Financial Operations Associate Jobs in Elgin, IL

About Kirkland & Ellis
At Kirkland & Ellis, we don't just meet the standard for legal excellence - we set it. Our culture is built on teamwork, ingenuity and an unwavering commitment to continuous growth. We tackle the most sophisticated legal challenges with bold ideas and innovative solutions, powered by the exceptional experience and ambition of our 7,000+ people, including 4,000+ attorneys, across 24 offices worldwide. Our dedicated professionals share our lawyers' commitment to excellence and show up each day to do meaningful work that helps drive global business, investment and innovation forward.
What You'll Do
Are you a financial leader who thrives on bringing structure, clarity, and strategic insight to technology investments?
As a Manager, IT Financial Operations, you'll lead the day-to-day financial management and governance execution across the firm's technology portfolio within the Information Technology (IT) organization. Reporting to the Associate Director, this role translates strategic financial direction into structured, repeatable processes that support disciplined budgeting, forecasting, investment planning, and reporting.
You'll serve as a primary financial partner to IT leadership, ensuring financial transparency, validating assumptions behind technology investments, and helping stakeholders make informed decisions about the firm's technology roadmap. In addition to overseeing portfolio financial operations, you'll mentor analysts, strengthen governance standards, and continuously improve financial workflows while collaborating closely with IT leadership, Vendor Management, Procurement, and Firm Finance.
Technology Financial Leadership - Oversee portfolio financial models, planning trackers, and budget frameworks that maintain consistent governance and financial discipline across the IT organization.
Budget Management & Forecasting - Monitor actual spend versus budget and forecast, deliver structured variance analysis, and identify key financial drivers, risks, and emerging trends.
Reforecasting Oversight - Lead operational support for reforecasting cycles, validating assumptions and ensuring financial integrity of updated projections.
Project Investment Analysis - Oversee development and validation of project cost estimates across labor, infrastructure, software licensing, and vendor services.
Business Case Financial Review - Support and review business case financial models, ensuring assumptions are sound and aligned with governance standards.
Technology Portfolio Oversight - Maintain operational discipline in portfolio spend tracking while ensuring accurate financial visibility across projects and initiatives.
Financial Controls & Reporting - Oversee reconciliations, maintain audit-ready financial documentation, and produce recurring reports and executive summaries for leadership.
Vendor Financial Management - Support validation of vendor proposals, track vendor consumption against forecasts, and assist in financial review of contract renewals or pricing adjustments.
Governance Alignment - Ensure project financials remain aligned with intake processes and governance workflows while identifying potential financial risks or inconsistencies.
FinOps Execution - Lead operational execution of Financial Operations (FinOps) initiatives, including cloud spend monitoring and financial transparency across the technology portfolio.
Process Improvement & Workflow Optimization - Enhance financial templates, trackers, and governance tools to strengthen data accuracy, efficiency, and consistency.
Team Mentorship & Stakeholder Partnership - Mentor analysts and provide structured financial partnership to IT stakeholders, reinforcing adoption of financial governance standards.
What You'll Bring
Education - Bachelor's degree in finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
Professional Experience - 7-9 years of progressive experience in financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting, or IT financial operations.
Technology Financial Expertise - Strong understanding of IT cost drivers, including infrastructure, cloud consumption, software licensing, labor, and project-based investments.
Financial Planning Leadership - Demonstrated experience managing budgeting and reforecasting cycles within technology organizations or IT portfolios.
Investment & Governance Insight - Experience supporting project financial governance, business case evaluation, and structured project review processes.
Advanced Financial Modeling - Strong analytical and modeling capabilities with advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and financial reporting tools.
Financial Systems & Reporting Tools - Experience working with financial systems and procure-to-pay (P2P) platforms such as Coupa, with familiarity using reporting tools like Microsoft Power BI.
Vendor & Procurement Collaboration - Experience partnering with Finance, Procurement, and Vendor Management teams on vendor proposals, contract financials, and spend tracking.
Operational Leadership - Ability to manage competing priorities across a technology portfolio while maintaining financial discipline and data accuracy.
Analytical Communication - Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate complex financial data into clear insights for technical and business stakeholders.
People Leadership - Experience mentoring or supervising analysts and supporting professional development within a financial operations environment.
Preferred experience includes cloud cost management or Financial Operations (FinOps) practices, vendor proposal evaluation, exposure to structured project governance frameworks, or financial consulting within professional services environments.
If you're excited to help shape financial discipline across a complex technology portfolio while mentoring others and driving smarter technological investments, we'd love to hear from you.
Compensation
The base salary range below represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position in Chicago. This range may differ based on your geographic location and cost of living considerations. At Kirkland & Ellis, we consider compensation more than just a base salary. We offer an exceptional range of flexible benefits including comprehensive healthcare, paid time off, and retirement. We also offer personal support and tailored learning and development opportunities all designed to help you realize your full potential both in life and at work.
Compensation Range:
Chicago: $162,000 - $177,000
How to Apply
Thank you for your interest in Kirkland & Ellis LLP. To complete an application and submit your resume, please click "Apply Now."
Don't meet every job requirement? That's okay! If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't perfectly fit every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right person for this role or others at Kirkland.
Equal Employment Opportunity
All employment decisions, including the recruiting, hiring, placement, training availability, promotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination of employment (if necessary) are made without regard to the employee's race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law. #LI-Hybrid #LI-LC1