Director, Business Operations (Administration)

Goodwin•Washington, DC

1d•$180,000 - $275,000

About The Position

Join Goodwin’s Global Operations Team, and make a real impact on a global scale. At Goodwin, we work with some of the world’s most successful and innovative investors, entrepreneurs and disruptors in the life sciences, private equity, real estate, technology and financial industries, and where they converge. As part of the Global Operations Team – all business professionals at the firm – you’ll collaborate with colleagues from varied backgrounds and experiences, fostering an environment where cross-functional learning, networking, and collaboration are at the core of what we do. Here, we’re not just supporting a law firm; we’re partnering with attorneys and clients to deliver cutting-edge solutions in high-stakes litigation and dispute resolution, world-class regulatory compliance and advisory services, and complex transactions. Our commitment to integrity, ingenuity, agility, and ambition drives us, and we’re proud to have been recognised as the “Best Business Team” by The American Lawyer. This is your opportunity to grow professionally in a dynamic, global environment, surrounded by forward-thinking peers. The Director, Business Operations supports the Managing Director, Administration by driving and delivering high-impact initiatives across Administration, including office operations, facilities, space planning, and procurement. This role leads small and large-scale projects end-to-end, partners closely with the firm’s Transformation PMO and cross-functional project managers as well as Administration colleagues, and helps expand service offerings, improve service quality, and increase operational efficiency. The Director operates effectively in a matrixed environment, leading without formal authority and providing executive-ready business cases, concise status reporting, and clear visibility into progress, risks, decisions, and outcomes.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required (Business Administration, Operations, Finance, or related field preferred); advanced degree a plus.
10+ years of progressive experience in business operations, program/project management, management consulting, or a related role, with demonstrated success delivering complex, cross-functional initiatives.
Experience in professional services and/or a complex, multi-site global organization preferred; exposure to office operations, facilities/space planning, and procurement/vendor management strongly preferred.
PMP, Lean/Six Sigma, or similar certification preferred; proficiency with standard business applications (Excel, PowerPoint) and project tools (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, Jira, or equivalent) a plus.
Demonstrated ability to lead without formal authority, influence stakeholders, and drive accountability in a matrixed, cross-functional environment.
Outstanding project and program management skills, including scope definition, work planning, dependency management, risk/issue management, change control, and on-time/on-budget delivery across multiple concurrent initiatives.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information into executive-ready business cases, concise updates, and clear decision points.
Ability to track progress and change using both quantitative and qualitative methods, and to translate insights into actions that improve efficiency, service quality, and stakeholder experience.
Strong facilitation, coaching, and change leadership skills; ability to train, motivate, and enable others to adopt new processes, tools, and ways of working.

Responsibilities

Proactively identify bottlenecks across the Administration and other GO Team functions and drive operational improvements across Administration.
Lead a portfolio from small to large-scale Administration initiatives (office operations, facilities, space planning, and procurement) from scoping through implementation, benefits realization, and handoff to operations.
Build integrated project plans (scope, requirements, timelines, milestones, dependencies, resourcing, communications, and governance) and drive disciplined execution across multiple concurrent workstreams.
Develop executive-ready business cases and decision materials, including problem statements, options, financials (costs/savings/avoidance), risks, and implementation considerations.
Provide concise, accurate, and timely status, issue, and decision reporting for senior leadership; maintain dashboards that communicate progress, risks, budget, and upcoming milestones.
Identify risks, constraints, and interdependencies early; proactively remove execution bottlenecks, escalate as needed, and drive alignment on tradeoffs.
Partner with the firm’s Transformation PMO and project managers in other functions to support firmwide initiatives, ensuring Administration workstreams are integrated, sequenced, and executed effectively.
Track progress and change using objective and subjective measures (e.g., KPIs, service levels, adoption, stakeholder feedback); document lessons learned and drive standardization and continuous improvement.
Operational and project budgets across the Administration business unit including developing, reviewing, tracking expenditures and preparing timely, accurate budget reports.
Partners with FP&A and Administration colleagues to reconcile discrepancies.