Innovation & Emerging Technology Specialist

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP•New York, NY

About The Position

The Innovation & Emerging Technology Specialist supports Cleary Gottlieb’s legal innovation initiatives by identifying, evaluating, prioritizing, and deploying available and emerging technology solutions—including generative AI—that improve the attorney practice experience and deliver value to clients. The Specialist connects emerging technologies with real-world legal workflows, applying legal practice knowledge and judgment to ensure the Firm’s innovation portfolio addresses genuine attorney needs and advances legal service delivery. The role evaluates potential innovations for feasibility, strategic impact, return on investment, and fit with the Firm’s technology portfolio. It supports proof-of-concept pilots and product evaluations, coordinates cross-functional stakeholders, develops business cases and project plans, and contributes recommendations on portfolio priorities and governance. The Specialist also supports solution implementation and adoption through workflow integration, user experience and documentation, launch communications, training, support, and ongoing analysis of usage and user feedback. The Specialist builds relationships with attorneys, professional staff, vendors, startups, and innovation partners; monitors developments in emerging technologies; and translates relevant trends into actionable recommendations. The role also develops and refines an innovation roadmap, supports special projects, manages Firm resources responsibly, and performs other related duties as assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
Minimum of five years of related experience at a law firm, legal technology company, or in-house legal department.
Substantive experience with legal practice workflows and legal technology or innovation, with a background as an attorney, paralegal, or legal technologist.
Proficiency with core business applications such as Microsoft 365 and ability to quickly learn new software, platforms, and operating systems.
Strong understanding of the legal technology landscape, including generative and extractive AI, AI/ML tools, document automation, legal knowledge and research tools, and legal analytics platforms.
Demonstrated experience with legal practice process improvement and technology-driven transformation, including the ability to identify underlying problems, ask appropriate questions, challenge or redirect requests, and distinguish meaningful capabilities from incremental or duplicative technology.
Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
Strong attention to detail, analytical and troubleshooting skills, and organizational and planning capabilities.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and shifting priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Sound judgment and discretion when handling complex, sensitive, or confidential matters, including the ability to anticipate legal-workflow implications and make well-reasoned decisions with appropriate independence.
Self-directed and collaborative, with the ability to work independently and as part of cross-functional teams.
Ability to navigate Information Security and Risk review processes with practice-informed judgment, identify red flags, contextualize proposed uses, anticipate review questions, and distinguish manageable implementation conditions from issues requiring an initiative to stop or change.
Flexibility to adjust working hours as needed to meet business demands.

Nice To Haves

JD strongly preferred.
Experience with AI-powered legal tools or law firm innovation programs strongly preferred.
Familiarity with strategic enterprise sales, change management methodologies, and stakeholder engagement best practices.

Responsibilities

Engage with attorneys across practice groups and seniority levels to understand workflows, identify pain points, and uncover technology-driven improvement opportunities.
Evaluate potential innovations, including AI-powered tools and workflow platforms, for feasibility, strategic impact, ROI, and fit with the Firm’s technology portfolio; distinguish underlying practice needs from proposed solutions and vendor claims.
Synthesize findings, communicate recommendations, and prioritize and sequence initiatives based on attorney need, feasibility, adoption readiness, risk, and Firm value.
Support the design and execution of pilots and product evaluations, defining objectives, scope, timelines, budgets, success metrics, use cases, and risk mitigation strategies.
Manage stakeholder engagement and provide hands-on support to pilot groups, using feedback to iterate and improve solutions.
Develop and maintain project plans and coordinate resources to meet milestones.
Assist in developing business cases for technology investments and provide leadership with recommendations and governance input on portfolio tradeoffs, sequencing, resource allocation, and value propositions.
Partner with internal teams to align initiatives with Firm policies, security requirements, strategic priorities, and operational feasibility.
Identify, triage, and resolve risks and issues within the role’s scope; escalate material issues as appropriate and anticipate information security and risk considerations.
Support the implementation, deployment, and adoption of legal technology solutions in collaboration with internal teams.
Anticipate adoption challenges and design intuitive user experiences and clear documentation.
Contribute to internal product launch strategies, cultivate champions, and establish feedback loops that gather quantitative and qualitative insights.
Partner with practice groups and professional development teams to promote adoption through targeted communications, training, and ongoing support.
Monitor usage analytics and user sentiment to optimize tools and engagement.
Build and maintain relationships with legal technology vendors, startups, innovation partners, attorneys, and professional staff.
Promote innovation and continuous learning by amplifying attorney perspectives, sharing insights, and encouraging experimentation.
Stay current on emerging technologies, including large language models, machine learning, and legal-specific AI, and translate trends into recommendations.
Identify unmet needs and propose forward-looking solutions; build a broad internal network to gather timely, diverse feedback.
Develop and continuously refine a structured innovation roadmap and portfolio, translating priorities into sequenced execution plans.
Support special projects and adapt to changing Firm priorities.
Build productive working relationships through effective interpersonal, written, and verbal communication.
Manage Firm resources responsibly and in accordance with operational policies and procedures.
Perform other related duties as assigned.