About Us
HFW is a sector focused global law firm with a focus on construction, shipping, aerospace, commodities, corporate & commercial and insurance. We have over 600 lawyers working across Australia, Asia, Europe, Middle East and the Americas. With a progressive approach to our roles in commercial business, thinking creatively and pragmatically to support our clients, we are dynamic, entrepreneurial and leaders in our specialist areas.
Whether we are solving complex issues within the construction, aviation or shipping industries, or providing advice across insurance, commodities and energy we are specialist lawyers here to add value to our clients. We think about the commercial solution first, and then underpin our advice with a solid foundation of legal expertise.
In APAC, we have 6 offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
About the Role
The main purpose of this role is to assist the Head of Commercial Finance and Heads of Finance in Asia and Australia to support the firms drive towards profitable growth by advancing the firm's pricing support capability, extending local support across APAC, ensuring adherence to the firm's Pricing and Credit policy, and implementing a commercial training program.
The role will include, but is not limited to, the following:
Pricing support
- Working closely with the Business Development Team and Partners to ensure pitch responses are profitable, commercially sound, and that fee proposals are both innovative and flexible.
- Building relationships with other support teams and stakeholders to ensure the wider business context is considered, appreciated, and represented in pricing and profitability decisions.
- Ensuring proposals meet both the firm’s and the client’s values, and that proposals help to build on the firm’s strategy.
Education and training
- Working closely with the Heads of Finance in Asia and Australia, Regional Leaders, Group Leaders, business support teams and the general partnership to identify gaps in training and provide outreach and support across the firm.
- Designing and creating targeted, effective, and collaborative training solutions to upskill stakeholders in pricing, commerciality, confidence, value, profitability and recovery improvement.
- Promoting and developing current and new tools to educate and empower the firm’s partners and associates, to gain greater confidence and price smaller, less complex matters independently.
Commercial insight
- Working with partners and the Business Development Team to maximise the value of client relationships, those within our Global Key, and Strategic growth client programmes as established globally, regionally and within each local offices in APAC.
- Preparing regular financial analysis and commentary for key sectors and clients and providing advice in relation to potential areas of improvement.
- Proactively review and analyse client and matter pricing and profitability to understand the underlying pricing trends and issues and propose strategies to respond to the firm's particular pricing challenges.
- Business partnering with Client Relationship Partners to provide financial support and drive profitability.
- Supporting the Head of Commercial Finance and Heads of Finance in Asia and Australia as needed.
Governance, guidance and policy
- Drive a tangible and measurable increase in compliance of the firm's Pricing policy. This should be demonstrated by an increase in rates and profitability across the APAC region.
- Working with Business Development leads and legal staff to develop fee structure options (pricing, discounts, commercial terms, etc.) to support pitching for and winning new work.
- Creating new, and developing existing, guidance and governance policies to ensure best practice in areas of work delivery, profitability management, pricing, fee structures and other associated areas.
- Model the financial impact and viability of proposed pricing arrangements, and present to partners and management personnel as required. Evaluating options and challenging key decision makers when appropriate.
- Provide post-matter financial analysis and associated pricing and business insight to partners, Commercial Finance, and Business Development teams as required.
About You
As well as prior relevant experience in a professional services firm, we are looking for people who have the following:
- Qualified accountant or MBA.
- Pricing experience, preferably in a law firm (essential).
- Project-based experience beneficial.
- Collaborative and solution orientated, with a can-do attitude.
- Ability to exert influence with senior stakeholders.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Professional demeanour, energetic and a self-starter.
- High levels of discretion, confidentiality and diplomacy.
- Flexibility with regard to working hours and travel across the APAC region.
If you think this could be you, we welcome your application. We are a down to earth firm with a welcoming culture and a fast growing team which leads to plenty of opportunities. Great offices in good CBD locations and a hybrid/flexible working model makes it a pleasure to come to work. This role could be located in Melbourne or Singapore.
HFW collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants to manage its recruitment process. The firm is committed to being transparent about how it collects and uses that data and to meeting its data protection obligations. For information on how the firm will process your data, please see our Privacy Notice on our website (www.hfw.com/Privacy-Notice), in the section "What we collect and how we use it".
