General Manager - Legal Operations

Location: Greater Noida WestEmployment Type: Full-time, On-siteExperience: 9–12 years post-qualification experience, including at least 5 years in a leadership/supervisory capacityAbout the RoleWe are looking for an experienced General Manager – Legal Operations. This is a senior legal leadership role that combines legal expertise, team leadership, client management, operational ownership, and delivery management. The person in this role will be responsible for ensuring that the right lawyers are working on the right matters, client work is delivered on time and to the required standard, legal queries are resolved effectively, and the legal team continues to build its capabilities.The role will work closely with the Founder and lead a team of Legal Associates.Key Responsibilities1. Legal Operations & DeliveryOwn end-to-end delivery of legal matters across ContractBazaar and retainer clients.Ensure client commitments and turnaround timelines are consistently met.Maintain clear visibility of all active matters, assigned lawyers, priorities and deadlines.Identify potential delays before they occur and take corrective action proactively.Establish and maintain turnaround standards for different types of legal matters.Balance team workload and capacity to ensure efficient utilisation without compromising quality.Identify structural causes of delays, including capacity constraints, unclear instructions or scope-related issues, and address them systematically.2. Team Leadership & People ManagementLead, mentor and develop the legal team.Understand individual lawyers' strengths, capabilities, experience and development areas.Allocate matters based on capability, complexity and development needs rather than simply availability.Review team performance using objective evidence such as delivery, quality, rework, client feedback and contribution to the legal knowledge base.Conduct structured performance reviews and provide clear feedback throughout the year.Identify performance or capability gaps early and implement appropriate improvement plans.Develop future leaders and ensure critical legal capabilities are not dependent on a single individual.3. Hiring & Team BuildingIdentify hiring requirements based on actual capability and workload gaps.Own the legal hiring process from sourcing and screening through technical assessment, reference checks and recommendations.Assess candidates on practical legal and commercial capabilities rather than relying solely on CVs.Evaluate candidates on:Commercial drafting and legal judgementWritten communicationAbility to handle clients independentlyRelevant legal domain expertiseProblem-solving and decision-making abilityBuild and maintain a network of reliable freelancers and contract lawyers to support capacity requirements when needed.4. Legal & Technical GuidanceAct as the first escalation point for complex legal and drafting questions.Resolve substantive legal queries rather than routinely passing them to external counsel.Personally review complex or high-exposure legal drafts.Establish consistent legal positions on recurring contractual and legal issues.Maintain and improve the organisation's template, clause and precedent library.Ensure the legal team works from current and approved templates and precedents.Track relevant legal and regulatory developments and translate them into practical guidance for the team.Key areas include commercial contracting, intellectual property, labour and employment law, MSMED matters, data protection, corporate compliance and related commercial legal matters.5. Capability Building & TrainingMaintain visibility of the team's capabilities across different legal practice areas.Identify individual and team-level capability gaps.Develop training plans based on actual business and legal requirements.Conduct internal training and mentoring, particularly on legal drafting and judgement.Ensure new joiners understand internal drafting standards, systems, templates and processes.Build a culture where learnings from individual matters are documented and accessible to the wider team.Develop sufficient internal capability so that critical knowledge is not concentrated with one person.6. SOPs, Systems & Process OptimisationBuild a legal operation that runs through clear systems rather than individual dependency.Develop, implement and maintain SOPs for key legal workflows.Establish clear processes.Maintain practical trackers for matters, workload, utilisation and delivery.Conduct regular operational reviews to identify causes of delays and rework.Standardise recurring legal work through templates, drafting notes and documented processes.Automate repetitive administrative work wherever practical while retaining human judgement for legal decisions.7. Client Management & EscalationsOwn client escalations relating to service quality, delivery, communication and legal work.Respond to client concerns promptly and professionally.Take ownership of serious client conversations where required.Understand the underlying issue before determining the appropriate resolution.Separate immediate client resolution from longer-term root-cause analysis.Ensure every significant escalation is documented and closed appropriately.Identify recurring causes of client dissatisfaction and implement corrective measures.Protect the professionalism of the organisation and the team while addressing internal performance issues separately.8. Commercial & Strategic Legal OperationsMonitor team capacity, utilisation and workload across clients and service lines.Identify upcoming capability and capacity requirements.Anticipate where the legal delivery model may face scalability challenges.Identify recurring client requirements that could be converted into templates, standardised services or structured offerings.Provide informed input on which types of legal work the business should pursue or decline based on capability and delivery considerations.Plan team capability and resource requirements with a longer-term view rather than responding only to immediate hiring needs.Balance legal quality, client expectations, team capacity and operational efficiency.Core Legal Expertise RequiredThe ideal candidate should have strong practical experience in the following areas:Commercial ContractsDrafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial agreementsMaster Service Agreements (MSAs)Statements of Work (SOWs)Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)Vendor and supply agreementsDistribution agreementsLicensing agreementsEmployment contractsCommercial risk assessment and negotiationIntellectual PropertyIP ownership, assignment and licensingConfidentiality and IP provisions in commercial agreementsTrademark and copyright fundamentalsProtection of client IP in business deliverablesLegal NoticesDemand noticesBreach noticesTermination noticesRecovery noticesReplies to legal noticesJudgement regarding when and how a legal notice should be issuedMSMEDUdyam eligibility45-day payment frameworkAcceptance and deemed acceptanceStatutory interestSamadhaanFacilitation Council proceedingsLabour & Employment LawAppointment lettersWage structuresDeductionsAppraisals and incrementsTermination and retrenchmentPOSHRelevant Labour CodesCorporate & Secretarial MattersCompany law complianceBoard and shareholder documentationStatutory filingsAbility to identify matters requiring specialist legal inputWhat We Are Looking ForLLB is essential.Company Secretary qualification is preferred.Enrolment as an Advocate is preferred.9–12 years of post-qualification legal experience. At least 5 years of experience leading/supervisingStrong experience in commercial contracts and corporate legal work.Demonstrated ability to manage a legal team or legal service line.Ability to independently assess legal risk and take a position on complex contractual clauses.Strong written and verbal communication skills.Ability to work with operational metrics including utilisation, turnaround time, capacity and retainer scope.Experience building and implementing SOPs, trackers, templates and legal processes.Demonstrated ability to hire, assess, develop and, where necessary, reassign team members based on capability and business requirements.Strong judgement in distinguishing between legal, commercial and operational issues.Ability to balance legal quality with business and client requirements.The Ideal CandidateThe ideal candidate is someone who can operate comfortably at the intersection of law, people and business.You should be able to move between reviewing a complex commercial contract, advising a lawyer on a difficult legal issue, discussing a delivery concern with a client, reviewing team utilisation, and identifying a capability gap that requires hiring or training.You should be someone who builds capability rather than simply absorbing difficult work yourself, communicates problems early, and creates systems that continue to work without constant individual intervention.What This Role Does Not IncludeThis role is focused on legal delivery, legal operations and team leadership. It does not own:Pricing of retainers or packagesCommercial negotiation of client feesBusiness development targets or new client acquisitionCourt, tribunal or forum appearancesFundraising, cap table or board mattersFinal approval of hiring, exits, compensation or incrementsThe role will, however, provide recommendations and legal/operational input on matters requiring Director-level approval.Why Join Us?You will have significant ownership over:Legal team capabilityMatter allocation and deliveryLegal qualityClient experienceHiring and team developmentLegal knowledge systemsOperational processesCapacity planningContinuous improvementIf you are an experienced legal professional who wants to move beyond individual matter handling and take ownership of how an entire legal delivery function operates and scales, this role is designed for you.