Senior Manager: Practice Enablement and Adoption

Mayer Brown•Chicago, IL

16h•$170,000 - $230,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Mayer Brown is an international law firm positioned to represent the world’s major corporations, funds, and financial institutions in their most important and complex transactions and disputes. We are recognized by our clients as strategic partners with deep commercial instincts and a commitment to creatively anticipating their needs and delivering excellence in everything we do. We are a collegial, collaborative firm where highly motivated individuals with an unwavering commitment to excellence receive the opportunity, support, and development they need to grow, thrive, and realize their greatest potential all while supporting the Firm’s client service principles of excellence, strategic partnership, commercial instinct, integrated strengths, innovation, and collaboration across our international firm. If you enjoy working with team members whose defining characteristics are exceptional client service, initiative, professionalism, responsiveness, and adaptability, you may be the person we are seeking to join our Information Technology department in our Chicago, New York, or Washington, D.C. office, as an Senior Manager: Practice Enablement and Adoption. As the leader of the Firm’s Practice Technology Enablement team, this role extends the Firm’s IT mission into the heart of legal practice—ensuring that technology investments are fully leveraged, innovations are adopted, and lawyers and clients experience measurable benefit. They focus on uncovering operational pain points, unmet client needs, and opportunities for innovation, as well as driving the adoption and enablement of legal technology solutions across the firm. The Senior Manager: Practice Enablement and Adoption ensures that all practice innovation efforts are grounded in real-world legal practice and aligned with the firm’s strategic goals. Reporting to the Assistant Director: Practice Technology and Solutions, and partnering with the Senior Manager: Practice Enablement and Adoption, they act as a connector: between practice groups and our technology delivery teams, between ideas and execution, and between emerging technologies and the Firm’s long-term strategy. They help identify opportunities, co-develop solutions for, and implement practice-specific transformation while streamlining and innovating the practice of law. The role will also be responsible for identifying, and collaborating to prototype, and implementing related technology. While supervising members of the Practice Technology Enablement team, they will work closely with the other stakeholders, including and not limited to, those in IT, Knowledge Management, and Legal Risk Management departments to facilitate the smooth implementation of pilots and product launches of legal software tools and technology solutions. This role will be responsible for driving adoption of those solutions by leveraging usage data (tracked by Practice Solutions team) and coordinating various change management and adoption best practices. The Senior Manager: Practice Enablement and Adoption will be responsible for their team’s operations and budget. Responsibilities may vary and grow as the team matures and the role progresses.

Requirements

JD or Master’s degree; however, a Bachelor’s degree with relevant experience will also be considered
5+ years’ experience working in legal environment either in a law firm or a legal department or a legal tech solution provider
Demonstrated experience of leading strategic legal technology related projects, and particularly in evaluating and implementing legal tech solutions, in a large law firm or corporate/financial institution legal department or enterprise level, strongly preferred
Knowledge of the lifecycle of a legal matter is strongly preferred
Experience in increasing adoption of legal tech tools and different methods of engaging and enabling lawyers
Experience in business analysis, solution design, consulting and/or client-facing roles
Demonstrated use of business requirements elicitation and documentation skills
Proficiency in Microsoft Office products
Working knowledge of process improvement principles (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma), when to invoke each methodology, and how to deploy process improvement tools (e.g., process maps, fishbone diagrams, root cause analysis)
Experience with project management principles, including Agile/Scrum and Waterfall methods, together with requisite experience, to determine when to use each method
Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts in clear, non-technical language to stakeholders at all levels
Strong customer service and problem solving mindset
Effective team player in diverse environments; thrives under pressure and meets shifting deadlines
Pragmatic, self-motivated, flexible and good team player
Self-starter with high initiative; detail-oriented, organized, and multitasking
Maintain confidentiality and discretio
Open to regional and/or global travel, as needed
Manage performance appraisals, compensation, goal setting, and performance counseling for direct reports
Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience; set priorities and delegates efficiently
Conduct operational budget analysis and staffing level assessments; participate in recruitment
Implement change processes to improve workflow efficiencies
Strong leadership and project management skills

Nice To Haves

Strong ability to engage in design thinking, being able to conceptualize and implement a project from end-to-end, knowing which skills and techniques are required for a particular situation

Responsibilities

Understand Needs & Opportunities : Partner with lawyers, clients, and business services to map and evaluate current processes with an eye to identify where process improvement and technology can deliver greater value. Capture user stories, best practices, insights and maintain a knowledge base of lawyer challenges and opportunities
Shape and Prioritize Initiatives : Support the Firm’s idea intake process by evaluating, scoring, and prioritizing ideas. Translate feedback into clear problem statements that IT and other business services can act on
Enable Practice Transformation : Lead design thinking sessions, co-lead process improvement workshops, pilots, and rollouts in partnership with Practice Solutions team, and practice stakeholders to identify pain points and design innovative solutions
Increase Awareness and Engagement : Develop targeted outreach through listening sessions, practice presentations, vendor days to increase lawyer awareness and engagement with existing investments and emerging technologies that could help practice/industry/product groups
Prototype and Validate : Collaborate with the Practice Solutions team to build prototypes and validate the proposed solution. Work with Practice Technology team to customize templates or pilot/custom-build solutions for practice needs
Drive Adoption & Change : Collaborate with Practice Solutions and Learning & Development to deliver tailored training, awareness sessions, and direct support. Focus on building confidence, adoption, and measurable ROI for innovative solutions
Collaborate Across Business Teams : Work with other business departments e.g., Knowledge Management, Practice Management, Information Services, Legal Risk Management, Business Development & Marketing etc., to solve the issue holistically. Collaborate with Practice Solutions team to onboard vendors and pilot new solutions
Horizon Scanning : Monitor legal technology trends and emerging vendors with an eye towards those that might address pain points of our lawyers. Share insights with Firm and IT leadership to inform strategy and future investment
Oversee the operational success of the Practice Engagement & Adoption team, including budget tracking, project reporting, and alignment of resources with Firm priorities
Support workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, training, and ongoing staff development
Manage performance reviews and contribute to merit-based compensation decisions
Lead feedback, coaching, and disciplinary processes as needed
Perform other duties as assigned or required to meet Firm goals and objectives
Align working hours as necessary to support global teams and business partners

Benefits

We offer competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, including medical/dental/vision/life/and AD&D insurance, 401(k) savings plan, back-up childcare and eldercare, generous paid time off (PTO), as well as opportunities for professional development and growth.

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