Senior Manager, Legal Project Management

Goodwin•Washington, DC

2d•$200,000

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Legal Project Management partners with partners and fee earners across assigned practice groups and sectors to improve matter delivery, commercial discipline, and client transparency. Working closely with the Head of LPM and the Client Value & Pricing team, this role embeds legal project management into the firm’s delivery of legal work. The role leads end-to-end legal project management for complex, high-value matters; supports planning, budgeting, resourcing, risk management, and client communications; and collaborates on pricing and business development. It also promotes AI, automation, data-driven forecasting, and process improvement. As an early hire in a new function, the Senior Manager will help establish its operating model, tools, frameworks, training materials, and ways of working, while mentoring junior team members as the function grows.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in legal project management, legal operations, or a related role in a law firm, in-house legal team, or professional services environment.
Demonstrated experience embedding legal project management in a nascent environment, including with partners who have not previously used it.
Expertise in project management fundamentals and change leadership.
Strong commercial mindset and deep expertise in alternative fee arrangements, matter budgeting, profitability analysis, and commercial risk management.
Strong analytical and financial acumen, including the ability to interrogate data, build models, and make commercial recommendations.
Hands-on experience with legal technology platforms, such as workflow automation, collaboration, matter management, and business intelligence or reporting tools.
Exceptional stakeholder management skills and the ability to influence and build credibility with senior partners and demanding clients.
Ability to set a vision and bring others along.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to design thinking, Lean, Agile, or Six Sigma methodologies.
Prior involvement in training, coaching, or change management initiatives.
PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent project management certification.
Genuine curiosity about AI and emerging technology.

Responsibilities

Build advisory relationships with partners and senior associates and engage at matter inception to shape scope, resourcing, risk mitigation, and fee structures.
Collaborate with the Pricing team to provide integrated pricing and project management solutions.
Support new business development, client pitches, and fee discussions with commercial insight and innovative approaches.
Lead end-to-end legal project management support for complex, high-value matters, delivering work within scope, budget, and timelines while protecting profitability.
Review completed matters to capture lessons learned and best practices.
Lead commercial discussions about scope changes, budget risks, and profitability, identifying and addressing issues proactively.
Develop and maintain matter plans, budgets, and resource trackers that provide partners and clients with visibility into matter health.
Build direct client relationships and communicate matter progress, budget status, and delivery timelines transparently.
Develop and use real-time dashboards for client transparency and risk management.
Communicate delivery performance to clients through value reports and post-engagement reviews.
Promote the adoption of AI, automation, and data tools for matter planning, tracking, and reporting.
Contribute to predictive budgeting models and data-driven forecasting tools.
Use design thinking and process improvement to develop scalable matter-scoping and management templates and workflows.
Help create the legal project management operating model, toolkit, and ways of working for the new function.
Develop frameworks, playbooks, and training materials for the function.
Mentor junior team members and foster collaboration and innovation.