Director, Legal Engineering
About The Position
The Director, Legal Engineering will lead Legora’s Legal Engineering function on the West Coast, based in the San Francisco office. Reporting to the Head of Legal Engineering, North America, the Director will set the function’s quality bar, build and develop the team and Team Lead layer, partner with Go-to-Market and Engagement, lead selected high-stakes client engagements, and turn local learning into scalable North American playbooks. This Director-level leadership role focuses primarily on the quality and performance of the team and operating system. The Director will remain close enough to the product and client work to coach credibly while prioritizing hiring, leadership development, senior client relationships, market strategy, and cross-functional execution. The role has autonomy to shape Legal Engineering in a strategically important market while remaining connected to Legora’s North American and global standards.
Requirements
- Qualified lawyer with a JD and admission to at least one US bar.
- Substantial experience in legal practice, legal operations, or legal technology.
- Strong understanding of how sophisticated law firms and in-house legal teams make decisions.
- Evidence of having built a team, function, market, or new operating model from a low base, including what the candidate personally decided and what continued to work without them.
- Experience managing and developing strong people, ideally including managers or Team Leads.
- Ability to learn a product platform, challenge use-case design, and coach credible client work; software engineering experience is not required.
- Ability to work effectively with Managing Partners, General Counsels, and executive teams, as well as with people doing the work.
- Understanding of the commercial realities of legal services and enterprise software, and ability to connect Legal Engineering to pipeline, client value, adoption, usage, and revenue.
- Ability to bring structure to ambiguity and build operating systems that improve speed and quality without unnecessary process.
- Strong hiring and performance judgment, including the ability to attract high-calibre people, develop them, and protect performance standards.
- Based in the San Francisco Bay Area and able to work from the San Francisco office five days per week.
- Ability to travel for strategic clients, market development, and team leadership.
Nice To Haves
- Experience managing or developing managers or Team Leads.
- Background in a leading law firm, in-house legal function, legal operations, legal innovation, professional services, or legal technology.
Responsibilities
- Lead the West Coast Legal Engineering function from the San Francisco office, including its operating rhythm, quality bar, capacity model, and local partnership with Go-to-Market and Engagement.
- Hire Legal Engineers and future leaders, owning hiring from sourcing and interview calibration through closing, onboarding, and ramp.
- Build and develop a Team Lead layer, delegate decision rights, and create clear succession paths.
- Give direct, evidence-based feedback, coach team members, set expectations, and act decisively when performance or values standards are not met.
- Partner with West Coast commercial leadership on priority accounts, pilots, rollouts, and escalations, connecting Legal Engineering activity to conversion, adoption, usage, expansion, and revenue.
- Lead selected enterprise engagements as the legal architect, translating legal problems into Legora workflows and turning successful delivery into reusable playbooks.
- Oversee complex, multi-stakeholder programs with clear governance, owners, outcomes, leading indicators, and risk management.
- Build trusted relationships with Managing Partners, General Counsels, Heads of Innovation, Legal Operations leaders, and other senior stakeholders.
- Represent the market’s voice within Legora by translating recurring client patterns and product gaps into actionable input for Product.
- Shape Legora’s perspective on AI and legal work in the Bay Area and across the West Coast through client forums, events, writing, and practical market insight.
- Create effective handoffs across Go-to-Market, Legal Engineering, and Engagement.
- Own hiring quality, talent development, accountability, delegation, operating rhythms, team culture, and performance standards.
Benefits
- Comprehensive salary and benefits package.
- Medical insurance with multiple plan options through Aetna and Kaiser Permanente.
- HSA or Healthcare FSA, depending on plan selection.
- Dental insurance through MetLife.
- Vision insurance.
- Generous parental leave.
- Free access to Maven Clinic.
- Dependent Care FSA.
- Free One Medical membership for employees and dependents.
- Pre-tax commuter benefits.
- Life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage.
- 401(k) with generous company match.
- Unlimited PTO.
- Voluntary benefits including identity protection, legal coverage, and pet savings programs.
- Tools for success.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
No Education Listed
