Finance Systems Support Analyst

Finance Systems Support Analyst

Location: City , London Salary: Competitive + excellent benefits Date posted: 17/04/2012 16:05 Job type:Permanent Company: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Contact: Freshfields . Ref: Totaljobs/BS 983 Job ID: 53377792

Finance Systems Support Analyst

The role sits within the Finance Support function. Working within the systems area of the finance support department. You will be part of a team providing technical support to all of the global and London based finance support IT systems. The team's main focus is the firm's practice management system (PMS), related fee earner tools and reporting systems for which it operates a helpdesk supporting a mixture of back office operational users through to fee earners on a worldwide basis, offering advice, support and solutions to queries.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

We are a leader among international law firms, providing business law advice of the highest quality throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US.

With over 2,400 lawyers in 28 key business centres around the world, we provide a comprehensive service to national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments.

Our international approach is founded on strong local capabilities and experience. We can build teams that are not limited by geographical boundaries or the specialism's of individuals, to deliver the highest standards of service wherever our clients need them.

We're a collegial firm - we work, learn and socialise together as one team. We're also truly international in both outlook and opportunity.

As a Finance Systems Support Analyst your main responsibilities will involve:

Provide support to a variety of user issues via email, visit or phone call, providing solutions and escalating where required in order to provide an effective and intelligent helpdesk facility, delivering high service levels at all times. Administer the call logging and change control system and ensure that knowledge is documented and spread amongst the team Keeping users up to date with progress on their calls. Provide ad-hoc business and technical help to users on the usage of the finance systems. Act as intermediary between the finance support and IT technical support, providing technical and process advice with regards to all of the global and London based finance support IT systems.Liaise directly with the PMS third party suppliers documenting and implementing fixes as appropriate.Provide immediate solutions to systems issues arising and liaising with other support teams to ensure their prompt resolution. Aid in the implementation of new upgrades, functiona lity and system wide changes, from a finance support perspective. Work closely with the development teams and third party providers, feeding back issues and defects discovered through testing and coordinating their resolution.Contributing to, and participating in, the build and release management process with development teams.Monitoring the reporting system.Providing immediate solutions to user issues and escalating complex queries to the rest of the team.Generating non standard reports to users upon request. Aiding in the design, testing and rollout of new reports, systems and interfaces.Involvement in other related projects that the wider team are undertaking.Provide analytical support to users. As a Finance Systems Support Analyst, your skills and qualifications must include:

1. Financial skills including;

Experience of financial systems within a professional services environment, ideally from a legal background.Understanding of the finance function processes and re venue recording systems.Proven ability to comprehend financial terminology.Previous experience of management information systems.Ability to investigate and explain the causality of figures reported.

2. Systems skills including;

Extremely Computer literate.Advanced level Excel (pivot tables, vlookups, complex formulae)Intimate knowledge of practice management systems from a systems point of view.Be able to communicate with internal IT and external suppliers on technical related issues.Knowledge of servers and database structures. Working knowledge of SQL and the ability to combine results with other sources.Previous use of an OLAP analysis tool along the lines of Proclarity, XLCubed or Panorama or excellent knowledge of pivot tables is desirable.

3. Task Management & Presentation Skills.

Ability to operate autonomously throughout the project life cycle through to delivery.Ability to prioritise and work to tight deadlines.Ability to multi task and manage multiple projects. Ability to lead meetings and projects.

What we will be looking for in you:

Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with confidence and ability to deal with partners, senior lawyers and staff at all levels. The ability to simplify explanations and inspire confidence. Proven organisational skills and attention to detail. Strong numerical skills.Experience of working in a legal or professional services firm. Positive can-do attitude.Solid project management skills, including good listening skills, empathy and a structured, open minded approach to solving problems and running projects. Strong analytical capability able to rapidly understand the root cause of issues in order to resolve.

We are an equal opportunities employer and consider job applicants on their merits. Therefore we welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals, regardless of background. For more detail see the Careers Page on www.freshfields.com