Senior Manager, Finance Transformation, Expense & Operational Finance

DLA Piper; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 149,000 - 237,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Job summary

DLA Piper in the United States seeks a Senior Manager, Finance Transformation, Expense & Operational Finance to lead core functions such as Accounts Payable, expense operations, and finance systems modernization. This is a strategic, hands-on role partnering with FP&A and executives to drive efficiency, controls, and scalable processes.

Located in a hybrid environment across US offices, with standard business hours and collaboration across global teams, offering exposure to global transformation

Qualifications

• 10+ years in finance transformation, operational finance, or FP&A leadership.
• Experience leading large-scale finance programs, cross-functional projects, and systems implementations.
• Strong collaboration with stakeholders and executive partners to drive change.

Responsibilities

• Lead scalable finance operations focusing on controls and service excellence.
• Drive process reengineering, standardization, and automation across finance.
• Partner with FP&A to support budgeting, forecasting, and cost management.
• Lead finance transformation initiatives from strategy to execution.
• Oversee finance systems selection, vendor management, and deployment.
• Advance analytics, reporting, and data-driven decision making.
• Build trusted partnerships with Finance, Operations, and leadership.

Skills

Operational finance

Finance transformation

Accounts Payable

Expense management

Procure-to-Pay

FP&A partnership

Data analytics

Automation

Vendor management

Change management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance/Accounting/Business Administration

Tools

ERP systems

BI dashboards

Job description

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

Join a high-impact finance leadership role at the center of operational excellence and transformation. The Senior Manager, Finance Transformation, Expense & Operational Finance is a strategic and hands-on leader who will help shape the future of finance operations by leading core functions such as Accounts Payable, expense operations, process optimization, finance systems transformation, and data-driven decision support.

This is more than a traditional finance operations role—it is an opportunity to drive meaningful change, influence how the business scales, and partner directly with executive leadership and operational business owners on initiatives that improve efficiency, strengthen controls, enhance visibility, and deliver measurable business value. The successful candidate will bring expertise across operational finance, procure-to-pay, finance transformation, automation, budgeting and forecasting support, and stakeholder partnership.

As part of a growing and established team, this role offers exceptional exposure, advancement potential, and the opportunity to contribute to global transformation efforts. You will join a cohesive, high-performing group that values collaboration, targeted professional development, and mentorship designed to support long-term career progression. If you are energized by building scalable finance operations, modernizing processes, and making a visible impact across the enterprise, this is a compelling opportunity to do career-defining work.

Location

This position can sit in any of our US office locations and offers a hybrid schedule with hours from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time.

Responsibilities

• Lead modern finance operations with a focus on scalability, service excellence, and strong financial controls.
  • Oversee day-to-day operational finance functions, including Accounts Payable and key elements of expense management.
  • Ensure accuracy, timeliness, compliance, and a strong control environment across transactional finance processes.
  • Establish, monitor, and continuously improve service levels, KPIs, and operational performance metrics.
  • Identify and resolve process bottlenecks, control gaps, and inefficiencies that affect service delivery and business outcomes.
• Drive process improvement, standardization, and continuous optimization across finance operations.
  • Lead process reengineering efforts that reduce cycle times, improve quality, and create more efficient end-to-end workflows.
  • Standardize policies, procedures, and operational workflows across teams, functions, and geographies.
  • Implement automation and streamline manual processes to improve productivity, scalability, and user experience.
  • Partner with stakeholders to elevate service delivery, strengthen operating discipline, and support continuous improvement initiatives.
• Partner with FP&A and business leaders to strengthen insight, planning, and decision support.
  • Collaborate with FP&A to support budgeting, forecasting, expense management, and financial planning activities.
  • Translate operational drivers into financial insights, recommendations, and business cases that inform better decision-making.
  • Analyze cost drivers, headcount trends, vendor spend, and operating metrics to identify optimization opportunities.
  • Improve visibility into financial performance through enhanced reporting, dashboards, and actionable analytics.
• Lead targeted finance transformation initiatives from strategy through execution.
  • Own and execute finance transformation initiatives with a focus on practical, measurable outcomes and sustainable business value.
  • Lead RFP processes for finance systems, tools, and service providers, including requirements gathering, vendor evaluation, scoring, recommendation development, and executive presentations.
  • Oversee end-to-end implementation of new tools, systems, and workflows, ensuring delivery against scope, timeline, budget, and business requirements.
  • Manage external vendors and implementation partners to drive accountability, execution quality, and alignment to transformation goals.
  • Support development of scalable operating models, including shared services, centralized support structures, and global process alignment.
  • Drive change adoption across teams by building readiness, communication, and engagement around new processes and technologies.
• Advance technology, analytics, and data enablement across the finance organization.
  • Partner with IT and Finance teams to implement and enhance finance systems, reporting tools, and digital workflows.
  • Help define and maintain a finance operations technology roadmap aligned to business priorities, transformation objectives, and future scalability.
  • Leverage analytics, reporting, and data insights to improve decision-making, transparency, and operational performance.
  • Support introduction of automation, AI-enabled tools, and modern finance capabilities where they create clear operational benefit.
• Build trusted partnerships across Finance, Operations, and executive leadership.
  • Act as a strategic finance partner to operational leaders, business owners, and executive stakeholders.
  • Provide proactive insights that support cost management, investment prioritization, budgeting decisions, and operational planning.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with Procurement, IT, HR, and other business teams to align priorities and deliver enterprise-wide improvements.

Desired Skills

We are looking for a leader who combines strong operational finance and finance transformation experience with the ability to influence across functions and levels of the organization. The ideal candidate brings a strategic mindset, strong execution discipline, and a track record of improving finance operations through process redesign, automation, systems implementation, analytics, and change management. Success in this role will require executive presence, excellent communication skills, strong business partnership capabilities, and the ability to translate complexity into clear actions and measurable outcomes.

Preferred strengths include expertise in operational finance, Accounts Payable, expense management, procure-to-pay processes, FP&A partnership, financial analysis, vendor management, KPI development, process optimization, finance systems, reporting and dashboarding, and leading cross-functional transformation initiatives in complex organizations. The successful candidate is a collaborative people leader who develops talent, embraces innovation, and thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Minimum Education

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

Preferred Education

• Master’s degree in Business Administration or related field.

Minimum Years Of Experience

• 10+ years of progressive experience in finance transformation, operational finance, FP&A, controllership support, shared services, procure-to-pay, or related finance leadership roles, including experience leading large-scale initiatives, cross-functional programs, process improvement efforts, systems implementations, and stakeholder-facing transformation work.

Why Join This Team

This is an opportunity to join a growing, cohesive, and highly collaborative team that is building momentum and investing in the future. You will work alongside experienced professionals who value partnership, accountability, and continuous improvement while gaining meaningful exposure to executive leadership and operational business owners across the organization. The role offers the chance to contribute to important global transformation efforts, expand your leadership scope, and shape how finance supports the business at scale. We are committed to targeted professional development, mentorship, and creating a clear path for career progression for individuals who are ready to lead, build, and grow.

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

Sedentary work: 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 in 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.

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 [e-mail].

Agency applications will not be considered.

No immigration sponsorship is available for this position.

The firm’s expected hiring range for this position is $149,276 - $237,355 per year depending on the candidate’s geographic market location.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including medical/dental/vision insurance, and 401(k).

Applicants who are not based in the jurisdiction in which this position is posted and who apply for this role are doing so voluntarily and are not eligible for relocation assistance. Any relocation benefits, if any, are provided only where a relocation is required at the firm’s direction and in accordance with applicable policy and law.

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.