Template Specialist

Smokeball•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Template Specialist combines legal expertise and technology to help law firms build and improve document templates for Smokeball’s TemplateLab document drafting solution. The role works directly with clients to understand document needs, turn requirements into high-quality templates, and ensure deliverables meet quality standards. It also serves as the final quality checkpoint for work completed by contractors and helps determine whether traditional templates or AI-assisted drafting are better suited to client use cases. The specialist collaborates with Legal Engineering, Product, Client Success, and other teams to address client needs, improve tools and workflows, and evolve template quality standards. This is a hybrid position based in Smokeball’s Chicago office. Chicagoland employees are required to work in the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Smokeball provides detailed, supportive, immersive training for the role.

Requirements

At least 3 years of experience in a legal support role, such as paralegal or legal assistant, at a law firm with 1–30 employees.
Hands-on experience drafting legal documents and/or court forms.
Confidence working directly with clients to gather requirements, manage follow-up, and set realistic expectations.
Exceptional attention to detail and a record of highly accurate work in a detail-oriented environment.
Strong ownership and judgment, with the ability to work independently, act with urgency, and maintain a high quality bar.
Curiosity, adaptability, and enthusiasm for using AI tools to work more efficiently.
Knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Word and Outlook.
Bachelor’s degree, Associate’s degree, or equivalent professional experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience with document templates, document field-code tools, or form building/configuration.
Experience with Smokeball or a similar legal practice management platform.
Experience working with outsourcing teams or reviewing delegated work.
Familiarity with multiple areas of law and their document workflows.
Experience using AI in a work context for document drafting and streamlining day-to-day work.
Experience with and understanding of Word document formatting.

Responsibilities

Consult with clients purchasing custom template packages to gather requirements, translate them into build instructions, upload and test templates in client accounts, and manage improvements during the post-completion feedback period.
Build templates and perform template quality assurance according to standards for court and authority forms, starter templates, and custom templates.
Troubleshoot complex technical issues and make final decisions about whether templates are ready for client release.
Research, design, build, and maintain court captions across areas of law and jurisdictions using Smokeball’s configuration application, collaborating with clients to capture their needs.
Configure and deliver new-firm letterhead during onboarding and paid letterhead customizations, creating reusable solutions that control formatting and behavior across templates.
Work with the Legal Product Operations Manager to maintain and evolve a library of more than 20,000 court and agency forms, using client usage data and jurisdictional changes to prioritize additions, updates, and retirements.
Support template-building contractors by answering questions, reviewing their work, and providing feedback.
Adopt AI and automation tools to accelerate template development and help determine which documents are best suited to traditional templates versus AI-assisted drafting.
Partner with Legal Engineering, Product, and Client Success to resolve issues, improve tools and workflows, and reinforce quality standards.
Define and evolve template quality standards, identify gaps and risks, and drive process improvements that reduce rework and support scale.