control support.
• In conjunction with colleagues across Finance, proactively managing client exposure. Ensuring regular follow up on aged client debt in line with policy/procedures.
• Acting as the credit management lead for selected key accounts, working collaboratively with internal stakeholders to drive better financial hygiene.
• Building strong and trusted relationships with external clients and demonstrating financial acumen through effective credit control, enhancing the firm’s reputation as a reliable and responsible business partner.
• Acting as the first point of contact within assigned practice areas in respect of client/partner debt queries.
• Assist the wider Finance team with anything related to the final invoice, including AP queries, e-billing queries, re-issue and credit requests, allocation of unknown funds for the Cashiers Team.
• In conjunction with the other Finance Business Partners, attend partner meetings and provide working capital updates.
• Working with Finance colleagues to provide training to improve fee earner confidence and commercial acumen.
• Assisting Revenue Operations leadership in formulating, maintaining and enforcing working capital policies to drive best practice and risk reduction.
• Contributing to the EMEA community of Credit Management Business Partners, sharing best practice and providing support as needed.
• As an expert user of First Finance suite, promote and train fee earners in its use.
• Identifying areas for improvement in cash flow optimisation. Implementing processes to improve cash management and create the frameworks to sustain those improvements.
• In conjunction with BD, Pricing and Partners, play an active role in the setting of payment terms with clients. Ensuring pricing governance/payment policies are adhered to and any exceptions are escalated as required.

Skills and Experience Required

• 3+ years within professional services businesses supporting partners with client credit management with demonstrable technical finance experience using recognised legal practice management system (SAP, Aderant Expert or Elite Enterprise/3E).
• Finance Business Partnering experience with internal senior stakeholders. Excellent soft skills including the ability to influence or challenge stakeholders when necessary.
• A good level of commercial acumen and a clear and demonstrable understanding of working capital in a law firm and its impact on Lockup and profitability.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and demonstrable experience of engaging in a professional manner with external clients to achieve successful credit management outcomes.