Director of Practice Management - Consulting

With 11 offices across the United States, 450+ professionals and 350+ staff professionals, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP is a multidisciplinary, integrated national professional services firm known for quality and an extraordinary commitment to clients. The firm’s groundbreaking approach—bringing together legal services, advocacy and business strategy—differentiates Manatt from its competitors and positions the firm to provide a unique and compelling value proposition.

The Opportunity

As a Director of Practice Management, you will focus on managing the administration of key practice areas of the firm’s consulting units, allowing Practice Group leaders to focus on leading their team.  This role will work closely with the Consulting Practice Group Leaders to help devise and implement strategic plans and work with multiple teams across the firm to execute the plans and achieve ongoing practice group goals.

Responsibilities

• Works with Business Development and Business Group leadership in devising, executing and overseeing the practice’s internal and external strategic plans.
• Direct practice group specific business management areas, including approvals of pricing matters and analysis of personnel, clients, and practice group performance.
• Develop client/matter and professional profitability reports and practice revenue forecasts for subsequent analysis and troubleshooting.
• Ensure that Practice Management leadership and team stay abreast of all developments and trends within the consulting practice groups, including but not limited to all major new clients, team arrivals and departures, and key client-matter activity.
• Follow and keep up  on practice, industry and regional market trends, and developments and changes at competitor consulting firms.
• Partner with Practice Management leadership on production, bill rate setting and revenue budgeting
• Oversees compilation of information, analyzes data and creates monthly financial reports for the practice group.
• Formulate and prepare practice group financials and materials for quarterly meetings.
• Participate with the strategy and onboarding of lateral directors.
• Manage tracking and reporting of practice group financial metrics and objectives.
• Liaise  with Professionals and Finance & Accounting to identify and resolve billing and collection issues.
• Establish procedures for monitoring time summaries and workload reports.
• Bring structure, process, technology and leadership to: matter budgeting, client/matter profitability and people/resource management.
• Work with administrative groups to develop and update operational policies and infrastructure to support the growth of consulting practices.
• Provide input to and coordinating information for annual performance reviews for consulting professionals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field required, advanced degree (JD or Masters) preferred.
• Must have five plus years of experience in a Practice Manager role or a role that involves financial or pricing analysis in a consulting environment.
• Ideal candidate will have strong business acumen, analytical skills, with the ability to develop and execute comprehensive projects and operational plans.
• Requires understanding of the financial performance metrics and levers critical to the successful operation of a client-centered professional services environment, preferably a partnership and/or consulting firm.
• Must have fluency with advanced functions of Excel, enterprise accounting systems (Aderant a plus), and proficiency with MS Word and PowerPoint.
• Able to evaluate financial performance data and recommend proactive changes to Practice Group in order to successfully deliver revenue and profit targets.
• Superior customer service ethic, communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to gather information from a broad range of sources and to influence others to make changes.
• Executive presence and polish, with the ability to deal effectively with professionals, staff and peer administrators, and ability to influence people at all levels in a collaborative manner.
• Self-motivated with proven ability to anticipate problems and move things forward with limited direction.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential matters with discretion.
• Understand client service within a professional services organization, and is driven to exceed expectations.
• Ability to respond to multiple priorities and meet varying deadlines.
• Travel as necessary between firm office locations.

The base annual pay range for this role is between $175,000-$225,000. The base pay to be offered will vary and depend on skills and qualifications, experience, location and will also take into account internal equity.  A full range of medical, financial and/or other benefits dependent on the position will also be offered.

EEO/AA EMPLOYER/Veterans/Disabled

Manatt is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, color, physical or mental disability, religion, creed, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, sex or gender (including gender identity, gender expression, status as a transgender or transsexual individual, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), age (over 40), genetic information, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, sexual orientation, political activity or affiliation, genetic or and any other protected classes or characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. Consistent with the American Disabilities Act, applicants may request accommodations needed to participate in the application process.

This employer will provide the Social Security Administration  (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security  (DHS), with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

IMPORTANT: If the Government cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to provide you written instructions and an opportunity to contact SSA and/or DHS before taking  adverse action against you, including terminating your employment. 

Employers may not use E-Verify to pre-screen job applicants or  to re-verify current employees and may not limit or influence the  choice of documents presented for use on the Form I-9. In order to determine whether Form I-9 documentation is valid,  this employer uses E-Verify’s photo screening tool to match the photograph appearing on some permanent resident and employment authorization cards with the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) photograph. If you believe that your employer has violated its responsibilities under this program or has discriminated against you during the verification process based upon your national origin or citizenship status, please call the Office of Special Counsel at 1-800-255-7688 (TDD: 1-800-237-2515).