Innovation & Emerging Technology Specialist

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP•New York, NY

3d•$190,000 - $205,000

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. The role focuses on improving the attorney practice experience and delivering value to clients by connecting emerging technologies with real-world legal workflows. It applies legal practice knowledge and judgment to ensure the Firm’s innovation portfolio addresses genuine attorney needs and advances legal service delivery. The Specialist engages attorneys and internal teams to understand workflows, assess potential solutions, manage pilots and product evaluations, and support implementation and adoption. The position also develops and refines an innovation roadmap, cultivates relationships with technology vendors and internal stakeholders, and promotes a culture of experimentation and continuous learning. The role is exempt and is not eligible for overtime pay.

Requirements

Proficiency with core business applications, such as the Microsoft 365 suite, 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.
Exceptional attention to detail and strong analytical, troubleshooting, organizational, and planning capabilities.
Proven 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.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively across 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 that should stop or reshape an initiative.
Flexibility to adjust working hours as needed to meet business demands.
Familiarity with strategic enterprise sales, change management methodologies, and stakeholder engagement best practices.
Bachelor’s degree required.
Minimum of five years of related experience at a law firm, legal technology company, or in-house legal department, including substantive experience with legal practice workflows and legal technology or innovation, with a background as an attorney, paralegal, or legal technologist.

Nice To Haves

Juris Doctor (JD) strongly preferred.
Experience with AI-powered legal tools or law firm innovation programs strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Engage with attorneys across practice groups and seniority levels to understand workflows, identify pain points, and uncover technology opportunities.
Evaluate potential innovations—including AI-powered tools and workflow platforms—for feasibility, strategic impact, ROI, and fit with the Firm’s technology portfolio; identify underlying needs and recommend appropriate solutions.
Synthesize findings for stakeholders, prioritize and sequence initiatives and vendor capabilities, and define actionable solutions.
Support the design and execution of pilots and product evaluations, including objectives, scope, timelines, budgets, success metrics, use cases, and risk mitigation strategies.
Manage stakeholder engagement and provide hands-on support to pilot groups, using ongoing feedback to improve pilots.
Develop and maintain project plans and allocate resources to meet milestones.
Help build 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 policies, security requirements, strategic priorities, and operational feasibility.
Identify, triage, and resolve risks and issues within the role’s scope, escalating material issues as appropriate.
Anticipate information-security and risk considerations and bring practice-informed proposals forward for review, distinguishing manageable implementation conditions from issues requiring escalation or redesign.
Support 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 for quantitative and qualitative insights.
Promote adoption through targeted communications, training, and ongoing support in partnership with practice groups and professional development teams.
Monitor usage analytics and user sentiment to optimize tools and engagement.
Build and maintain relationships with legal technology vendors, startups, and innovation partners to monitor market developments and identify relevant capabilities.
Cultivate trusted partnerships with attorneys and professional staff to align initiatives with user needs.
Promote innovation and continuous learning by amplifying attorney voices, 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 an internal network for timely, diverse feedback.
Develop and refine a structured innovation roadmap and portfolio, prioritizing opportunities and translating them into sequenced execution plans.
Support special projects and adapt to changing Firm priorities.
Use effective interpersonal, written, and verbal communication to build productive relationships across all levels.
Manage Firm resources responsibly and in accordance with operational policies and procedures.
Perform other related duties as assigned.