Senior Manager of Career Counseling

Cooley LLP • Washington, DC

3d • $155,000 - $225,000

About The Position

Cooley is seeking a Senior Manager of Career Counseling to build and lead the Cooley Career Counseling Office, a resource hub supporting attorneys exploring or preparing for career paths beyond the firm. The role provides personalized job-search support, tools, connections to external opportunities, and curated programming to help attorneys identify and pursue fulfilling next steps. The Senior Manager will advise attorneys through career exploration and transitions, develop external opportunity resources and programs, support the secondment program, integrate career services with alumni and client relationships, and share market insights with Legal Talent and firm leadership. The role also supervises and mentors direct reports and supports their professional development and employment lifecycle activities.

Requirements

• After orientation at Cooley LLP, demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft Office, iManage, and other firm applications.
• Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours as required.
• Ability to travel as required.
• At least 7 years of experience in one or more applicable fields: attorney professional development, career counseling or coaching, attorney recruiting, in-house or law firm practice, alumni relations, or legal career services.
• At least 2 years of exempt or management experience in an applicable field.
• Demonstrated experience advising lawyers on career transitions, ideally including moves to in-house roles.
• Familiarity with legal markets, legal operations, and corporate hiring needs.
• Professional demeanor and ability to use initiative, diplomacy, and tact.
• Ability to make independent judgments and decisions based on principles.
• Ability to act as a trusted, neutral advisor and earn the confidence of lawyers and leadership.
• High emotional intelligence and discernment in sensitive career conversations.
• Strategic thinking about attorney development, transitions, and long-term talent strategy.
• Deep knowledge of legal career paths inside and outside law firms.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to provide direct yet supportive feedback.
• Skill in resume editing, interview coaching, and narrative development.
• Ability to establish relationships across practice groups, seniority levels, and offices.
• Comfort interacting with alumni, clients, and external partners.
• Aptitude for developing educational programs, workshops, and resources.
• Organizational skills to manage multiple counseling relationships and track data.
• Ability to handle highly sensitive information discreetly.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s degree and/or JD.
• Supervisory experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide confidential one-on-one career advising to attorneys exploring roles outside the firm, including in-house, public sector, nonprofit, alternative legal, and business paths.
• Guide attorneys through career exploration, decision-making, and transition planning.
• Provide tailored feedback on resumes, LinkedIn profiles, personal narratives, and job-search strategies.
• Conduct mock interviews and prepare attorneys for stages of the hiring process, including screening interviews and senior-level negotiations.
• Manage and expand a curated job board featuring in-house roles, government positions, secondments, and alumni-submitted opportunities.
• Develop relationships with legal recruiters, in-house counsel, and alumni to source job postings, and facilitate introductions when appropriate.
• Create career-focused programs, including industry panels featuring alumni and clients and webinars on transition strategies.
• Maintain a secondment interest list and work with the Associate Director of Legal Talent to facilitate secondee identification, deployment, and reintegration.
• Partner with Marketing to connect departing attorneys to the firm’s alumni support team.
• Collaborate with Business Development to identify opportunities for career counseling services to enhance client engagement, including sourcing talent from attorneys exploring external opportunities.
• Make career support services available to Cooley alumni.
• Track hiring trends in in-house departments and legal markets and share insights with Legal Talent and firm leadership for strategic planning.
• Maintain metrics on counseling volume, outcomes, and placements.
• Supervise and mentor direct reports; provide day-to-day supervision, monitor work hours and policy compliance, manage staffing coverage, and review and process time logs and time-off requests.
• Support business professional development and continuing education opportunities.
• With the Director of Associate Development and HR, participate in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination, and other employee lifecycle events for direct reports.
• Perform other duties as assigned or required.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation.
• Medical benefits.
• Health savings account with applicable medical plan.
• Dental insurance.
• Vision insurance.
• Health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts.
• Pre-tax commuter benefits.
• Life insurance.
• AD&D coverage.
• Long-term care coverage.
• Backup care for children and/or adults.
• Other parental support benefits.
• Firm-paid life insurance, AD&D, and long-term disability for benefited employees.
• Short-term medical benefits.
• 21 days of paid time off annually.
• 10 paid holidays annually.
• Generous parental leave.
• Fertility benefits.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed