Africa Group Business Manager

The Role 

The Africa Group Business Manager ("ABM") is critical to the success of the financial and operational performance of the group, connecting the strategic agenda and group business plan with operational delivery. The ABM will work with a variety of business professional stakeholders to deliver the appropriate business professional support to the group and will operate as a trusted advisor both to the co-heads of the group and partners involved in delivery of the strategy.

The successful candidate will have highly developed financial management skills and knowledge of business models, a [strong] commercial and operational background and the ability to communicate effectively at all levels and across all offices and functions. The ABM will also have a key role interacting with relationship law firms in Africa. 

The ABM will report to the GFM PAM and to the co-heads of the Africa Group.

To lead and coordinate business operations for the Africa Group across the firm and engagement with our relationship law firms in Africa with the aim of driving and enhancing performance in accordance with the Africa Group's strategy and the overall strategy of the Firm.

The Africa Group Business Manager:

• Works together with the two co-heads of the Africa Group to develop strategy and manage business operations

• Ensures cross-functional alignment, to achieve proper coverage and effective strategy execution

• Drives improvement of operational and financial performance

• Oversees and co-ordinates our engagement with relationship law firms in Africa

Responsibilities

• Partners with the co-heads as a trusted advisor in managing and coordinating the Group, driving greater integration across the geographic and practice area dispersed Group.

• Supports the co-heads on all practice management initiatives, working closely with the relevant functional representatives to deliver the appropriate business professional support to the Group (including HR, Tech including AI, Innovation & Best Delivery, Client & Marketing Development, KETL, Finance and Communications). 

• Work closely and maintain communication with the Client and Market Development Senior Manager.

• Organises Group partner meetings and retreats, including preparing the agenda, materials, minutes and progressing actions as agreed with co-heads.

• Prepares co-head presentations/updates on management, financial and strategic issues relevant to the Group and works with internal Communications team to develop internal practice communications as required.

• Establishes and shares best practice within the Group and in collaboration with the global practice area to ensure consistency of service levels; identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.

• Works closely with the relevant Regional COO/CFO and Regional Financial Controller to oversee the Group's financial performance and budget/forecast.

• Conducts financial performance discussions with stakeholders.

• Communicates at all levels and across functions. The ABM will be able to understand the nuances of different business models across the Group and will have the knowledge, people skills and awareness to drive the strategic agenda smoothly.

• Works with the Best Delivery and Pricing teams to promote and embed initiatives and best practices that drive efficiencies and commercial discipline.

• Prepares Group business reports as required for relevant stakeholders.

• Proactively identifies and solves problems and can learn a wide range of disciplines to drive general management agenda.

• Ensure the execution of the operational, financial and talent management elements of the Africa Group's global strategy working with the relevant functional heads.

• Deliver the firm-wide operational excellence strategy to the Africa group by developing innovative solutions, projects or initiatives to streamline processes.

Business management

• Ensure that projects, initiatives and actions are followed through, embedded and that progress is made and reported upon.

• Work with relevant teams to improve the systems and infrastructure to enable more readily accessible management information to track resources and review group performance more accurately and efficiently.

• Oversee and co-ordinate our engagement with African counsel

• Ensure the coordination of the firm's on-the-ground activities

• Develop a talent management strategy in liaison with the global People and Talent team

• Draw on the support and assistance of the various operations/functional teams to follow the various workstreams and leverage existing services to the benefit of the Africa group: KETL, Best delivery, People and Talent, Risk, IT, Finance

Financial management

• Oversee the group's financial performance

• Manage the business planning process and budget

• Set up and monitor key performance indicators and analyse them to drive improvements

• Improve existing tools

Management of the key stakeholder groups

• Work with the co-heads to create an engaged and enthusiastic global Africa group and facilitate discussions and meetings

• Work in close collaboration with the Client and Market Development Manager for Africa

• Facilitate and coordinate interactions between the various groups to ensure optimal communications and drive efficiency.

Talent management

• Working alongside the co-heads, RPAL, RBMS GBUs and HR to develop and substantiate any internal promotions (i.e. NEP/EP), succession planning and lateral hire proposals, including business case, coordination with relevant stakeholders and submission of nomination papers; in addition to, recruitment, performance management, and training needs within the Group.

Your Experience

• Ideally you will have some prior experience of project management or an operational role gained within a professional services organisation.

• You will demonstrate strong project management and analytical capabilities

• You will have a good ability to prioritise projects and respond quickly to requests which have a short turnaround time

• You will have a track record of being pro-active and delivering high quality work

• You will demonstrate strong interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written (editing and proofing ability) and high levels of accuracy and attention to detail

• Strong software skills (Excel, Word and PowerPoint)

• You will have the ability to be numerate, and you will be comfortable with financial information and budgeting

• All business is conducted in English. If you are fluent in French that would be useful, but it is not essential

Who we are

We are one of the largest international law firms in the world. With over 30 offices across the globe, we strive to exceed the expectations of our clients, providing them with the highest-quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Our firm, work and people span jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. We offer our clients a truly international perspective. We believe every career should be rewarding and stimulating - full of opportunities to learn, thrive, and grow. That’s why we’re so proud of our inclusive, friendly, and team-based approach to work.

You’ll find our clients in commercial and industrial sectors, the financial investor community, governments, regulators, trade bodies, and not-for-profit organisations. But no matter who they are or why they’ve reached out to us, we provide a world-class service every step of the way. And that’s possible thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit and conscientious approach to work that you’ll find across all of our teams.

Whichever area of the business you join, you’ll become an integral part an innovative, diverse and ambitious team of people. Clifford Chance is a place where the brightest minds and the best of colleagues meet.

Equal opportunities statement

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society.

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment.

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement.

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm. 

Find out more about our inclusive culture here

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