Financial Analyst, Lateral Investment

About the role

The Strategic Financial Analyst, Lateral Investment, in collaboration with and in support of the firm's strategic initiatives, plays a pivotal role in supporting the long-term financial direction of the firm. This individual is a technically skilled, curious, and forward-thinking professional who supports decision-making through data driven insights. The Strategic Financial Analyst informs strategic decisions, improves profitability, and supports the firm's long-term growth goals. This individual brings strong analytical skills, profit-centric business acumen, and excellent written and verbal communication. The role serves primarily to provide grounded recommendations on lateral partner investment decisions, supported by detailed financial analysis. This individual is expected to build controlled and transparent financial models with well-written supplementary recommendations and/or options. This individual also supports the firm's adoption of AI in finance and professional services and is passionate about using automation and advanced analytics to improve finance processes. The Strategic Finance Analyst is eager to use modern tools, analytics, and (as appropriate) machine learning techniques to analyze data, generate insights, monitor lateral performance, and automate existing processes, such as lateral investment analysis. This individual is expected to independently seek, test, and implement AI tools that will enable stronger analysis and support data-driven decision making. Location This position can sit in our Short Hills or Northern Virginia office and offers a hybrid work schedule.

Responsibilities

• Prepare timely financial analysis of lateral hire partner candidates, including evaluating historical performance, book of business, profitability potential, and other key metrics to support hiring decisions.
• Prepare monthly lateral performance report in support of monthly close, including commentary and detailed analytics.
• Enhance lateral financial analysis end-to-end process; working with key stakeholders and technology to automate and standardize workflow and model inputs/outputs.
• Track and monitor post-hire lateral performance against approved financial scenarios and market benchmarks, identifying key variance drivers and communicate emerging risks or opportunities for lateral investments.
• Identify opportunities to streamline lateral and other financial processes, improve data quality, and increase reporting efficiency through automation and standardization.
• Contribute to finance automation efforts, including building and improving simple-language AI agents (e.g., chatbots, cash flow models, validation tools) that support FP&A workflows.
• Partner with senior Finance leaders, Recruiting, and Practice Group leadership to present findings, assumptions, and financial recommendations in a clear and concise manner.
• Support practice group and firm reporting requirements by providing informative analytics and insights to leadership, with a focus on actionable recommendations and profitability.
• Perform ad hoc financial analysis and reporting requests, synthesizing findings into clear takeaways and recommended actions.

Requirements

• Travel: 10% (Depending on the location, the analyst will be expected to travel to other DLA Piper offices, such as Reston, Virginia, Short Hills, New Jersey and New York City office locations).
• Minimum Education
• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, Data Science, or a related field.
• Preferred Education
• MBA or other relevant advanced degree.
• Certificates
• CFA or progress toward CFA designation is a plus. MFA

Additional Information

DLA Piper is, at its core, bold, exceptional, collaborative and supportive. Our people are the backbone, heart and soul of our firm. Wherever you are in your professional journey, DLA Piper is a place you can engage in meaningful work and grow your career. Let's see what we can achieve. Together.

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