Director, Legal Talent Strategy, Planning and Operations
About The Position
The Director of Legal Talent Strategy, Planning and Operations serves as a strategic partner, operational lead, and trusted advisor to the Chief Legal Talent Officer (CLTO). The role leads coordination of functional activities, operations, and people-related matters across Legal Talent, including Operations & Administration, Legal Talent Technology, Training & Development, Integration, Legal Recruiting, Partner Development & Administration, and Inclusion. Reporting directly to the CLTO, the Director serves on the CLTO’s Leadership Team and helps foster continuous improvement, collaboration, and professional development within the department. In partnership with the CLTO and functional leaders, this position develops and implements strategic plans and initiatives to standardize, streamline, and enhance support for the Legal Talent function. It leads cross-functional coordination and high-priority initiatives, prepares executive communications and presentations, and translates strategic priorities into actionable plans and measurable outcomes. This is a transformation role focused on identifying and implementing technologies, systems, and ways of working that position Legal Talent as a modern, data-driven function. The Director leads the Legal Talent team’s technology and AI transformation agenda and, with the Senior Manager of Legal Talent Technology & Analytics, serves as Legal Talent’s liaison to the Firm’s Information Technology and Knowledge & Innovation functions. The role also supports professional staff recruiting, onboarding, training, career progression, performance management, succession planning, and workflow management across Legal Talent. It requires an understanding of big law or complex, highly matrixed organizations and extensive collaboration with partners across Information Technology, Human Resources, Knowledge & Innovation, Client Development & Engagement, Regional Administration, and Practice Management.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree.
- Minimum of 15 years of comparable experience in professional services, consulting, legal operations, or a related field is strongly preferred.
- Well-honed business acumen, financial and analytical skills, and ability to develop short- and long-term strategic and operational plans from broadly stated objectives.
- Ability to prioritize and manage multiple operational initiatives simultaneously, including business transformation or service-model shifts and significant real estate or construction projects.
- Outstanding interpersonal skills and ability to lead through influence, champion new ideas and approaches, and build consensus-based support for business strategies and decisions.
- Excellent presentation, writing, and verbal communication skills, including the ability to interact credibly and diplomatically with all organizational levels and the outside community and tailor communications to different audiences.
- Demonstrated success managing, mentoring, and developing a team of top-tier professionals.
- Self-starter and team player with effective collaboration skills.
- Proven track record of driving continuous improvement, innovation, and optimization.
- Excellent project management skills and ability to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Understanding of big law or complex, highly matrixed organizational environments.
- Ability to exercise sound judgment, diplomacy, and discretion when handling sensitive issues and confidential information.
Nice To Haves
- JD, MBA, or equivalent advanced degree.
Responsibilities
- Serve on the Chief Legal Talent Officer’s Leadership Team, collectively responsible for Legal Operations & Administration, Training & Development, Integration, Legal Recruiting, Partner Development & Administration, and Inclusion.
- Partner with the CLTO and functional leaders to develop and implement strategic plans and initiatives that standardize, streamline, and enhance operational support for the attorney population.
- Translate department priorities into project plans with clear owners, timelines, and deliverables; track progress, ensure accountability, and escalate issues to the CLTO.
- Coordinate across Legal Talent functions to reduce duplication and inefficiencies, and support the function’s strategic evolution and alignment with Firm-wide initiatives.
- Evaluate workflows and reporting, identify opportunities to standardize and streamline, coordinate implementation of new processes and systems, and provide communications and training for impacted teams.
- Develop and maintain a centralized repository of process documents, playbooks, templates, and standard operating procedures.
- In coordination with functional leaders and the Senior Manager of Legal Talent Technology and Analytics, co-lead project teams and evaluate prospective vendors and commercial terms.
- Coordinate with appropriate Firm departments on contract reviews and renewals, and oversee vendor relationships and performance.
- Partner with functional leadership to manage departmental financial and headcount budgets, forecasting, and annual planning; review monthly expenses and address variances with the CLTO.
- Analyze talent data and metrics, improve data accuracy and consistency with relevant teams, and benchmark Legal Talent structure, staffing, and practices against peer firms and the market.
- Prepare briefing materials, presentations, talking points, reports, Firm leadership updates, and other written communications for senior audiences.
- Support leadership meeting agenda development, planning, and follow-up; draft communications about Legal Talent initiatives, policy changes, and strategic priorities.
- Build stakeholder relationships and facilitate alignment across legal talent, attorney development, recruiting, practice group leadership, operations, and Firm administration, using sound judgment and discretion with sensitive and confidential matters.
- Lead the Legal Talent team’s technology and AI transformation agenda, identifying, evaluating, piloting, and scaling technologies that enhance operations and value delivery.
- With the Senior Manager of Legal Talent Technology & Analytics, serve as Legal Talent’s liaison to the Firm’s Information Technology and Knowledge & Innovation functions and represent, prioritize, and deliver Legal Talent technology needs in partnership with Firm-wide infrastructure.
- Partner with functional leadership on recruiting and hiring processes for Legal Talent professional staff roles.
- Design and implement onboarding programs across Legal Talent departments.
- Develop and oversee training and professional development initiatives for Legal Talent professional staff.
- Support career progression, competency models, mentoring, performance management, and succession planning across the team.
- Regularly review Legal Talent Team operations and use technology-enabled workflows to promote efficiency, clear roles and responsibilities, and cross-functional collaboration.
- Model and reinforce a culture of professional excellence, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and continuous improvement; build consensus, champion new ideas, and drive behavioral change across Legal Talent and the broader Firm.
- Manage, mentor, and develop a team of professionals.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
