Associate Director, Finance Practice

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP•New York, NY

35d•$300,000 - $325,000

About The Position

Davis Polk is seeking an Associate Director, Finance Practice for it’s top-ranked Global Finance Group. The Associate Director will work closely with the Practice Group Coordinator(s) (PGCs) and other professional development, business development and practice resource personnel to oversee the day-to-day administration of the Finance Group across offices, including with respect to talent management, staffing, internal communications and presentations, practice resources, client coverage, business development and lateral integration. The Associate Director will also be integral to developing and executing on annual strategic plans for the Finance Group. Davis Polk is seeking an Associate Director, Finance Practice for its top-ranked Global Finance Group. The Associate Director will work closely with the Practice Group Coordinator(s) (PGCs) and other professional development, business development and practice resource personnel to oversee the day-to-day administration of the Finance Group across offices, including with respect to talent management, staffing, internal communications and presentations, practice resources, client coverage, business development and lateral integration. The Associate Director will also be integral to developing and executing on annual strategic plans for the Finance Group.

Requirements

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (oral and written); sound judgment to effectively gain credibility and trust.
Well-honed financial, analytical, and project management skills, ability to multitask, and track record of strong, demonstrated leadership.
An inclusive approach, with the flexibility to build consensus and find creative solutions.
Ability to adhere to the highest process standards with extremely strong organizational skills and excellent follow through.
Ability to work under pressure and shifting priorities; must have flexibility to work outside regular business hours, as needed.
Integrity, maturity, and fairness in dealing with people and confidential information.
Education: Bachelor’s degree required; JD preferred.
Experience: 5+ years’ law firm practice management (or similar) experience in a corporate practice setting is preferred if candidate does not possess a Juris Doctor (JD).

Responsibilities

Strategic Planning: Assists in preparing the annual practice group business plan, assist with managing implementation, monitoring progress and suggesting proactive measures to achieve priorities. Manages strategic initiatives and other projects, including collaborating with Business Development/Marketing.
Staffing: Manages and supports staffing together with the group’s staffing Partners and PGCs, ensuring that each attorney (i.e., special counsel and associates) is fully utilized, while balancing client needs with development goals. Proactively monitors group activity, including individual attorney activity and client-matter status, to inform staffing. Manages work assignment policies, procedures and systems, including work assignment tracking, time-entry compliance, vacation requests/approvals, etc. Conducts outreach to associates regarding capacity, interest and overall workflow, and monitors time and availability of attorneys to effectively assign and reallocate matters as necessary to maximize overall productivity. Liaises with partner leads of Finance sub-groups (i.e. infrastructure finance, structured finance) to monitor and ensure consistency in approach to staffing; coordinates with staffing Partners to discuss and implement procedures to foster broader group cohesion. Synthesizes, analyses and presents data to the PGCs and management as appropriate.
Attorney & Professional Development: Develops in-depth understanding of development needs within the group and manages attorney satisfaction and retention initiatives. Prepares and follows through on individual attorney development plans. Acts as a confidant for attorneys. Guides and coach’s attorneys and connects them to Firm or other resources. Identifies training needs and works with practice resources personnel to develop substantive programs. Helps to manage the counsel compensation process for the group. Tracks the group’s pipeline for promotion. Manages the annual promotion process for the group, including business case development and drafting promotion memos. Monitor and push forward various AI-related projects.
Recruiting & Lateral Integration: Coordinates with internal Finance recruiting team regarding entry-level and lateral hiring needs, including maintaining and reporting on leverage levels, recruiting goals, progress against those goals, reporting on challenges and market intelligence. Interfaces with external recruiters and with our internal recruiting team to ensure appropriate and timely follow up and no missed deadlines. Coordinates onboarding, integration and follow up check-ins of entry-level and lateral attorneys into the group. Supports the integration of lateral partners, including helping to prepare integration plans and facilitating connections within the group and across the Firm. Relatedly monitors new practice areas including developing appropriate coding/tracking systems, assist with development and tracking of specific business plans, push forward internal and external visibility of new practice areas etc.
Administration, Operations & Financial Management: Maintains attorney rosters, email distribution lists, and other attorney and practice group information, including responsibility lists. Organizes, helps set agenda for and supports Partner meetings; follows through on action items to drive progress. Supervises practice group meetings and training logistics – a bridge between professional development and practice resources functions. Helps to oversee various group-wide initiatives, including managing periodic updates to “best practices” memo, matter opening policies and procedures, matter coding, updating annotated issues list etc. Responds to a wide variety of requests. Acts as point person for problem-solving and resolution. Monitors group financials and helps to address issues and opportunities. Requests or runs reports and analyses data to inform decision-making.
Business Development: Monitors client coverage/business development function – work with client coverage team to ensure contact lists are being kept up to date, that coverage meetings (and follow up) are occurring, that BD events are being properly communicated internally. Regular meetings with PGCs on BD initiatives / to dos. Helps coordinate and, where requested, participate in various BD events/trips.
Communication & Team Building: Develops and manages initiatives to create a cohesive team and meaningful connections within the group – e.g. annual offsite. Facilitates communication within the group, including proactively developing and managing various practice group communications, e.g., intranet page, email communications and announcements, PGC talking points, practice group presentations, AGM presentation, year-end reviews, periodic updates, etc. Coordinate annual 1:1 meetings with partners and senior attorneys.