Supervisor, Financial Systems

Summary of Position

The Supervisor, Financial Systems leads the design, implementation, customization and maintenance of Elite – the firm’s worldwide financial system, which includes the general ledger and billing and collection systems. The Supervisor is responsible for all aspects of system administration including security, troubleshooting and user support and training for Elite. The role is has similar responsibilities for the firm’s travel & expense reporting, time entry, and any other systems auxiliary to the worldwide financial system.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a system administrator and ensure that all Elite system setups, defaults, security, files, and tables are properly setup, maintained and kept secure.
• Respond to firmwide financial system inquiries by analyzing the conceptual design of the financial systems to determine the system’s capabilities (e.g., understanding account masking, understanding the impact on various system interfaces, identifying possible issues and potential impact to the financial results, troubleshooting issues prior to consulting with consultants, etc.), recognizing when proposed solutions may not work or add risk, and proposing practical solutions to the inquiries.
• Coordinate the on-going resolution of user issues and bugs, test fixes prior to implementation and ensure issues are resolved within an appropriate timeframe. Troubleshoot and resolve issue effectively so that the need for outside consultants is kept to a minimum.
• Train users when needed on the systems.
• Coordination of the month-end process worldwide. This includes firmwide notification e-mails, closing the current period, opening the new period, contacting Elite Support if system issues occur during the month-end process, assisting users with issues that occur during the month-end process, assisting in the review of the month-end reconciliation and making sure that all out of balance conditions are quickly identified. The Supervisor (?) ensures that there is a smooth month-end close and that users are able to access Elite as soon as the system is available.
• From a systems security perspective, this position will ensure that segregation of duties exist prior to providing security access. The Supervisor will also perform periodic reviews of user access to ensure such access corresponds with each user’s job responsibilities.
• Act as a project manager and assume a lead role in the implementation and testing of financial systems related upgrades/enhancements/projects including understanding how Elite interfaces with various auxiliary systems and modules such as Extensity/Chrome River, DTE, NMI, Wallbuilder, Marketing systems, Cost Interfaces, Security Administration, and Reporting. Assist in coordinating the worldwide participation in the testing and upgrading to new versions of the software and associated hardware. Lead status meetings, effectively plan and coordinate internal and external resources time and efforts, follow up on open items and monitor actual to budget spend.
• This position ensures that all future releases/customizations/changes to the Elite or auxiliary software have been properly tested prior to installing the change in the production environment. This includes working closely with the firm’s IT department to develop project plans and ensure test plans are complete, results documented and issues resolved. This position ensures that training is provided so that users will understand what changed and how it impacts their job.
• Assist with requests from internal and external auditors.
• Supervise the work effort of a financial systems analyst and at times, other resources, who are brought on to assist on projects.
• Work on special projects as defined and requested by management.

Knowledge, Skills & Attributes

• The ability to lead multiple projects at one time and meet deadlines; determine the importance and priority of which issues need to be addressed first; manage the expectations of senior management (e.g., controller, CFO) regarding project status (i.e., no surprises/anticipate their questions); manage outside consultants on projects while being available to address and troubleshoot day-to-day system inquiries/issues; Anticipate and draft communications needed to facilitate Change Management as we roll out new systems.
• The demonstrated ability to manage others effectively.
• Extensive knowledge of financial system accounting and billing software (preferably Elite), time entry systems (preferably DTE Axiom), expense reimbursement systems (preferably Chrome River) and cost load and personal expense systems (preferably nqBillback).
• Working knowledge of Excel and Word.
• Ability to identify, trouble shoot and resolve issues within the financial systems.
• Ability to comprehend complex processes as they flow through the financial systems; ability to understand how the systems are integrated.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work with all levels of the organization.
• Ingenuity, creativity in order to resolve system limitation issues.
• Proactive self-starter.

Education & Experience

• Must have a minimum of seven years of experience working with financial software (preferably Elite but will also consider experience with Aderant, SAP, etc.) and employee time and expense reporting systems.
• Bachelor’s degree in one of the following fields: computer science, finance, economics.
• Experience implementing Financial Systems.
• Must have an understanding of financial reporting and the general ledger so as to understand the reporting and accounting needs associated with the financial system. 

Physical Activity/Other Miscellaneous

• The workload of this position will vary, depending upon the status of the project. During some periods, the project may require long days and possibly working on weekends, whereas, when the project is completed and we’re in a more maintenance mode, the position may not require as many hours. Working with consultants and other firm employees who are not in our office or in different time zones may require calls outside of normal business hours.