Director of FP&a

DLA Piper is, at its core, bold, exceptional, collaborative and supportive.  Our people are the backbone, heart and soul of our firm.  Wherever you are in your professional journey, DLA Piper is a place you can engage in meaningful work and grow your career.  Let’s see what we can achieve. Together.

Summary

The Director of Revenue and Strategic Finance is a senior leadership role responsible for driving strategic financial planning, analysis, and decision support within the firm. This individual will lead the Revenue FP&A team and serve as a key advisor to firm leadership, aligning the finance function with the firm’s business objectives. The Director oversees all revenue planning and budgeting processes, develops multi-year strategic financial plans (3–5 year projections), and conducts in-depth ROI analyses for major initiatives to ensure resources are allocated for maximum return. They will also manage the preparation of financial reports and metrics, providing actionable insights to partners and executives. Importantly, this role champions innovation in financial management – implementing process improvements and adopting advanced tools (such as AI-driven financial Copilot solutions) to increase efficiency and accuracy in forecasting and reporting. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker and strong team leader with deep financial expertise, excellent communication skills, and the ability to collaborate across the organization to drive growth and profitability.

Location

This position can sit in our Reston, Washington D.C., Short Hills, or New York office and offers a hybrid work schedule.
 

Responsibilities

• Strategic Financial Leadership: Provide overall financial direction for the firm by spearheading the development of long-range financial plans (3–5 year strategic forecasts). Analyze market conditions and firm growth objectives to create financial models that guide the firm’s strategy and resource allocation. Assist the Senior Director in advising the CFO on long-term financial scenarios and recommend strategies to achieve sustainable revenue growth and profitability.

• Budgeting & Revenue Forecasting: Oversee the firm’s annual revenue budgeting process and periodic re-forecasts. Work closely with practice group leaders and department heads to establish budget targets that are ambitious yet attainable. Ensure that budgets are completed on time and that underlying assumptions are well-communicated. Continuously monitor performance against budget, highlighting variances in revenue or expenses, and lead efforts to adjust forecasts or initiatives to meet financial goals. Aim for high forecast accuracy (e.g., within a 5% variance of actuals) to enable confident decision-making.

• Team Leadership & Development: Manage and mentor a team of FP&A professionals, including Senior Manager(s), Senior Financial Analysts, and Financial Analysts. Foster a high-performance team culture, providing guidance, training, and professional development opportunities. Set clear objectives and evaluate team members’ performance. Promote collaboration within the team and with other finance functions (Accounting, Billing, etc.), ensuring the FP&A team remains viewed as a trusted resource across the firm.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Act as a strategic finance partner to other leaders in the firm. Collaborate with the Senior Director and CFO, practice group leaders, operations, HR, and business development teams on financial aspects of key initiatives. Facilitate finance discussions in partner meetings and committees, bringing data-driven insights to inform firm-wide decisions (including Finance Committee presentations on a monthly basis).

• ROI & Investment Analysis: Lead the evaluation of major investments and strategic initiatives through comprehensive financial modeling and ROI analysis. This includes analyzing lateral hiring opportunities by projecting portable books of business versus guaranteed compensation and overhead to determine payback period and long-term profitability. Perform scenario analysis for ventures such as opening new offices, launching practice groups, or major capital expenditures (technology, real estate). Provide recommendations on go/no-go decisions and track the actual results of these initiatives against projections, ensuring the firm achieves expected returns. (Notably, track lateral hires to confirm if they reach their break-even ROI within the typical ~5-year timeframe in the industry)

• Financial Reporting & Insights: Oversee the preparation of all key financial reports and management dashboards, including monthly and quarterly financial statements, revenue and expense analyses, practice group/office profitability reports, and budget vs. actual variance reports. Ensure reports are accurate, insightful, and tailored to the audience (partners, practice leaders, executives). Draw out the story behind the numbers – highlight trends, risks, and opportunities in the firm’s financial performance. Present findings and recommendations to senior leadership in clear, compelling presentations. Use data to answer complex questions about the business and to drive strategic discussions on improving performance.

• Performance Metrics & Accountability: Develop and monitor key financial KPIs to measure the firm’s financial health and the effectiveness of FP&A processes. Examples include forecast accuracy, revenue growth rate, profit margins, utilization rates, and ROI on major initiatives. Regularly report on these metrics to the leadership team, explaining any variances and outlining action plans to address gaps.

• Process Improvement & Technology Enablement: Continuously seek ways to improve FP&A processes for efficiency, accuracy, and insight. Streamline workflows in budgeting, forecasting, and reporting (e.g., simplifying templates, eliminating manual steps) to reduce cycle time and likelihood of error. Champion the adoption of advanced analytics and AI tools in the finance function. This may involve implementing new planning software or business intelligence tools and utilizing AI-driven solutions like Microsoft’s Finance Copilot (or similar financial “agents”) to automate data gathering, reconciliation, and even initial analysis. By leveraging technology, aim to free up team capacity for more strategic analysis and shorten reporting turnaround. Stay abreast of emerging financial technologies and best practices, piloting new tools that could benefit the firm. Foster training as we build "citizen data scientists" skillsets across our FP&A teams.

• Other Duties as Assigned: Take on additional projects and responsibilities as required by firm leadership. This could include leading or participating in firm-wide strategic projects, financial training for department heads, or task forces to address specific challenges (for example, profitability improvement initiatives). Flexibility and a proactive attitude to tackle new financial challenges as they arise are expected.
   

Desired Skills 
Leadership & Management Skills: Proven ability to lead and develop teams. Experience managing a team of analysts or finance professionals is required (5+ years of people management experience in a finance setting is typical for this level). Must be able to inspire trust, delegate effectively, and foster professional growth in direct reports. Strong project management skills are important to coordinate complex processes like firm-wide budgeting.
 

