Job Title: Director of Finance
Location: Albany, NY
Firm: The Colwell Law Group, LLC
Compensation: $130,000 — DOE
Work Location: In person, Monday through Friday
About The Colwell Law Group
The Colwell Law Group is a rapidly growing family and matrimonial law firm serving clients across Upstate New York for more than two decades. Known for integrity, operational excellence, and a supportive work environment, we are expanding our leadership team and seeking a highly engaged Director of Finance.
This role is ideal for a finance leader who thrives in a hands-on environment, values structure and accountability, and wants to make a meaningful impact within a well-established and growing professional services firm.
Position Overview
The Director of Finance will oversee the day-to-day operations of the finance department while supporting the firm’s long-term financial health and growth. This is an intentionally hands-on leadership role — not one removed from execution.
The right candidate must be able to manage the numbers, lead the people, and strengthen the systems. This role oversees accounting, billing, collections, accounts payable, cash flow, reporting, controls, budgeting, forecasting, and financial strategy.
Equally important, this person must lead through communication, structure, accountability, and change. The Director of Finance will coach team members, address performance gaps, collaborate with firm leadership, and participate in ongoing leadership development as part of CLG’s commitment to building strong, aligned leaders across the organization.
What Makes This Opportunity Attractive
- High-impact leadership role within a growing law firm
- Direct oversight of accounting, billing, collections, and accounts payable
- Strong operational visibility and cross-department collaboration
- Opportunity to improve systems, workflows, reporting, and controls
- Ability to influence budgeting, planning, forecasting, and growth strategy
- Active participation in leadership development and firm leadership initiatives
- Culture built around clarity, ownership, communication, and follow-through
Key Responsibilities
Financial Leadership & Team Oversight
- Lead and manage the finance team, including accounting, billing, collections, and accounts payable
- Set clear expectations, deadlines, workflows, and priorities
- Hold regular team meetings, one-on-ones, and cross-functional check-ins
- Coach, support, and develop team members to strengthen performance
- Identify performance gaps and address them directly and constructively
- Create a finance department culture rooted in communication, ownership, accuracy, and accountability
Operational Ownership
- Maintain hands-on oversight of daily cash flow, billing, collections, and trust activity
- Ensure reporting deadlines are met accurately and on time
- Serve as the primary escalation point for finance-related operational issues
- Maintain visibility into the day-to-day work of the department
- Document processes and reduce single-point-of-failure systems
- Ensure the department operates with transparency, consistency, and follow-through
Reporting & Financial Accuracy
- Own and enforce the monthly close calendar
- Review financial reports before they are provided to leadership
- Deliver timely, accurate, and actionable financial reporting
- Translate financial data into clear operational insights
- Provide leadership with visibility into financial performance, trends, risks, and opportunities
- Maintain strong standards around accuracy, deadlines, and financial accountability
Process, Systems & Controls
- Standardize and document finance workflows, procedures, and SOPs
- Improve communication between finance and other departments
- Support transparency, accessibility, and cross-training across the finance team
- Identify process improvements that reduce errors, delays, and bottlenecks
- Strengthen internal controls and ensure consistent compliance with finance procedures
- Evaluate current systems and recommend improvements to support growth and scalability
Strategic Support & Growth
- Partner with executive leadership on budgeting, planning, forecasting, and financial strategy
- Provide data-driven insight for hiring, expansion, and operational decisions
- Support long-term financial sustainability and scalability
- Help leadership understand financial performance in a practical and actionable way
- Contribute to firmwide planning and operational decision-making
- Support growth initiatives through strong financial analysis and leadership partnership
Leadership Expectations
Leadership is a core component of this position and a major part of the culture we are building at The Colwell Law Group. The Director of Finance must be more than a technical finance expert — this person must be an active, visible, and accountable leader.
The right candidate will lead with clarity, consistency, emotional intelligence, and professional courage. This includes setting the tone for the finance department, communicating expectations clearly, supporting team development, and helping create a culture built on trust, ownership, and follow-through.
This role also requires someone who is comfortable receiving feedback, giving feedback, and applying leadership concepts in real time. The Director of Finance must be able to pivot when priorities, people, or operational needs change while still maintaining structure and accountability.
The Director of Finance will be expected to:
- Lead through change with professionalism, composure, and flexibility
- Communicate directly, respectfully, and consistently
- Hold themselves and their team accountable to deadlines, expectations, and results
- Coach and develop team members rather than simply manage tasks
- Identify gaps in performance, process, or communication and address them constructively
- Collaborate with leaders across the firm to solve problems and improve operations
- Remain hands-on while thinking strategically
- Lead with curiosity before jumping to conclusions
- Take ownership, follow through, and model firmwide standards
- Participate in leadership development and leadership bootcamp opportunities as part of their integration into the firm
Qualifications
- 8+ years of finance or accounting leadership experience
- Proven experience managing teams and daily financial operations
- Law firm or professional services experience strongly preferred
- Strong communication, leadership, and organizational skills
- Comfortable working in the details while maintaining big-picture perspective
- Skilled in financial software systems and general ledger accounting
- Experience with balance sheet reconciliation, accrual accounting, revenue recognition, and cash flow analysis
- Strong financial report writing and interpretation skills
- High emotional intelligence and ability to lead through change
- Comfortable giving and receiving direct feedback
- Demonstrated ability to coach team members and improve performance
- Willingness to participate in ongoing leadership development and firm leadership training
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field required
- Advanced degree or CPA preferred, but not required
Why Finance Leaders Choose CLG
The Colwell Law Group offers a collaborative leadership environment, strong operational infrastructure, and clear growth plans. This role gives the right finance leader the opportunity to directly impact firm strategy, department structure, process improvement, and long-term financial sustainability.
Our leadership culture is built around accountability, communication, courage, ownership, and continuous growth. We are looking for a Director of Finance who wants to be part of that culture and help strengthen it.
Pay: From $130,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Disability insurance
- Flexible spending account
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
