Department Operations Specialist - IP Department

Polsinelli • Kansas City, MO

2d • Onsite

About The Position

Polsinelli is seeking a Department Operations Specialist to support the IP Department in either its Kansas City or St. Louis office. The role supports and enhances the department’s business and operational functions for legal-service delivery, including business operations, financial management, project oversight, and strategic initiatives. It works closely with department leadership and serves as a liaison among attorneys, administrative teams, and firmwide functions such as Finance, HR, Innovation, Marketing, Recruiting, and Professional Development. The specialist helps translate operational, financial, and strategic goals into measurable outcomes through analysis, budget management, project management, and scheduling. The ideal candidate is proactive, analytical, detail-oriented, collaborative, and comfortable managing multiple initiatives.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• At least 5 years of experience in business operations, financial or data analysis, or project management; ideally within a legal environment.
• Experience with budgets and financial reporting processes.
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Exceptional organizational and scheduling skills, including experience coordinating complex department calendars and priorities.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and provide meaningful insights.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, precision, and attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Experience with document management systems such as iManage and time and billing platforms is preferred.

Nice To Haves

• Concentration in business, finance, or accounting.
• Experience in a legal environment.
• Intellectual Property experience.
• Familiarity with project management or reporting tools such as Monday.com, Power BI, or Smartsheet.
• Experience with document management systems such as iManage and time and billing platforms.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Director to design, implement, and enhance procedures, workflows, and reporting mechanisms that improve efficiency and performance.
• Serve as an interface between the Department and administrative functions, supporting alignment, communication, and execution of priorities.
• Develop and maintain department and practice group calendars, meeting schedules, reporting cadences, and planning sessions.
• Support management and oversight of the Department budget, including forecasting, expense tracking, and variance analysis.
• Conduct financial and operational analyses to identify trends, evaluate performance, and provide actionable insights for leadership.
• Partner with the Director to prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for Department and Firm leadership.
• Collaborate with Finance and Accounting to align department budgets and expenditures with firm financial goals.
• Coordinate department initiatives, ensuring projects are scoped, prioritized, and executed within established timelines and objectives.
• Support development of project plans, track progress, and facilitate collaboration across teams.
• Provide project updates to Department leadership, summarizing milestones, risks, and key results.
• Support implementation of initiatives focused on technology adoption, process improvement, and client service enhancement.
• Create and maintain operations metrics, dashboards, and reports to support data-driven recommendations and decision-making.
• Coordinate department and practice group meetings, retreats, and planning sessions, including preparing agendas and materials and tracking follow-up actions.
• Support attorney and staff onboarding, offboarding, and integration processes.
• Act as a liaison between the Department and firm departments such as Finance, HR, Innovation, Marketing, Recruiting, and Professional Development.
• Work with a geographically dispersed, multidisciplinary team on department and firmwide initiatives.
• Establish and maintain a project management cadence to track progress and share updates across relevant teams.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level