Dolby Careers Director, Legal Operations

Dolby•San Francisco, CA

15h•Hybrid

About The Position

Dolby is seeking a Director of Legal Operations to lead and enable a high-performing, data-driven, and technology-enabled Legal organization. This strategic leader will oversee the operational infrastructure supporting Dolby's global Legal organization, partnering with executive leaders across various departments. The role involves leading a team of legal operations professionals, driving operational excellence, transformation, and organizational effectiveness. Key areas of focus include strategy, planning, communications, technology roadmap, vendor management, and knowledge management. A critical aspect is identifying, implementing, and scaling emerging technologies, including generative AI, to enhance productivity, improve decision-making, reduce risk, and allow the department to focus on higher-value work. The ideal candidate will possess operational rigor, business acumen, change leadership, and a proven track record of leveraging technology and AI to transform legal service delivery in a complex global environment.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Information Systems, Legal Studies, or related field.
10+ years of progressive experience in Legal Operations, Legal Technology, Contract Administration, or related functions.
5+ years of people leadership experience managing high-performing teams.
Demonstrated success leading legal operations within a complex, global, publicly traded organization.
Direct experience implementing and scaling legal technology platforms, including CLM, e-billing, matter management, intellectual property systems, knowledge management tools, or similar technologies.
Proven experience evaluating, implementing, and driving adoption of AI-enabled solutions within legal, compliance, or corporate functions.
Strong understanding of AI governance, responsible AI principles, data privacy, information security, and regulatory considerations affecting legal technology.
Experience managing multimillion-dollar budgets, vendor relationships, and outside counsel programs.
Strong analytical, financial, project management, and change leadership skills.
Exceptional executive communication, stakeholder management, and influencing capabilities.

Nice To Haves

J.D., MBA, or other advanced degree.
Certification in Legal Operations, Project Management, Process Improvement, or Change Management.
Experience leading enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives.
Deep familiarity with generative AI platforms, legal AI solutions, workflow automation technologies, and emerging legal technology trends.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing legal operations team, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, inclusion, continuous learning, and operational excellence.
Build organizational capability in legal technology, process improvement, analytics, and AI adoption.
Partner with Legal leadership to define and execute the department's long-term strategic roadmap.
Drive change management initiatives that improve organizational effectiveness, scalability, and employee experience.
Establish annual objectives, key results, metrics, and operational priorities aligned with business goals.
Lead continuous improvement efforts across legal processes, services, and operating models.
Develop and lead the Legal organization's technology and AI strategy.
Identify, evaluate, implement, and govern legal technology platforms, including contract lifecycle management, e-billing, matter management, intellectual property systems, document automation, knowledge management, and AI-enabled legal solutions.
Champion responsible adoption of generative AI tools and workflows to improve efficiency, knowledge retrieval, contract review, legal research, matter management, drafting, and reporting.
Establish governance, risk management, security, compliance, and ethical use frameworks for AI-enabled legal technologies.
Partner with IT, Security, and Privacy teams to ensure legal technology solutions meet enterprise standards.
Monitor emerging legal technology and AI trends and recommend innovative solutions that create measurable business value.
Design and implement scalable processes, policies, and operating procedures that improve efficiency, service quality, and risk management across the Legal function.
Create and maintain operational frameworks that support a growing global legal organization.
Lead departmental planning, resource allocation, and operational governance activities.
Partner with Business Operations to oversee the Legal department's budget, forecasting, accrual management, and financial planning processes, including identifying cost optimization opportunities and improving spend transparency.
Manage outside counsel and legal service providers, including selection, performance oversight, fee negotiations, billing guideline compliance, and vendor governance.
Implement data-driven approaches to managing legal spend and maximizing return on external resources.
Lead enterprise-class knowledge management initiatives that improve access to legal expertise, templates, policies, playbooks, and institutional knowledge.
Implement AI-enabled knowledge discovery and content management capabilities that improve attorney productivity and consistency.
Promote standardization and reuse of legal resources across the global organization.
Lead Legal department employee engagement initiatives and large-scale organizational events, including all-employee meetings, leadership forums, and global summits.
Ensure employees are informed, aligned, and connected to department priorities and business objectives.
Build strong partnerships across Legal, Finance, IT, Security, Procurement, People & Places, and business organizations.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on operational strategy, technology investments, AI adoption, and organizational effectiveness.