Director of Client Accounts

Director of Client Accounts

Cooley is seeking a Director of Client Accounts to join the Accounting & Finance team.

Position summary: The Director of Client Accounts partners closely with attorneys and firm leadership to drive strong billing practices, support overall financial performance, and enhance billing efficiency. A key focus of the role is leveraging technology and process improvements to optimize billing workflows and shorten the billing cycle, while maintaining high standards of accuracy and service.  Specific duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Position responsibilities:

• Lead and manage US and Asia direct reports, including staffing, workload oversight, and employee lifecycle activities in partnership with HR

• Oversee end-to-end billing operations, ensuring accuracy, efficiency, compliance, and timely month-end close, and deliver performance reporting to CFO and Director of Revenue

• Drive continuous process improvements to eliminate inefficiencies and enhance billing workflows

• Monitor, report, and escalate unbilled WIP aging to partners and leadership, ensuring visibility to revenue exposure on matters where work has been performed but invoices have not yet been billed

• Work closely with New Business to evaluate new and updated Outside Counsel Guidelines (OCGs), propose amendments, identifying non-compliant or unfeasible requirements, and determine overall acceptability of engagement terms

• Oversee Intellectual Property (IP) billing operations, including management of patent fixed-rate structures, annual rate updates, creation and retirement of task codes, guidance on billing procedures, and implementation of invoice template changes

• Serve as a resource to billing partners, by providing guidance on billing best practices, including discounting, matter closures, financial analysis, and effective invoice presentation

• Oversee biannual PwC audit processes by coordinating the collection of approved pro formas and supporting documentation, ensuring all billing approvals (including write-offs and discounts) are properly documented, validating compliance with client billing guidelines, and managing submission of audit materials through the PwC portal

• Track and manage secondment agreements, including identifying new agreements and coordinating with the team to issue monthly secondment services for prior periods

• Serve as direct supervisor and mentor to direct reports

• Provide day-to-day supervision of direct reports, ensure compliance with assigned work hours and monitor for compliance with all firm and department policies. Manage staffing coverage, review and process time logs/time off requests

• Support business professional development and continued educational opportunities

• In collaboration with immediate supervisor and central HR, participate in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination and other employee lifecycle events

• All other duties as assigned or required

Skills and experience:

Required:

• After orientation at Cooley LLP, exhibit proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, iManage and other firm applications

• Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours, as required

• Ability to travel, as required

• 10+ years of directly relevant exempt level applicable experience in the field with 5+ years management experience in relevant roles

• Bachelor’s Degree

Preferred:

• Supervisory experience

• Prior law firm experience

• 3E experience highly preferred
   

Competencies:

• Entrepreneurial by nature

• Excellent attention to detail

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with ability to facilitate and solve problems

• Ability to organize, prioritize and coordinate multiple activities often under tight timelines

• Ability to drive projects to completion and achieve goals

• Strong judgment

• Team-player with collaborative spirit

• Unwavering ability to handle and maintain confidentiality regarding firm information, projects, and client data

• High level of professionalism at all times

• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and develop talent

• Proactive, analytical mindset

• Effective presentation skills

Cooley offers a competitive compensation and excellent benefits package and is committed to fair and equitable employment practices. EOE.

The expected hourly pay range for this position with a work schedule of 40 hours per week is $280,000 - $340,000. Please note that final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience and skillset of the candidate.

We offer a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, long-term care coverage, backup care for children and/or adults and other parental support benefits. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive firm-paid life insurance, AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as 20 days of Paid Time Off (“PTO”) and 10 paid holidays each year. We provide generous parental leave and fertility benefits. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources.