Financial Operations Jobs in Durham, NC (NOW HIRING)

JOB TITLE: Director of Accounting and Financial Operations

STATUS: Exempt

Type: Full Time

Smith Anderson is a well-established and dynamic mid-size law firm, providing top-tier legal services to clients across a range of industries. We value a collaborative, innovative, and inclusive culture where our people are empowered to think big, grow professionally, and make meaningful contributions every day. We’re seeking an experienced hands-on Director of Accounting and Financial Operations to elevate our financial operations and shape the future of our firm’s accounting function. 

The Director of Accounting and Financial Operations serves as the operational leader of the firm’s accounting function, responsible for the integrity, accuracy, and timeliness of financial statement reporting, structured financial analysis, and annual financial planning cycles.

Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and overseeing the Controller and accounting team, this role drives the day-to-day execution of the accounting function while taking direct ownership of the firm’s financial statements, reporting, and related analysis, including budgeting models and variance reporting. Client accounting, business intelligence, and financial systems functions remain aligned under the CFO, allowing this role to focus on the integrity and execution of the firm’s accounting and financial reporting processes and annual financial planning cycles.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who enjoys building, improving, and owning the work. The Director sets the tone for how accounting gets done by establishing structure, reinforcing disciplined processes, and ensuring all deliverables are accurate, well-supported, and decision useful. This role translates CFO strategic direction into disciplined processes, standardized workflows, and high-quality deliverables.

Success in this role requires a leader who is equally comfortable developing people, building repeatable processes, and working in the details. This position plays a central role in advancing the firm’s finance function as part of a broader modernization effort.

This role is expected to be primarily onsite, consistent with how firm leadership operates, to support direct team leadership, collaboration, and consistent execution across the accounting function.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the firm’s accounting function, including general ledger, payroll, trust, cash application, and related activities.
• Oversee the Controller and ensure consistent execution of all accounting operations.
• Personally prepare and own financial statements and supporting workpapers and schedules.
• Establish and enforce structured workpaper, documentation, and review standards across accounting operations, financial reporting, planning, and compliance activities.
• Design, implement, and maintain a streamlined review structure that ensures accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of deliverables.
• Lead month-end and year-end close processes with a focus on consistency, control, and accountability.
• Build and maintain annual budgeting models and lead the firmwide budgeting process.
• Produce structured financial reporting and budget-to-actual variance analysis.
• Produce financial planning deliverables, including allocation models and related analyses.
• Oversee day-to-day cash management, including cash positioning, disbursement planning, and liquidity analysis.
• Support compliance activities, including audit and tax-related deliverables, ensuring alignment with documentation and review standards.
• Strengthen internal controls, accounting policies, and operating procedures.
• Drive continuous improvement in accounting workflows, reporting processes, and planning activities.
• Lead accounting-related system enhancements and support broader finance modernization initiatives.
• Translate CFO direction into clear execution priorities and high-quality deliverables. 

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive accounting experience, ideally in a professional services or partnership-based environment.
• 5+ years of leadership experience with responsibility for both team management and hands-on execution.
• Deep experience in general ledger accounting, financial statement reporting, budgeting, and internal controls.
• Demonstrated ability to personally prepare financial statements and produce complete, accurate, and well-documented workpapers.
• Strong experience building and maintaining Excel-based budgeting models and financial analysis outputs.
• Proven ability to design and enforce documentation, workpaper, and review standards.
• Strong foundation in disciplined accounting processes, including reconciliation, documentation, and structured review.
• Experience managing high-volume accounting operations with accuracy and accountability.
• Strong understanding of partnership accounting concepts, including capital accounts and allocations (preferred).
• Working knowledge of partnership tax compliance, including K-1 reporting and state sourcing (preferred).
• Experience with law firm accounting systems strongly preferred, particularly Elite 3E Cloud.
• Advanced Excel skills, including financial modeling, structured analysis, and data validation.
• Strong leadership, organization, and communication skills.
• Ability to bring structure, clarity, and execution discipline to an evolving and sometimes ambiguous environment.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance or equivalent related work experience.
• CPA strongly preferred.
• Master of Accounting or MBA is desirable.

Smith Anderson is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating and maintaining a diverse work force. It is the policy of this Firm to recruit, hire, train, develop, promote, and compensate employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, genetic information, disability or covered veteran status.