Clifford Chance is one of the world's leading law firms, helping clients achieve their goals by combining the highest global standards with local expertise. The Firm has unrivalled scale and depth of legal resources across the three key markets of the Americas, Asia and Europe and focuses on the core areas of commercial activity: capital markets; corporate and M&A; finance and banking; real estate; tax; pensions and employment; litigation and dispute resolution.
The General Manager will work closely with Hong Kong Partners to develop and implement the Firm's strategy for the Hong Kong office, and will provide leadership and direction to the Business professional teams in the Hong Kong office, helping to ensure that their business objectives and activities are aligned with the wider firm objectives and the service provided is as efficient as possible.
The General Manager will be required to work closely with the relevant regional functional business professional heads based in Hong Kong to deliver an effective service.
Operations management and development
Overseeing the smooth day-to-day running of the offices operations
Ensuring all business professional activities are integrated, co-ordinated and meeting the needs of the office. Balancing priorities between functions and managing the overall impact of activities on the offices
Ensuring the offices have suitable premises to meet the current and future needs of the business
Project managing, or representing the office on a range of ad-hoc projects and addressing the related change management issues
Ensuring that appropriate business continuity and risk management processes are in place
Providing input and taking the lead in the development of office-wide business improvements and supporting the implementation of these improvements in the offices
Financial management
Overseeing the annual budgeting process
Monitoring financial performance, working capital management and costs against budgets and reporting to management and partners on a regular basis
Authorising investment and expenditure within agreed limits
Managing the relationship with external tax advisors and ensuring Hong Kong office's finances are managed in a tax-efficient manner
Managing working capital management and the approval of fee arrangements and write-offs
Ensuring internal financial controls are monitored on a regular basis with particular reference to maintaining a sufficient segregation of responsibilities to prevent unilateral withdrawal of funds.
Ensuring all recommendations made by internal or external auditors are implemented effectively.
Monitoring cash balances held in the office to ensure that they are sufficient but not excessive for the needs of the office.
Business planning and strategy
Analysing financial results to identify business trends and critical insights. Using this analysis to make recommendations on improving business performance
Providing input into the offices business plans - taking an active role in assessing and improving financial performance
Establishing a price/profitability analysis structure to assist partners in pricing jobs and monitoring profitability of work undertaken.
Human resources in conjunction with the HR Manager, Hong Kong
Ensuring best-practice resource management in terms of utilisation, client needs and development opportunities for associates, including promoting of best delivery tools (e.g. use of Knowledge Centre for relevant legal work).
Ensuring business professional teams are appropriately resourced, balancing services levels with cost effectiveness, monitoring and managing headcount against utilisation (for fee earners) and pipeline of activities. Reviewing regularly practice area and sub group performance against headcount.
Ensuring completion of performance management practices and using performance management as a means of development and reporting. Promoting training and development for both legal and business professional employees
Information technology
Working with the IT function to ensure that the technology infrastructure meets the current and future requirements of the office
Ensuring that local needs are understood by the IT function and these are balanced against global priorities
Ensuring the business is using the technology in the correct way and following best practice in its use.
Business development
Working with local Business Development support, to ensure that fee-earners are adequately supported in relation to client focus activities; marketing; pitching and pricing
Ensuring that local needs are understood by the Business Development function and that these are balanced against global priorities
Commercial Management
Managing commercials to help improve recovery, reduce waste, improve quality, working closely with partners and other business services managers across the following areas:
Matter management including working capital and working capital
Ensuring the offices are following best practice in terms of purchasing/procurement methodologies with suppliers. Offices to use global preferred suppliers where possible.
Ensuring all preferred suppliers adhere to procurement best practice in terms of vendor management, contract management, confidentiality etc.
Ensuring all travel is booked in line with the Firm's travel policy.
Project Management
Managing local projects working closely with the local project manager, department heads, global projects group where relevant.
Implementing local communications to support local/global project implementations.
Ensuring the offices adopt best practice from continuous improvement projects.
Analytical thought and problem solving
Making decisions that solve the immediate problem and prevent it from occurring again
Preparing for potential problems and contingencies in case things go wrong
Taking prompt action to resolve problems quickly
Making pragmatic and practical decisions about how centrally driven initiatives should be implemented locally
Communicating and influencing
Communicating in a manner which demonstrates an understanding of the underlying causes of others' feelings and behaviours
Delivering difficult messages with confidence, clarity and sensitivity
Commitment and self-motivation
Driving to assess the alignment of current practices to team/department priorities, even if the status quo makes this difficult
Remaining positive for the benefit of others even during stressful and changing circumstances
Promoting a culture of continuous improvement around standards and how decisions are made
Ensuring a seamless service is provided for clients by coordinating activities across departments
Leading and developing others
Acting as a role model/coach to others and encouraging staff/direct reports to use a similar approach
Promoting and supporting an environment that values continuous learning and the development of the Firm's learning resources
Acting as a figurehead, building commitment to achieve goals
Organising and managing resources
Planning departmental resources in order that work flow is efficient, fairly allocated and flexible to changing demands
Encouraging others to manage work in a proactive and systematic way
Improving inefficient working practices
Working to raise the overall performance level of the department/function
Working relationships
Lobbying and sounding out key decision-makers in order to build support
Reviewing what support can be provided to stakeholders to meet any changing demands
Resolving conflicts within the immediate team or across multiple teams within the business
Organisational and strategic thinking
Demonstrating an understanding of the critical forces that will shape the future business environment
Incorporating observed issues, and trends into working practices and direction for the team
Demonstrating an understanding of the Firm's financial and management structures in order to meet budget target
Making decisions to meet the longer term needs of clients and the business
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Business graduate or equivalent. MBA and/or Accountancy qualification highly relevant.
Previous experience required in:
Financial planning, budgeting and resource planning
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