Accounting and Financial Outsourcing Director

Dean Dorton•Lexington, KY

About The Position

The Accounting and Financial Outsourcing (AFO) Director is responsible for the direction, performance, and continued development of Dean Dorton's AFO practice within the Business Consulting Group (BCG). Reporting to the BCG Service Group Leader, this role leads the AFO team in delivering scalable, technology-enabled accounting, controllership, and advisory solutions that create measurable value for clients. Working in alignment with the BCG Service Group Leader, the AFO Director translates BCG strategy into an annual operating plan and is accountable for execution across client service, quality, financial performance, people, growth, and innovation. The role is based within an existing Dean Dorton market and collaborates with other BCG service-line leaders, firm support functions, and market and industry team leaders. This position serves as the service-line leader for AFO within BCG, with primary responsibility for AFO strategy, operations, people, growth, and client delivery.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field required.
CPA, CMA, or another relevant professional credential preferred.
Ten or more years of progressively responsible accounting, advisory, or professional services experience, including at least five years leading high-performing teams and demonstrated accountability for the financial and operational performance of a service line, practice, or comparable business unit.
Demonstrated experience with practice leadership, client relationship management, project or engagement delivery, and business development.
Experience leading a recurring or managed-service delivery model and implementing accounting technology preferred.
Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into operating plans, measurable priorities, and sustained execution.
Strong knowledge of outsourced accounting, controllership, financial reporting, and CFO-level advisory services.
Strong business and financial acumen, including experience managing revenue, profitability, pricing, capacity, and a sales pipeline.
Proven ability to lead people, develop talent, manage change, and create accountability across a growing team.
Executive presence and sound judgment in high-level client interactions, complex engagements, and difficult decisions.
Consultative business-development skills and the ability to build durable relationships across clients, prospects, and internal teams.
Working knowledge of cloud accounting and enterprise resource planning platforms, close and reporting tools, workflow and engagement-management technologies, automation and artificial intelligence, data integration, and the security controls required for technology-enabled outsourced accounting delivery.
Excellent written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, and negotiation skills.

Nice To Haves

CPA, CMA, or another relevant professional credential preferred.
Experience leading a recurring or managed-service delivery model and implementing accounting technology preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the annual AFO operating plan and budget in alignment with BCG priorities and approved financial targets.
Own practice performance, including revenue, profitability, realization, utilization, capacity, pricing, pipeline conversion, client retention and satisfaction, employee retention, and other agreed-upon key performance indicators.
Establish scalable delivery models, engagement workflows, staffing practices, and service standards that support consistent quality, efficiency, and an exceptional client experience.
Monitor engagement economics and the client portfolio; address scope, pricing, staffing, or collection issues that could affect client outcomes or practice performance.
Use data and operating dashboards to identify trends, anticipate resource needs, and hold AFO team members accountable for timely corrective action.
Lead the evaluation, selection, implementation, integration, governance, and ongoing optimization of accounting platforms, automation, artificial intelligence, resource models, and workflow tools that improve service delivery while meeting firm security, data privacy, and risk requirements.
Standardize core processes across industry verticals to promote consistency, scalability, efficiency, and service quality.
Create, document, maintain, and periodically review standard operating procedures for client data and security, client onboarding and offboarding, core accounting processes, quality control and review, technology and systems, team management, communication protocols, risk management, and year-end close; assign clear ownership and monitor consistent adoption.
Define and reinforce the AFO client service model, including expectations for communication, responsiveness, reporting, advisory insight, and issue resolution.
Serve as a client contact for selected strategic clients and support engagement leaders in managing complex relationships, transitions, and escalations.
Ensure engagements are appropriately scoped, staffed, and managed, with clear accountability for deliverables, deadlines, quality, and client satisfaction.
Maintain appropriate quality, confidentiality, independence, and risk-management practices applicable to AFO engagements and promptly elevate significant concerns through BCG and firm leadership channels.
Promote a trusted-advisor approach that connects accurate and timely accounting information to forward-looking business decisions.
Establish collaborative and trusted relationships with internal team members.
Clarify roles, career paths, and performance expectations; ensure team members receive timely feedback, coaching, mentoring, and development opportunities.
Identify and develop emerging leaders, create succession depth, delegate meaningful ownership across the CAAS practice structure, and establish clear decision rights for client service, operations, people, technology, and growth.
Foster a collaborative, accountable, and inclusive culture that reflects Dean Dorton's values and supports high performance across locations and teams.
Serve as the AFO ambassador when interfacing with BCG leaders, firm leaders, and participants at firm-sponsored events.
Lead change initiatives with clear communication, sound judgment, and appropriate consideration of client, team, and business impacts.
Collaborate with other BCG leaders for the overall success of BCG rather than focusing on AFO alone.
Develop and maintain an annual workforce plan that aligns AFO capabilities, opportunities, and capacity with current demand, the approved budget, and anticipated growth.
Partner with Human Resources to recruit, select, onboard, retain, and evaluate the annual performance of team members within the outsourced accounting and advisory practice.
Ensure training remains current with client needs, accounting requirements, advisory methods, technology changes, and industry developments.
Develop and execute the AFO growth plan within BCG strategy, including priority client segments, target solutions, geographic opportunities, referral channels, and measurable growth goals.
Lead or support significant pursuits, including discovery, solution design, pricing, proposal development, presentations, and transition planning.
Strengthen cross-serving with BCG and other Dean Dorton service teams by helping professionals identify client needs and connect them to appropriate AFO solutions.
Maintain visibility into the growth pipeline and forecast; analyze wins, losses, new business, client expansion, and attrition to improve growth execution.
Partner with Marketing and other growth resources to build market awareness, thought leadership, sales enablement, and referral relationships for AFO.
Review the AFO service portfolio and recommend changes to the delivery model, pricing, capabilities, or market focus based on client demand and competitive conditions.
Translate BCG and firm strategy into clear AFO priorities, performance measures, and team-level actions; communicate progress and barriers to the BCG Service Group Leader.
Monitor changes in the AFO industry, including client expectations, talent models, competitors, accounting technology, automation, artificial intelligence, and regulatory developments.
Develop business cases for material investments, new capabilities, or service enhancements and obtain appropriate BCG approval before implementation.
Lead initiatives that improve the scalability, differentiation, and long-term value of the AFO practice.
Support the effective integration of acquired teams, client portfolios, or capabilities when assigned within BCG.