Paralegal/Legal Operations Manager Construction and Real Estate

Plante Moran•Southfield, MI

2d•$80,000 - $110,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Our "we-care" culture is more than just a motto; it's a promise. From day one, we prioritize your growth, well-being, and success. You can count on us to support your career journey and help you achieve your professional goals. Join us. We are seeking a highly organized and business-minded Paralegal to support in house counsel across a broad range of operational, administrative, and substantive legal priorities. This role serves as a trusted partner to legal leadership, helping drive department effectiveness, manage legal workflows, improve processes, and support construction and real estate legal matters. The ideal candidate brings strong judgment, operational discipline, and the ability to balance day-to-day legal support and research with longer-term department planning. This person will help create structure, surface urgent issues for leadership attention, manage routine legal and research matters, and build the systems and processes that enable the legal team to operate efficiently and strategically. This includes: Provide support to the Legal team by reviewing, preparing, and administering construction and real estate contracts and related documents. Assist contract templates and documents, RFP materials, amendments, NDAs, board memos, and other correspondence; proofread for accuracy and consistency. Maintain organized legal files and client records so documents are properly stored, current, and easy to retrieve. Provide administrative support (calendars, scheduling, meeting coordination, proofreading). Assist Corporate Counsel with business transactions, legal research, and discovery support, while following corporate policies and applicable regulations. If you’re organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities, and like contracts this role is for you!

Requirements

4+ years of relevant paralegal experience or a comparable role within a law firm or corporate legal department; experience supporting construction and/or real estate matters is strongly preferred.
Associates’ degree required; paralegal studies, legal studies, business administration, or a related field preferred.
Demonstrated understanding of legal contract workflows, legal documentation, and risk identification, with the ability to exercise sound judgment and escalate issues appropriately.
Proven ability to create structure, manage multiple priorities, support executive-level leaders, and drive process improvements in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to prepare polished materials, handle sensitive information with discretion, and work effectively across legal, executive, and business teams.
Excellent organizational skills, strong attention to detail, and the ability to independently manage logistics, follow-through, and administrative complexity for senior leaders.
Experience with Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and legal or contract management systems; comfort with process tools, trackers, and reporting is preferred.

Responsibilities

Serve as a strategic partner and chief of staff to the General Counsel and other senior legal leaders, helping prioritize work, manage departmental operations, and support execution of key initiatives.
Review engagement letters, contracts, and related legal documents for conformity to internal standards; identify key issues, elevate urgent or higher-risk matters, and support timely resolution of routine legal requests.
Act as an operational hub for the legal department by fielding one-off questions, coordinating follow-up, organizing priorities, and ensuring leadership has visibility into active matters, deadlines, and decisions.
Build, refine, and manage legal department processes, systems, templates, trackers, and workflows to improve efficiency, consistency, scalability, and service delivery across the organization.
Coordinate calendars, meetings, agendas, materials, and follow-up for legal leadership; help drive execution on strategic priorities and ensure behind-the-scenes logistics are managed effectively.
Support construction, real estate, and other business matters by assisting with contract administration, legal research, document preparation, regulatory tracking, and coordination with internal stakeholders and outside counsel as needed.
Prepare summaries, briefing materials, board memos, training materials, and internal communications to support legal leadership decision-making and cross-functional alignment.
Maintain organized legal files, records, and matter documentation, ensuring information is current, accessible, and managed in accordance with company standards and applicable requirements.
Complete paperwork and maintain records to support licensing and regulatory compliance.