Finance Recruitment

Finance in an international law firm is a discipline that demands a very particular kind of professional. The work is technical, the standards are high and the stakes are real. Billing, revenue recognition, client account management and financial reporting all carry direct commercial consequences for the firm, and the people responsible for them need to be both highly competent and deeply familiar with the way law firms operate financially.

Barratt Galvin has been placing finance professionals into international law firms across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Doha since 2007. We understand the specific demands of law firm finance, what the remit typically covers in the Middle East context and what separates a strong candidate from the right one.

Finance recruitment in the legal sector is more specialised than it might appear from the outside. Law firm finance has its own terminology, its own rhythms and its own pressures. Billing cycles, matter management, revenue control, partner drawings and trust accounting all require familiarity that a candidate coming from a general commercial finance background may simply not have. We understand this, and it shapes how we assess every candidate we consider for a finance role.

Unlike generalist recruiters who treat a finance role at a law firm like any other finance role, we screen specifically for legal sector finance experience. We ask the right questions, we know what good looks like in this context and we present candidates who can genuinely hit the ground running in a law firm environment.

Finance in most Middle East international law firms operates as a standalone function, often led by a Finance Manager or Financial Controller who oversees a small team and works closely with both the local office leadership and a central finance function based in the firm's home jurisdiction. The person in this role needs to be technically strong, commercially aware and comfortable operating with a degree of autonomy. Finding that combination takes more than a job board search.

Every candidate we present comes with a thorough brief covering their technical background, their specific experience within law firm finance, their working style and our honest assessment of how well they fit your office and firm culture. We do not send high-volume CVs and leave you to sort through them. We do the work, take the screening load off your desk and stand behind every recommendation we make.

We have placed finance professionals across some of the region's most respected international law firms and maintained those relationships over many years. The more we understand your firm's financial structure, reporting lines and culture, the more precisely we can identify who will genuinely succeed within it.

Finance Assistant

Finance Coordinator

Billing Specialist

Revenue Controller

Finance Advisor

Finance Manager

Financial Controller

Finance professionals with genuine law firm experience are a specific and relatively contained talent pool. We know this pool well. The majority of candidates we work with for finance roles are already based in the Middle East, bringing familiarity with UAE financial regulations, local banking requirements and the particular compliance environment that international law firms in the region operate within.

Where a role requires international sourcing, we conduct a targeted search rather than a broad one. We are looking for candidates with direct law firm finance experience, an appetite for the Middle East and a realistic understanding of what the move involves. We will always give you an honest picture of the available talent and what it will take to secure the right person.

For candidates relocating to the region, we provide practical settlement support from day one. Advice on accommodation, introductions to people in our network, connections to communities and interests that will help them feel at home quickly. A candidate who arrives well-supported settles faster, performs better and stays longer.