Financial and Analytical Expertise: Deep knowledge of financial analysis techniques, planning methodologies, and accounting principles. The candidate should be highly skilled in financial modeling (proficient in Excel or similar tools for scenario analysis, ROI modeling, and forecasting). Able to dissect financial statements and metrics to derive business insights. A background that includes handling large data sets and conducting trend analysis is important. Should understand concepts like discounted cash flow, profitability analysis, and have experience turning analysis into actionable recommendations.
 

Strategic Thinking: Demonstrated strategic mindset with the ability to connect financial data to business strategy. Should be adept at scenario planning and evaluating the financial implications of strategic options. For example, can assess what a 10% downturn in a practice’s revenue means for the overall firm, or model out the scenario of opening a new office in another region. This forward-looking orientation is critical for advising leadership on long-term plans.
 

Communication & Interpersonal Skills: Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. Must be able to present complex financial information in a clear, concise manner for non-financial stakeholders. Experience preparing reports and presentations for senior executives or boards is required. Should be comfortable leading meetings with firm leaders, defending analyses, and negotiating budget priorities with department heads. Strong interpersonal skills to build relationships and work collaboratively with partners and staff at all levels.
 

Technical Proficiency: High proficiency in financial systems and tools. Advanced Excel skills are a must (e.g., pivot tables, advanced formulas, sensitivity analysis). Experience with enterprise planning or BI software (Power BI/Tableau) is expected. Familiarity with law-firm-specific financial software (e.g., Aderant or Elite) and time & billing systems is a plus. Comfort with database queries or SQL for data mining is advantageous. An affinity for leveraging technology in finance will help in adopting new tools (like AI-based solutions) as the firm innovates.
 

Innovation & AI Experience: A forward-leaning approach to process improvement and technology. While direct experience with AI tools in finance (like machine learning forecasting, NLP-based report analysis, or AI assistants such as Copilot) is not strictly required, a demonstrated interest or exposure to these is highly beneficial. The candidate should have a track record of driving improvements – for example, implementing a new budgeting software, automating a report, or introducing dashboards to replace static spreadsheets. They should be excited by the opportunity to modernize the FP&A function.
 

Adaptability & Work Ethic: Ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. Law firm finances can be subject to unexpected changes (e.g., major cases settling, economic shifts) – the Director must be adaptable, handling new scenarios and changing priorities with ease. A strong work ethic and ability to meet tight deadlines (especially during budget season or year-end) are important. Should be a self-starter who takes initiative to identify problems and drive solutions, with minimal supervision needed.
 

Integrity and Professionalism: High level of integrity and discretion. This role involves exposure to sensitive financial information (such as partner compensation and firm profitability); the individual must handle all information with confidentiality and professionalism. Should exemplify ethical conduct in all decisions and uphold the firm’s values. Being detail-oriented and committed to accuracy is also critical, as stakeholders will rely on the information provided by this leader.
 

Minimum Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or a related field.
   

Preferred Education Level

• Master’s degree in MBA or other relevant advanced degree is strongly preferred for the strategic depth of this role.

Certificates

• Professional certifications such as CPA, CFA, or CMA are a plus and signal a strong foundation in financial expertise and ethics.

Minimum Years of Experience  

• 10+ years’ Progressive experience in finance, with significant time in FP&A and Strategic leadership roles.

Essential Job Expectations

While the specific job requirements of a DLA Piper position may vary depending upon scope of the job and area of specialty, there are certain universal requirements that are expected of all DLA Piper employees, which include but are not limited to:   

• Effectively communicate, verbally and in writing, with clients, lawyers, business professionals, and third parties.

• Produce deliverables, answer phone calls, and reply to correspondence in an efficient and responsive manner.

• Provide timely, accurate, and quality work product.

• Successfully meet deadlines, expectations, and perform work duties as required.

• Foster positive work relationships.

• Comply with all firm policies and practices. 

• Engage in both physical and sedentary activity, such as (a) working at a computer for extended periods of time, including on-screen reading and typing; (b) participating in digital/virtual conference calls; (c) participating in meetings as needed.

• Ability to work under pressure and manage competing demands in a fast-paced environment.

• Perform all other duties, tasks or projects as assigned.   
   

Our employees are expected to embrace and uphold our firm values as a part of our DLA Piper culture. We are committed to excellence in how we represent our clients and develop our people.   

Physical Demands

Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally, and all other sedentary criteria are met.   
 

Work Environment   

The individual selected for this position may have the opportunity for a hybrid work arrangement comprised of remote and in-office work, the requirement for which will be determined in coordination with the hiring manager or supervisor and may be modified at the firm’s discretion in the future.

Disclaimer   

The purpose of this job description is to provide a concise statement of the work elements and to organize and present the information in a standardized way. It is not intended to describe all the elements of the work that may be performed by every individual in this classification, nor should it serve as the sole criteria for personnel decisions and actions. The job duties, requirements, and expectations for this position may be modified at the Firm’s discretion at any time. This job description does not change the at-will nature of employment.
 

Application Process    

Applicants must apply directly online instead of sending application materials via email.

Accommodation   

Reasonable accommodations may be made upon request to permit individuals with a disability to perform the essential functions and responsibilities of the position or to participate in the job selection process. If you have a request for an accommodation during the application process, please contact [email protected].
 

Agency applications will not be considered.    

No immigration sponsorship is available for this position.   

The firm’s expected hiring range for this position is $209,000 - $280,000 per year depending on the candidate’s geographic market location.
 

The compensation offered for employment will also be dependent on other factors including the candidate’s experience, skills, educational and professional background, and overall qualifications. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including medical/dental/vision insurance, and 401(k).
 

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DLA Piper is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Job applicant poster viewing center.