Practice Manager, Shared Services

The role

• You will run the shared operations and finance function for both firms, and oversee business development jointly with the Managing Partner. Your job is to make sure each firm delivers its work on time, bills and collects what it earns, keeps its own records and accounts, and has a steady, well managed flow of new work.
• The partners own client relationships, technical work and legal practice. You own the systems, records, reporting and commercial discipline that let them grow. Many of these systems are still being built, so this role suits someone who builds, not only someone who maintains.

What you will do

Business development oversight (jointly with the Managing Partner)

• Work with the Managing Partner to set and run the annual business development plan for each firm: target sectors, target clients, and the activities and owners behind them.
• Own the pipeline for both firms: every enquiry logged, qualified, assigned and followed up, with a pipeline review held with the Managing Partner every month.
• Lead proposal management from brief to submission, including scope, fee build-up, formatting and deadlines.
• Track win and loss outcomes on every proposal and report what the firms are winning, losing and why.
• Run the annual client review cycle across the top accounts of each firm, and flag cross-selling and repricing opportunities to the partners.
• Coordinate referrals between De-Podium and Sola Dada, making sure each referral is recorded and the right firm engages and invoices the client.
• Oversee the marketing calendar, client events, thought leadership and online presence, working with partners to turn their expertise into content.

Finance, billing and reporting (separately for each firm)

• Run the billing cycle for each firm: invoices raised promptly under the correct entity and collections followed up against agreed payment terms.
• Keep a receivables ledger for each firm and report debtor ageing to the partners monthly.
• Prepare a monthly management report for each firm covering fee income against target, pipeline, cash, receivables and cost against budget.
• Allocate shared costs between the firms on the agreed basis and record intercompany charges and referral arrangements.
• Make sure client funds are held and reconciled in dedicated client accounts, separate from operating accounts.
• Support the annual budget and standalone annual accounts for each firm, and manage office administration and vendors.

Engagement and delivery management

• Keep an engagement and matter tracker for each firm showing every active job, its stage, team, deadline and status.
• Make sure engagement letters and agreed scopes are signed before any work begins.
• Run the quality review checklist so that deliverables are reviewed and signed off before release.

Systems, compliance and administration

• Implement and run the practice management, time recording and document systems, with access controls that keep each firm’s client files separate.
• Keep a statutory compliance calendar for each entity covering CAC, tax and professional body filings, and make sure filings are on time.
• Run the weekly operational meeting and the monthly management meeting for each firm, and track agreed actions to completion.

What we are looking for

• A first degree in accounting, finance, business administration or a related discipline.
• At least five years in a professional services firm (accounting, tax, consulting or legal), with at least two in a practice management, operations, finance or business development role.
• Evidence that you have built something: a billing cycle, a pipeline process, a reporting pack or a system that did not exist before you arrived.
• Hands-on experience managing a sales or business development pipeline and preparing proposals for corporate clients.
• Sound financial literacy: you can build a budget, read management accounts and explain a variance.
• Working knowledge of CAC and CAMA requirements and the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 regime.
• Advanced Excel, clear and concise writing, and the confidence to hold partners to agreed processes and deadlines.
• Discretion with confidential client and financial information, including respect for legal professional privilege.

It would be an advantage if you have

• A professional qualification in accounting (ICAN, ACCA or ANAN), completed or in progress.