Director, Legal Operations & Strategy

Western Union • Denver, CO

12d • $160,000 - $190,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a strategic and forward-thinking Director of Legal Operations to help take our legal function to the next level. This role is key to maturing our legal operations capabilities and delivering value across efficiency, innovation, and performance. You’ll work with a legal team of 100+ professionals around the world, anchored at our headquarters in Denver, Colorado, and help shape how we deliver legal services in a fast-changing global environment. Key Responsibilities Lead and evolve the Legal Operations function, managing core areas such as outside counsel management, budget and spend analytics, legal technology, process improvement, change management, and vendor management. Accelerate the implementation and adoption of our outside counsel panel, including performance tracking, relationship management, and cost optimization. Partner closely with legal leadership to identify and implement innovative tools and practices that enable attorneys and legal staff to work more effectively and efficiently. Develop and refine metrics and KPIs to measure performance, identify trends, and drive accountability across the legal department. Manage the department's financial planning, including budgeting, accruals, forecasting, and spend reporting. Support knowledge management, training, and process standardization initiatives across a global legal team. Collaborate with IT, Finance, Compliance, and business operations to align Legal Ops strategy with enterprise goals. Evaluate, implement, and strategically oversee legal technology solutions, such as e-billing, contract lifecycle management, and matter management systems. Drive the adoption of legal technologies, including AI-driven platforms, to streamline workflows and enhance data-driven decision-making. Why Join Us Western Union has connected people and enabled opportunity across borders for more than a century and a half. As our Director of Legal Operations, you’ll play a critical role in modernizing our global legal function—empowering lawyers, improving how we work, and ultimately helping our company continue to deliver trusted financial services at scale. We make financial services accessible to humans everywhere. Join us for what is next. Western Union is positioned to become the world’s most accessible financial services company transforming lives and communities. We are a diverse and passionate customer-centric team of over 8,000 employees serving 200 countries and territories, reaching customers and receivers around the globe. More than moving money, we design easy-to-use products and services for our digital and physical financial ecosystem that help our customers move forward. Just as we help our global customers prosper, we support our employees in achieving their professional aspirations. You will have plenty of opportunities to learn new skills and build a career, as well as receive a great compensation package. If you are ready to help drive the future of financial services, it is time for Western Union. Learn more about our purpose and people at https://careers.westernunion.com/ .

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience in legal operations, management consulting, or a related field; prior in-house legal department experience strongly preferred.
• Proven success leading a legal operations function at scale—ideally in a global, matrixed organization.
• Deep understanding of legal department operations, including outside counsel management, legal tech, e-billing, and process improvement.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and drive decisions.
• Effective communicator and collaborator across all levels of the organization.
• Proven track record of successfully building and leading teams.
• Familiarity with leading legal technologies and tools (e.g., CLM, eBilling, workflow automation).
• Demonstrated experience developing metrics and dashboards for workload analysis.
• Bachelor's degree required; JD or MBA a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead and evolve the Legal Operations function, managing core areas such as outside counsel management, budget and spend analytics, legal technology, process improvement, change management, and vendor management.
• Accelerate the implementation and adoption of our outside counsel panel, including performance tracking, relationship management, and cost optimization.
• Partner closely with legal leadership to identify and implement innovative tools and practices that enable attorneys and legal staff to work more effectively and efficiently.
• Develop and refine metrics and KPIs to measure performance, identify trends, and drive accountability across the legal department.
• Manage the department's financial planning, including budgeting, accruals, forecasting, and spend reporting.
• Support knowledge management, training, and process standardization initiatives across a global legal team.
• Collaborate with IT, Finance, Compliance, and business operations to align Legal Ops strategy with enterprise goals.
• Evaluate, implement, and strategically oversee legal technology solutions, such as e-billing, contract lifecycle management, and matter management systems.
• Drive the adoption of legal technologies, including AI-driven platforms, to streamline workflows and enhance data-driven decision-making.

Benefits

• You will also have access to short-term incentives, multiple health insurance options, accident and life insurance, and access to best-in-class development platforms, to name a few ( https://careers.westernunion.com/global-benefits/ ).
• Flexible Time off
• Medical, Dental and Life Insurance
• Tuition Assistance Program
• Parental Leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees