Legal Operations Manager

Overview:The Legal Operations Manager is responsible for leading the day-to-day operations and strategic initiatives of the Legal department. This role drives improvements to legal workflows and internal processes, optimizes legal technology, strengthens financial and performance management, and partners across the business to increase efficiency, consistency, and scalability. The manager will lead cross-functional projects, establish operating standards, and translate department priorities into sustainable solutions. A small portion of the role (less than 10%) will include overseeing logistics for legal-related meetings and occasional events.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation, governance, and continuous improvement of legal team processes, systems, and tools to increase efficiency, collaboration, and service delivery.
• Own legal budgeting, accrual tracking, forecasting, invoice review, and spend management processes for outside counsel and vendors; identify trends and opportunities for cost optimization.
• Oversee legal knowledge management, including templates, playbooks, policies, standard operating procedures, and internal documentation.
• Manage and optimize legal technology platforms, including e-billing, CoCounsel, Practical Law, document management, and e-discovery tools; serve as the business owner for enhancements, adoption, and vendor performance.
• Maintain reporting, dashboards, and analytics related to legal performance, key performance indicators, department goals, workload, and operational risk.
• Serve as a strategic liaison between Legal and cross-functional partners, including Finance, Strategic Sourcing, Information Technology, and other business stakeholders.
• Establish priorities, manage competing demands, and provide operational guidance and support to Paralegals, Immigration, Compliance, Data Privacy, and attorneys as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (B.A. or B.S.) required; advanced degree or relevant legal operations, project management, technology, or financial certification preferred.
• Five or more years of progressive experience in legal operations, business operations, project management, legal technology, or a related corporate function.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead complex, cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders at multiple levels of an organization.
• Experience with legal budgeting, outside counsel management, vendor management, reporting, and operational performance measurement.
• Strong understanding of legal technology and process design.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear recommendations and executive-ready updates.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data to identify trends, establish priorities, and improve department performance.