Office Administrator

DLA Piper•Palo Alto, CA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Office Administrator, working in collaboration with and in support of the firm’s strategic initiatives, serves as an essential leader within DLA Piper, driving administrative excellence and fostering a positive work environment. The Office Administrator embodies the core values of boldness, exceptional service, collaboration, and support, serving as a cornerstone of the firm's operational and strategic goals. The Office administrator will be engaging directly with senior leadership, clients, and external stakeholders, this role serves as a key connector between strategic vision and day-to-day execution. The Office Administrator is instrumental in translating organizational goals into actionable outcomes, championing continuous improvement, and cultivating a high-performance culture that reflects the firm’s values and priorities.

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to assume a leadership role and make decisions while fostering a teamwork environment.
Ability to adapt to changing priorities and maintain a productive and committed work effort, meeting deadlines and managing workload.
Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and professionally, both orally and in writing.
Demonstrated ability to provide quality client service to both internal and external contacts regarding administrative matters of a complex nature.
Requires patience, creativity, discretion, and the ability to negotiate and influence change.
Demonstrated ability to effectively supervise others, including hiring, training, assigning work, managing performance, and counseling.
Ability to lead others in the development of a cohesive, effective work unit.
Basic understanding of local and national labor laws, HR practices, and legal requirements.
Possess knowledge of basic accounting and budgeting principles and the ability to track, organize, analyze, and report financial data clearly.
Elevated level of knowledge of MS Suite to prepare a variety of business communications.
High School Diploma or GED.
6 years’ management experience in a professional services or law firm environment, preferred.
Experience with facilities management to include design, construction, contract negotiations and project management a plus.
Knowledge of basic accounting principles to include budget management required.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Finance or related field.

Responsibilities

Directs, manages, and oversees the daily administrative business functions of the office.
Represents and supports firm decisions and initiatives, managing through change.
Plans and facilitates office core management team meetings to ensure collaboration on operational excellence.
Manages, advises, and mentors direct reports, including compensation planning, performance evaluations and onboarding.
Holds individual meetings with each direct report for at least 30 minutes every month.
Reports and communicates with Director of Administration, relaying information and escalating office needs, employee relations, or other issues/challenges in a timely manner.
Influences across departments and senior staff.
Regularly interacts and engages with office lawyers to ensure strong practice support and proactively identify and address needs, sharing feedback across departments for continuous improvement.
Manages, facilitates, and supports lateral integration ensuring effective collaboration of firm resources for successful practice integration into the firm.
Plans, attends, and prepares agenda and materials for partner meetings, presenting on business and financial matters, as needed.
Partners with talent acquisition, practice group, and/or local office partners for lateral recruiting efforts and initiatives and onboarding of new associates.
Collaborates with OMP and marketing and business development on office marketing budget and client-facing and business development opportunities, which may include managing contracts for strategic utilization of sports tickets to maximize ROI.
Partners with various departments on office events and initiatives to maximize engagement and build/maintain a positive office culture.
Helps improve the firm's brand recognition in the community through civic involvement and local networking and collaborating with the firm’s Alumni team.
Partners with the firm's Real Estate leadership team and Operations on space planning to include refurbishing projects, moves, subleasing, space layout, plan review, construction RFPs and construction management and external use of office space.
Participates in firmwide initiatives with department leadership and senior management.
Serves as a key partner to the Director of Administration, contributing to one or more strategic functional areas within the department, which may include: Attorney & Business Professional Relationship Management, Process Improvement & Technology (AI), Communications & Leadership Liaison, Talent Management: Recruiting, Training & Development.
Manages complex workflows and broader impact.
In alignment with firm initiatives, supports and drives efforts around billing and collections to optimize cash conversion and meet office goals.
Works collaboratively with Practice Group Directors to partner with lawyers to ensure the implementation of best practices in fiscal management.
Prepares, analyzes, and maintains accurate office administration and related office budgets for all areas of responsibility.
Effectively communicate, verbally and in writing, with clients, lawyers, business professionals, and third parties.
Produce deliverables, answer phone calls, and reply to correspondence in an efficient and responsive manner.
Provide timely, accurate, and quality work product.
Successfully meet deadlines, expectations, and perform work duties as required.
Foster positive work relationships.
Comply with all firm policies and practices.
Engage in both physical and sedentary activity, such as (a) working at a computer for extended periods of time, including on-screen reading and typing; (b) participating in digital/virtual conference calls; (c) participating in meetings as needed.
Ability to work under pressure and manage competing demands in a fast-paced environment.
Perform all other duties, tasks or projects as assigned.