Practice Manager

Migration Downunder; Willoughby; Hybrid; AUD 90,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid birthday leave

Quarterly self-indulgence day

Team events

Job summary

Migration Downunder in Sydney seeks an experienced Office/Practice Manager to run the operations of the practice, including administration, billing, systems and office processes. You will own daily reconciliations in Xero, client transfers and monthly reporting, while coaching the Office Coordinator and ensuring seamless support for advisers, lawyers and clients.

The role combines people and process, with opportunities to improve workflows across our Sydney and Melbourne offices.

Qualifications

• Previous experience in managing the operations of a professional services practice
• Experience leading and developing at least one administrative staff member
• Hands on billing experience, including invoicing, receipting, follow up of outstanding accounts and reconciliation
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Confidence using practice management, accounting and database systems
• Discretion with confidential client and financial information
• Experience in a legal or migration practice
• Experience with Xero, Migration Manager or trust account procedures
• Experience coordinating newsletters, social media or events
• Experience working across more than one office
• Flexible working, with a mix of office and remote work
• Paid birthday leave
• A paid self indulgence day each quarter
• Team events and time to connect with colleagues across both offices
• Career development and the chance to shape how the practice runs
• A diverse and supportive team in an ethical practice

Responsibilities

• Run the daily operations of the practice across our migration, legal and administration teams
• Turn leadership decisions into practical actions and see them through
• Act as the central point of coordination between leadership, the team and clients, ensuring clear communication, timely follow up and resolution of operational issues
• Lead and coach the Office Coordinator, delegate routine work and review it for accuracy
• Own cost agreements, invoicing, receipting and follow up of outstanding accounts
• Reconcile daily payments in Xero and prepare transfers from the client account to the office account in line with our trust account procedures
• Monitor monthly billing and team productivity, prepare weekly and monthly reports for leadership and contribute to budgets and targets
• Give leadership clear visibility of the practice’s performance, emerging risks and priorities, bringing recommendations and solutions alongside issues
• Own our practice procedures and the use of Migration Manager, and fix process gaps when they appear
• Proactively identify bottlenecks, recurring errors and service gaps, implement practical improvements and review whether they are working
• Oversee IT support, office operations, workplace safety and onboarding logistics for new staff
• Maintain oversight of key operational obligations, renewals and compliance deadlines, ensuring records are current and required actions are completed
• Review and approve newsletters and social media content prepared by the Office Coordinator
• Plan practice wide events such as shutdown periods and coordinate our response to disruptions such as system outages
• Manage special projects alongside daily work

Skills

Office management

Billing & invoicing

Xero accounting

Team leadership

Client coordination

Process improvement

Communication

Multi-office experience

Tools

Xero

Practice management software

Database systems

Job description

Since 1999, Migration Downunder has helped people build their lives in Australia. Our clients include skilled professionals, tradespeople, students and families, as well as Australian and overseas businesses of all sizes with their workforce mobility requirements.

Our advisers and lawyers, based across our Sydney and Melbourne offices, work on skilled and employer sponsored visas, partner and family visas, citizenship and reviews of visa refusals and cancellations.

A granted visa can reunite a family or help a business bring in the skills it needs. As our Practice Manager, you’ll keep the practice running smoothly, enabling our advisers and lawyers to deliver those outcomes for our clients. We value professionalism, work-life balance and a supportive team culture.

The role

We’re looking for an experienced Office/Practice Manager to run the operations of our practice. You’ll report to the Managing Director and Principal Lawyer and lead our Office Coordinator.

This is a hands on role. You’ll own our administration, billing, systems and office operations, and you’ll do much of the work yourself, including daily payment reconciliation in Xero, client account transfers, monthly billing and reporting to leadership. You’ll coach the Office Coordinator, review their work and step in during leave and busy periods.

You’ll work with clients, advisers, lawyers and suppliers and adjust your approach to each of them. The role suits someone who enjoys people as much as process and stays calm when priorities change.

What you’ll do

• Run the daily operations of the practice across our migration, legal and administration teams
• Turn leadership decisions into practical actions and see them through
• Act as the central point of coordination between leadership, the team and clients, ensuring clear communication, timely follow up and resolution of operational issues
• Lead and coach the Office Coordinator, delegate routine work and review it for accuracy
• Own cost agreements, invoicing, receipting and follow up of outstanding accounts
• Reconcile daily payments in Xero and prepare transfers from the client account to the office account in line with our trust account procedures
• Monitor monthly billing and team productivity, prepare weekly and monthly reports for leadership and contribute to budgets and targets
• Give leadership clear visibility of the practice’s performance, emerging risks and priorities, bringing recommendations and solutions alongside issues
• Own our practice procedures and the use of Migration Manager, and fix process gaps when they appear
• Proactively identify bottlenecks, recurring errors and service gaps, implement practical improvements and review whether they are working
• Oversee IT support, office operations, workplace safety and onboarding logistics for new staff
• Maintain oversight of key operational obligations, renewals and compliance deadlines, ensuring records are current and required actions are completed
• Review and approve newsletters and social media content prepared by the Office Coordinator
• Plan practice wide events such as shutdown periods and coordinate our response to disruptions such as system outages
• Manage special projects alongside daily work

What you’ll bring

• Previous experience in managing the operations of a professional services practice, such as a law, migration or accounting firm
• Experience leading and developing at least one administrative staff member
• Hands on billing experience, including invoicing, receipting, follow up of outstanding accounts and reconciliation
• Excellent written and spoken English, including with clients in difficult situations
• Confidence using practice management, accounting and database systems
• Discretion with confidential client and financial information
• Experience in a legal or migration practice
• Experience with Xero, Migration Manager or trust account procedures
• Experience coordinating newsletters, social media or events
• Experience working across more than one office
• Flexible working, with a mix of office and remote work
• Paid birthday leave
• A paid self indulgence day each quarter
• Team events and time to connect with colleagues across both offices
• Career development and the chance to shape how the practice runs
• A diverse and supportive team in an ethical practice

This position is based in Sydney with occasional travel to our Melbourne office. Some flexibility in working hours may be needed to meet business or client needs.