Job Description

Overview:

We are recruiting for a Finance & Legal Operations Manager to handle the effective management, development, and performance of the firm's administrative support functions here at Walker Morris.

In this pivotal role, you will ensure high delivery standards to the lawyered teams by the secretarial and PA teams throughout the financial lifecycle of client matters, from inception to closure. This role is instrumental in driving operational efficiency, fostering a culture of high performance and continuous improvement, and ensuring that administrative support aligns with the firm's strategic goals. This role will collaborate closely with the Finance Office Manager to ensure smooth end-to-end processes.
As the largest, single-site law firm outside of London, you can truly make the role your own and implement the improvements that we strive for.

As the

Finance and Legal Operations Manager,

you will:

Work closely with Partners, Fee Earners, and other Department Heads to understand finance and administrative support requirements and deliver tailored solutions, ensuring that lawyered teams are relieved of as many administrative tasks as possible. Act as a key point of escalation for administrative matters, working collaboratively across Business Services teams to resolve issues and ensure consistently high levels of service. Review and optimise finance and administrative operational processes to improve efficiency and service delivery, working proactively with managers across the Finance and Risk teams to streamline tasks across the course of a matter lifecycle. Consider how systems and technology/AI solutions can support best practice. Ensure consistency in administrative support across the firm and that prioritisation of PA Hub tasks is being executed in line with SLAs. Analyse and report on data to evidence improvements in financial hygiene and enhancements in risk and compliance. Lead on embedding the changes in the capture of key data fields for clients to drive performance. Lead and drive continuous improvement initiatives across operational finance processes, identifying inefficiencies, implementing automation solutions, and standardising workflows to enhance accuracy, scalability, and cross-functional collaboration. Identify opportunities for innovation and improvement in administrative practices, playing a key role in the execution of projects as identified by the firm's leadership team. Lead change initiatives and support the adoption of new technologies, systems and process automation. Promote a culture of accountability, feedback, learning, and adaptability.

We are looking for:

Proven experience in a senior finance or operations role within a professional services environment, ideally legal. Strong understanding of legal operations and SRA compliance. Experience managing legal workflows, processes and matter management systems, alongside a familiarity with legal technology platforms. Demonstrated experience in process improvement, including clear evidence of implemented changes and measurable outcomes such as increased efficiency, cost savings, or enhanced quality. Knowledge and hands on experience of leading and managing a team, preferably within a legal or professional services firm. Ability to use metrics and KPIs to monitor performance and drive decision-making. Good IT skills, to include in depth experience of Excel, plus good working knowledge of Word and Outlook. Good organisational and communication skills. Excellent interpersonal skills to enable the candidate to liaise with both internal and external stakeholders. Commercial mindset with a proactive approach to problem-solving. Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational delivery. Experience with digital transformation or legal tech implementation (desirable but not essential)

Some of our benefits include:

Salary reflective of your experience. Earn up to 10% of your salary with our annual bonus scheme. Minimum of 25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays per year increasing to 31 days with length of service, with the opportunity to buy/sell up to 5 days holiday per year. Auto enrolled into the workplace pension scheme, and we'll contribute a minimum of 6% of your salary. 4x your annual salary in the event of a death in service. Hybrid and flexible working with a minimum of 40% of your time spent in the office.

Find out more about working at Walker Morris here.

Company Values

Our shared values represent our culture and the things that are important to us. They define who we are as a Firm, as an employer and what we expect of our people. They provide direction and purpose by influencing the decisions that we make and the actions that we take. It's really important that all candidates and employees demonstrate these values in their day-to-day activities:Embrace the fact everyone is different and unique. You can be serious without wearing a suit. Never lose sight of the bigger picture. Two heads are better than one. Take the bull by the horns. We win & lose together.


Walker Morris is committed to being an inclusive employer. We welcome applications regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, neuro diversity or disability status, family or parental status, race, religion or ethnicity. Click here to find out more about our diversity and inclusion work.
If you need any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to ask. We are a Disability Confident employer.
Type of Working: Hybrid