Billing Team Leader in London

The role of the Team Leader will be to support Partners and Fee Earners with delivery of billing activities. As part of our global Finance team, the team leader owns the critical element of the service-to-cash process. This role will support the billing manager with workflow management and managing the team's daily priorities, as well as being a point of escalation for the billing and senior billing coordinators, whilst ensuring compliance with the firm’s standards and guidelines (e.g. billing policies for multipayors, IOB, etc.). As a team lead you will also be expected to deputise for the Billing Manager in their absence and to play an active role in supporting the billing coordinators with escalations and recognising and supporting their learning requirements. You will also aid management in undertaking ad hoc tasks/reporting as required. This role would also assist with 1-2-1s, PMRs and supporting the team.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Delivery of billing fulfilment
• Proactive calculation of proposed billing amounts and necessary edits/write-offs for Partner approval
• Draft and facilitate approval of invoices and submit to clients/Partners
• Manage complex bill reconciliations and calculations (including supplier bills, splitting bills, discounts, disbursement allocation etc)
• Manage advance bills end-to-end procedure and ensure smooth client to office transfers
• Manage and be a primary point of contact for all billing-related enquiries, client queries, credit notes (end-to-end), and escape complex issues to Partners
• Coordinate with the GSC team or other DLA Piper offices for e-bills, multi-payer matters and adhoc activities
• Assist the Billing Manager and Head of Finance with ad-hoc tasks
• Collaborate with Legal Administration teams to provide cohesive support to Partners and their clients; ad-hoc tasks, client reporting, etc
• Initiate matter master data management updates and charge-out rates changes
• Maintain client protocols and billing instructions to support the billing process and to assist colleagues during holiday periods
• WIP monitoring, maintenance, and control
• Facilitate WIP review, draft bill aging and draft bill review sessions with Partners
• Facilitate and process WIP write offs where irrecoverable (control approval matrix) as required and agreed with the Partner, following the approval matrix
• Ensure WIP comments against matters are recorded promptly
• Ensure WIP is being recorded/billed in accordance with client protocols
• Produce ad-hoc reports and analysis on specific clients to identify lock up issues and to provide Partners with sufficient information to collaborate with their clients to reduce WIP days
• Management and supporting team development
• Supporting the development of Team Members and identifying suitable learning and training solutions
• Hosting team meetings to communicate key updates and priorities
• Assist with capacity management helping drive team efficiency and create billing consistency
• Supporting on team recruitment and yearly goals in line with the firm’s continuous performance cycle
• Assist Billing Coordinators with VAT and Solicitors' Accounts Rules queries. Senior Billing Coordinators will be expected to have a more advanced knowledge of VAT and local regulations (training will be provided where necessary)
• Assisting with the day-to-day personnel management of the team members where necessary when the Billing Manager is absent
• You are also expected to support with day-to-day Service to Cash activities
• Reviewing matter set up reports and validation of matter set up details according to newly defined processes / checklist (‘Quality Gate’)
• Consulting with Legal Administration / Partners to capture missing matter information
• Qualitative reporting on the accuracy of information captured at matter set up with Billing Managers
• Flag any suspicious activity by clients (subject to local regulations) through the necessary channel
• Support with the development of new team members as required
• Ensure compliance with firm's standards and guidelines (billing policies for multipayors, IOB, etc)
• Collaborate with Collectors on credit collection activities on an ad-hoc basis
• Ensure compliance with DLA Piper’s Credit policy through accurate and prompt delivery of bills and credit notes
• Workflow management
• Responsibility for the efficient running of the team, acting as the senior team member and lead workflow supervisor
• Delegation of tasks between team members (to ensure work is done at the right level and according to priority), utilising other available resource where appropriate and available to you to ensure critical deadlines are met
• Sharing feedback received from Location Heads or key stakeholder groups (where appropriate) and themes arising within your team with Lead Team Coordinator/ Regional Legal Administration Manager to promote maximum efficiencies across office location

About You

• Experience as a Senior Biller
• Strong diligence and accuracy in handling client data, calculations, and invoice amendments
• Demonstrate commitment to firm guidelines when faced with internal or external pressures
• Analytical mindset and experience in running billing reports, analysing data, and taking appropriate actions
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate effectively with multiple DLA Piper stakeholders
• Problem-solving abilities and experience in addressing billing and VAT queries promptly and effectively
• Teamwork and collaboration skills, with experience collaborating closely with colleagues across different departments
• Initiative-taking mindset and experience in seeking opportunities for process improvements and applying them to enhance efficiency
• Adaptability to changes in processes, systems, and work requirements, with prior experience in adapting to such changes
• Previous experience in coordinating and managing team members will be an advantage
• Ability to prioritise tasks, meet deadlines, and manage multiple responsibilities
• Knowledge of financial systems and software used for billing and invoicing is a plus, such as SAP S/4HANA, Concur, Service Now, E-Billing platforms and MS Ee Suite
• 2+ years of accounting or billing experience, preferably in a professional services or legal environment
• Good knowledge of local VAT standards and guidelines preferred
• Prior experience in ensuring accuracy and compliance in billing activities