Senior Commercial Accounting Manager

Consortium; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical cover

Life assurance

Critical illness cover

Cycle to work scheme

Online GP appointments

Gym discounts

EV scheme

Job summary

Bird & Bird in London seeks a Finance Lead for practice groups to deliver clear financial insights and firm recommendations that guide hiring, pricing and investments. You will partner with commercial accounts, pricing and senior leadership to drive profitability and strategic growth.

The role requires advanced Excel and Power BI, strong analytics, and finance leadership experience. Desirable qualifications include a finance certification or law firm experience and a collaborative,

Qualifications

• Advanced Excel and Power BI skills with strong analytical ability.
• Effective time management and ability to influence senior stakeholders with financial evidence.
• Structured problem solving and ability to explain complex financial information clearly.
• Teamwork and collaboration across finance teams and partners.
• Pricing experience in a business partnering context is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Commercial performance review and recommendations to senior management.
• Business partnering with Practice Group Heads and leaders.
• Budgeting, forecasting and scenario planning across units.
• Pricing strategy input and governance with the Pricing team.
• Investment appraisal for lateral hires with financial models.
• Support Marketing/BD with reporting and insights.
• Enhance reporting capabilities with BI and standardized templates.
• Develop junior team members and promote a proactive partnering culture.
• Drive continuous improvement in finance processes and controls.
• Support CFO and strategic finance initiatives.
• Lead AI, data & innovation initiatives to improve decision making.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Stakeholder engagement

Pricing experience

Business partnering

Analytical thinking

Education

Finance certification

Law firm experience

Tools

Power BI

Excel

Job description

Finance lead role for practice groups in London

Collaboration with commercial, pricing and senior leadership teams

Responsibilities include commercial performance analysis and strategic pricing

Requires advanced Excel, Power BI skills and strong analytical ability

Desirable qualifications include finance certification or law firm experience

Partners make commercial decisions every week, who to hire, what to charge and where to invest. This role exists to make those decisions better. You will be the finance lead for a selection of practice groups, giving leaders a clear view of commercial performance and a firm recommendation on what to do next. You will work closely with the commercial accounts team, the pricing team, the fee-earning community and senior leadership across the firm.

Bird & Bird's Finance team's mission is to provide world class finance support to the business. In London the team comprises of over 70 finance professionals across a wide range of areas including management and financial accounting, transaction processing, partner accounting, tax, treasury, pricing and commercial decision support. Our 34 international offices have their own professionals providing local expertise and support. Collaborative across the network, the team are focussed on driving efficiency, adding value and profitable growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial performance: Review performance against budgets and forecasts, identify the drivers of profitability, utilisation, working capital and cost control, and present clear recommendations to senior management.
• Business partnering and stakeholder engagement: Build strong relationships with Practice Group Heads, partners and senior leaders, acting as a trusted adviser and providing commercial insight to support informed decision-making and the profitable delivery of the five-year strategy.
• Budgeting, forecasting and scenario planning: Work with business units to develop robust budgets and forecasts, model revenue trends and resource capacity, and identify financial risks, opportunities and actions.
• Pricing strategy and governance: Collaborate with the Pricing team to provide strategic input into pricing decisions, balancing competitiveness and client expectations with profitability and the firm's longer‑term profit ambitions.
• Lateral partner investment appraisal: Develop robust financial models for potential lateral partner hires, including revenue projections, cost implications, profitability and P&L impact, and assess strategic alignment to support informed recruitment decisions.
• Marketing and Business Development support: Advise Marketing and Business Development teams by reviewing data requests, providing relevant reporting and analysis, and applying findings to practice and business development strategy.
• Reporting and systems: Collaborate with the Business Intelligence and Financial Systems teams to enhance reporting capability, including Power BI, standardised reporting templates and consistent financial models.
• Leadership and collaboration: Support and develop junior finance team members, collaborate across Commercial Accounting, FP&A, Accounting, Pricing and other finance teams, and promote a proactive, high‑performing business‑partnering culture.
• Process improvement: Drive continuous improvement across finance processes, including reporting, modelling, budgeting, forecasting, write‑offs and discounts, identifying opportunities to standardise, simplify and improve efficiency.
• CFO and strategic initiatives: Support the CFO and senior finance leadership in delivering the strategic vision for the commercial management of the firm and in progressing wider finance initiatives.
• AI, Data & Innovation Leadership: Use artificial intelligence tools, automation and advanced analytics to improve decision‑making, insight and efficiency across the firm.

What you'll bring

The successful candidate will possess the following qualities:

• Advanced Excel and Power BI skills, with strong analytical ability, accuracy and attention to detail.
• Effective time management, and pride in delivering excellence while managing stakeholder expectations. A record of changing senior stakeholders' decisions using financial evidence.
• Structured problem solving, and the ability to explain complex financial information clearly to financial and non‑financial colleagues at all levels.
• Teamwork: Collaborative work with the wider commercial accounts team across the finance department and business services, requiring good people skills.
• Pricing experience: Some pricing experience in a business partnering context will be very advantageous.

Other desirable skills and experience:

• Ideally the candidate will be qualified or studying towards a formal finance qualification and/or have experience of working within a law firm or professional services environment.

What's in it for you

We provide comprehensive support for our colleagues' health and wellbeing

• private medical cover
• life assurance
• critical illness cover
• regular health assessments
• cycle to work scheme
• access to online GP appointments
• discounted gym memberships
• electric vehicle scheme

Bird & Bird opens up a world of possible for lawyers and professionals everywhere. Working for a leading international law firm like Bird & Bird means working alongside people who are truly collegiate in the way they work with everyone. We work as one global team, with over 70% of work involving people from across the firm. And that's only increasing! It's this common purpose and shared approach that makes for a more productive and collaborative place to work. Your firm. Your future.

As a disability and neurodiversity inclusive employer we want to ensure that you have a barrier-free recruitment experience at Bird & Bird. If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, please provide details to your recruitment contact who will be in touch to discuss any details provided and understand more about your individual adjustment needs.