Supervisor, Administrative Support Services
About The Position
The Supervisor, Administrative Support Services provides operational leadership for the pooled administrative support team and is a key part of Simpson Thacher’s new U.S. administrative support function. Based in the Firm’s Houston office, the role promotes service consistency, staffing stability, workflow governance, performance management, and continuous improvement for Administrative Assistants in the Administrative Support Center. The position reports to the Manager, Administrative Support Services. The Supervisor oversees standardized workflows and service expectations, manages coverage and resource allocation, handles escalations, and supports performance management, coaching, onboarding, and training. The role partners with the Manager and HR to advance operational consistency, staff development, adoption of new tools and processes, and continuous improvement.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree.
- 4–6 years of relevant administrative support experience.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams, manage performance, and oversee operational delivery.
- Ability to coach, mentor, and train others to meet performance expectations.
- Ability to influence without direct authority and build credibility with attorneys, administrative professionals, and firm leadership.
- Strong communication skills, including setting expectations, managing difficult conversations, and reinforcing accountability.
- Strong judgment, confidentiality, and stakeholder management skills.
- High emotional intelligence and ability to manage sensitive attorney and staff dynamics.
- Strong change management skills and ability to drive adoption of new processes, tools, and service standards.
- Proven ability to build and enforce standardized workflows, service expectations, and escalation protocols.
- Proficiency with administrative applications such as MS Office Suite and expense systems such as Chrome River.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to examine work for accuracy and conformance to policies and procedures.
Responsibilities
- Own and enforce standardized administrative workflows and expectations for administrative assistants in the assigned pooled group.
- Maintain clear decision rights and escalation paths for administrative support delivery.
- Establish and manage processes for administrative attorney support work.
- Partner with the Manager, Administrative Support Services to promote operational consistency, process alignment, and continuous improvement.
- Champion adoption of ServiceNow to streamline administrative processes and support effective team operations.
- Report service performance, staffing trends, and operational improvements to the Manager, Administrative Support Services.
- Build and manage coverage plans for attorney support during PTO, absences, transitions, and peak demand.
- Monitor workload distribution and utilization across the administrative assistant pool and reassign resources as needed.
- Identify structural gaps and recommend staffing or ratio adjustments.
- Provide overall support for the Administrative Support Center, including Practice Assistants, as needed.
- Serve as the first escalation point for service concerns, urgent attorney requests, workflow bottlenecks, and operational breakdowns.
- Ensure timely resolution of service issues and communicate corrective action plans as appropriate.
- Conduct routine performance check-ins and quality reviews for administrative assistants.
- Coach and provide feedback to strengthen professionalism, responsiveness, and proactive execution.
- Partner with HR and the Manager on performance improvement plans, recognition, retention, and career development.
- Promote a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
- Ensure consistent onboarding and training completion for administrative assistants.
- Maintain and promote adoption of playbooks, SOPs, templates, and best practices.
- Identify opportunities for skill building and areas requiring training refreshers.
- Coordinate ongoing training on firm tools and administrative workflows.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
