Legal Finance Specialist

Who We Are…And What We Offer:

This is an opportunity to join one of the world’s leading consumer products companies – one regularly rated as among the most admired, most innovative, and most socially responsible multinational enterprises.  Unilever plc, headquartered in historic Unilever House in London, employs 150,000 professionals, and operates in more than 190 countries around the world.  Unilever has been doing business for nearly a century, and its brands include some of the most iconic and beloved names in personal care, home care, beauty, and nutrition, including Dove, Hellman’s, Knorr, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and more.  Our brands are used by 3.4 billion consumers every day.  Unilever is a purpose-led, future fit organization with an unparalleled commitment to sustainability and superior performance.

Unilever’s legal function plays a critical role in the company’s continued success.  Serving as professional advisors, gatekeepers, and strategic business partners, Unilever’s legal team enables the company to be fearless and act with confidence, speed, and agility.  The legal function has a wide range of subject matter experts who collectively guide Unilever’s business groups and functions on laws, regulations, and Unilever’s Code of Business Principles.

Where This Position Fits Into The Team:

We’re seeking an energetic, business-minded, and self-motivated candidate with excellent communication and interpersonal skills and experience in in-house legal department operations.  The Legal Finance Operations Specialist will manage key processes that are critical to the Legal Department including:  financial reporting, budgeting, client relations and working with financial software and tools for billing, cost management, and financial analysis.  This position will work across practice areas within the Legal Department and other support functions to enable the efficient and effective delivery of legal services to our business and functional partners. The successful candidate will develop strong relationships with internal constituents, including finance, information technology, and procurement.

The position reports into the Global Litigation and Complex Claims Manager. 

• Creating purchase orders and onboarding new Vendors, including external law firms, to the Unilever procurement systems

• Maintaining existing vendor accounts

• Billing management and follow-up on vendor inquiries

• Creating and processing payment requests including legal settlement payments

• Tabulation of annual expense budget for alignment with Finance Business Partners and budget management support such as department budget development and reconciliation, raising intercompany invoices, and providing accruals

• Analysis of external legal spend

• Liaising with Procurement, Finance, e-Billing software provider, and IT team for analyzing and solving issues related to expense and payment platforms

• Liaising between law firms and vendors to reconcile outstanding invoices and payment discrepancies

• Tracking and reporting on travel expenses

• Preparing reports, power point presentations

• Maintaining accurate and up-to-date records and files 

• Engaging with and supporting in-house attorneys globally

• Performing end-of-month reconciliations

• Identifying and providing accounting for the deposit of paper checks

• Maintaining e-Billing software (Legal Tracker) – matter setup and closure; business group/business unit, accounting, and cost center management

• Providing financial reports to brands and Finance on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis

Required Qualifications:

• Candidates must have a minimum of 3+ years as a business operations professional, preferably in a corporate legal department or within other functions such as Compliance, Finance, Procurement, and/or Commercial

• Candidate must have significant financial acumen and problem-solving skills

• Candidate must be able to operate autonomously while being a team player who brings a positive, “can do” attitude to the workplace and works collaboratively with other members of the Legal and Finance teams

• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint – including the creation of graphical PowerPoint presentations 

• Flexibility and readiness to work on a broad range of matters 

• Excellent project management skills and ability to manage numerous projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment and meet deadlines 

• Willingness and drive for process excellence

• Strong interpersonal skills and highly team-oriented attitude

• Excellent written skills and attention to detail 

• Ability to balance multiple concurrent projects and requests

• Strong data analytics skills and experience a plus

• Strong understanding of legal processes a plus

Pay: The pay range for this position is $84,400 to $126,600. Unilever takes into consideration a wide range of factors that are utilized in making compensation decisions including, but not limited to, skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, qualifications and education, and other business and organizational needs.

Bonus: This position is bonus eligible.

Long-Term Incentive (LTI): This position is LTI eligible.

Benefits: Unilever employees are eligible to participate in our benefits plan. Should the employee choose to participate, they can choose from a range of benefits to include, but is not limited to, health insurance (including prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage), retirement savings benefits, life insurance and disability benefits, parental leave, sick leave, paid vacation and holidays, as well as access to numerous voluntary benefits. Any coverages for health insurance and retirement benefits will be in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans and associated governing plan documents.

------------------------------------

Unilever is an organization committed to diversity and inclusion to drive our business results and create a better future every day for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. 

Employment is subject to verification of pre-screening tests, which may include drug screening, background check, credit check and DMV check.

If you are an individual with a disability in need of assistance at any time during our recruitment process, please contact us at NA.Accommodations@unilever.com. Please note: This email is reserved for individuals with disabilities in need of assistance and is not a means of inquiry about positions or application statuses.