Billing & Revenue Control Team Leader - Birmingham/Manchester/Cardiff

We are Eversheds Sutherland, a global law firm, with more than 5,000 people across over 30 countries. We’re full-service with deep niche and sector experience. Whatever challenge, wherever in the world, we’re equipped and ready to meet it. We live our values, we’re purposeful and purpose-led. So although the world is fast-moving and rapidly changing, we see it as a place where everyone can thrive. We’re ambitious for our clients, our communities – and for you. Whether you’re starting out on your career or well established, whether you’re a lawyer or in business services. If you’re looking for what’s next, we are too.

What to expect
For business professionals, our environment is highly collaborative with value being placed on diversity of ideas, skills and mindsets. Not least yours. It’s energetic, fast-moving and there’s always something new to get involved in. You will get exposure across geographies and the firm as a whole. The future is a place of opportunity. Focusing on your success and for what’s next, will ensure you thrive too. 

Billing & Revenue Team Leader

As one of the largest full service global law practices, our support team play a fundamental role in delivering a professional client service for both our UK and international offices. Adding value and supporting our stakeholders is the key to the success of our teams. If you thrive on being challenged and enjoy working in a highly motivated team, have a can-do approach with good communication skills, we look forward to meeting you.

We believe people develop through learning and are transforming our approach to learning and performance through our feedback and development culture and an innovative approach to professional development for all of our people. This underpins our high performance culture so that our people feel managed, supported and developed continuously and as part of their everyday work. Our comprehensive learning programmes are delivered globally using a blended learning approach, which combines technical and business skills as well as talent development. 

Role purpose

• To be responsible and accountable for ensuring that stakeholders receive an accurate and professional billing service from the team with the ability to engage, build trust and network at all levels.
• As a Team Leader, you will be the first line of escalation for clients and colleagues
• Responsibility for driving accuracy standards across the team 
• Line management responsibility of a team of billing co-ordinators and billing assistants
• Support in technical expertise and on the job training for team members
• Stakeholder management - building excellent relationships with clients, suppliers and internal lawyers in order to process accurate and timely bills
• Reporting for clients, internal team and internal stakeholders (i.e. partners)
• Identification of efficiencies for future ways of working

Key responsibilities

• Positively adapting to change and continual process improvement, supporting the wider business strategy and having a sound understanding of Eversheds-Sutherland to support stakeholder priorities. Providing opportunities for growth, engagement and collaboration, enabling the Billing team to flourish and excel in their roles.
• Provide effective remote line management of the product group, location or centrally managed client team you are responsible for.
• Take ownership of the WIP estimates for the product group, location or clients your direct reports are assigned to, highlighting any variances against target to the billing manager on a regular basis.  Support the billing manager to ensure mitigation plans are in place for any shortfalls against billing targets or client SLAs.
• Drive the team to collate all essential billing information, eg fee estimates, POs and e-billing references to enable a smooth billing process.  Support the team members with the facilitation of any administration tasks with other finance teams, eg e-billing, streamlining communication to fee-earners to ensure one single point of contact where possible.  Equip your team members with the knowledge to guide partners, fee-earners and PAs on the firm’s financial processes and procedures relating to the billing process.
• Manage the even distribution of workloads within the team, ensuring that a high level of support is available at all times for internal and external clients, including managing any re-allocation of support and delegation of transaction tasks.  Support the billing manager with any specific analysis required to ensure the fair distribution of work. 
• Provide the first point of escalation in relation to problems raised by stakeholders, dealing promptly with any team or individual issues, escalating to the billing manager where necessary.
• Take responsibility for ensuring client, firm and practice group(s) procedures and processes are followed, and actively seek to continually improve these wherever possible. 
• Manage all team check-ins consistently and effectively by thorough preparation, leading meetings, ensuring development plans and any specific training needs are identified and implemented accordingly.
• Work closely with other team leaders and billing managers to ensure consistency and collaboration across all practice groups.
• Create an environment that encourages trust, open communication, innovative and creative thinking and collaborative working, undertaking skills enhancement of the team through monitoring and mentoring on an individual and team basis.
• Effectively onboard and integrate new members of the team, ensuring they are fully trained in the firmwide systems and processes. 
• Be a role model, and advocate for attendance at networking events and training sessions, inspiring others to seek opportunities to increase responsibility and build their network and profile. 
• Manage and monitor holiday and sickness records for the team, and address conduct issues, escalating significant issues to billing manager/HR. 

Skills and experience
We are looking for:

• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving abilities, with minimal day to day line manager support
• Team management experience
• Experience in managing the billing process for large complex clients
• Positive approach and attitude
• Excellent communication and inter-personal skills (oral and written)
• Capable of working autonomously but also operating within a team environment
• Ability to demonstrate and prove his/her capabilities in driving business and team/workstream SLAs on a daily/weekly basis
• Knowledge of AP/Billing is essential
• Strong attention to detail 
• Extremely effective communication and stakeholder management skills and ability to drive this attitude/behaviour within a team 
• Able to identify & escalate potential issues immediately providing recommendations for solution(s) to line manager
• Identify and take ownership of work that sits outside of the BAU norm

What’s in it for you?
At Eversheds Sutherland, we provide benefits focused on looking after you: your development, your performance, your financial future and your health, as well as providing the opportunity to make a contribution to the world.

• We’re fair, transparent and equitable
• We share in the success of the firm, reward alignment to our values, going above and beyond and your individual performance
• We support flexible ways of working through our remote working policy and commitment to flexible, agile and hybrid ways of working
• We support your health and performance through our dental, healthcare and wellness support
• We support everything you are and all you bring through our powerful commitment to diversity and inclusion
• We provide a platform for your career, whatever your ambitions through our structured professional and personal training, mentoring and development programs
• We provide experience and opportunity through international and cross-function exposure
• We provide an opportunity to give back through our pro bono work and community engagement
• We help you plan ahead through retirement planning, insurance and assurance

Diversity & Inclusion

At Eversheds Sutherland, “Inclusive” is a core business value. We bring together different skillsets, global mindsets and approaches. We foster diversity of thought and the freedom to put ideas into action. We have an inherent respect for the individual. We have a strong belief in collaboration and teamwork. Sharing ideas, asking questions, solving challenges and meeting our clients’ goals: together.

We want all our people to thrive at work and reach their full potential and we work hard to continue to build a diverse and inclusive culture, monitor and report on our progress and impact, and develop our approach. This is reflected in our policies, systems and processes, and in our work with diversity membership organisations.

Many of our people work flexibly in some way and we are open to considering how we can accommodate flexible working arrangements alongside role requirements. If this is important to you, please talk to us about it during the recruitment process.

We want you to perform at your best during our recruitment process. If there is any adjustment or support you need, please contact us so we can discuss how we can best assist you.

For you,

For your success.

And what's next.