Head of Legal Project Management, UK, US & EMEA

DIGITAL LEGAL DELIVERY

Digital adaption is presenting businesses with efficiencies and opportunities at pace - Herbert Smith Freehills is no different. Continuing to support our clients with this rapid change, we have created a team of the best analytical legal minds with investments in cutting-edge technology and technologists in our Digital Legal Delivery (Digital) practice.

Bringing together legal, project management, process design and technology expertise, our Digital group supports businesses who need invention from their legal advisors. Leveraging experience to map the intersections where people and tech deliver results, this team supports businesses undergoing their own digitisation projects and those who seek disentanglement from the manual and inefficient processes in the delivery of legal services. Experienced at delivering large and complex legal services, we are experts in the delivery of data-intensive mandates.

Imagining possibilities, HSF's Digital Legal Delivery practice is implementing the best technology solutions today, while horizon scanning and experimenting with emerging technologies to understand their practical applications.

LEGAL

In Legal, we help shape how the firm delivers legal matters to clients. We have longstanding experience in thinking differently about law, and we are at the forefront of making legal services more efficient - particularly at scale.
We have a deep knowledge across a broad range of sectors, and a wealth of experience in delivering large and complex mandates. We are specialists in contract management, document review, volume claims and remediation, and due diligence.

Working collaboratively with colleagues from across the firm, we use our expertise in law, process design and technology to deliver solutions for our clients. Underpinned by our legal project management capability, we organise our collective effort as efficiently and seamlessly as possible. This ensures consistent delivery throughout and enables our clients to achieve efficiencies across their operations.

LEGAL TECHNOLOGY

In Legal Technology, we deploy the firm's established technology efficiently and reliably across a range of client matters and projects.

We combine our expertise in document automation, custom development, eDiscovery and data analytics and client reporting - to work collaboratively across the firm on disputes, transactions and projects.

DIGITAL CHANGE

In Digital Change, we innovate, invest and push our firm's boundaries when it comes to new uses of legal technology.

We experiment with technology and pilot tools to understand them deeply: their potential challenges and benefits, and how they can be used in our day-to-day work to provide better solutions for clients.

And we ensure we have the right internal governance when it comes to making decisions, so we can minimise risk, maximise our opportunities and provide consistency for our stakeholders.

ADVISORY

In Advisory, we bring deep expertise in legal operations and emerging technologies, working across any sector, alongside our teams or directly with clients.
We are trusted advisers to our clients on new ways of working as we scan the horizon, together.

Role/Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead the LPM team in the UK and EMEA (and in time other regions in West if applicable)
• Lead the overall strategy and execution of the Digital Legal Delivery (Digital) practice group's LPM operations across the UK, US & EMEA aligned to the firm's 'Ambition' strategy, and practice group specific priorities
  

Core responsibilities include:

• Delivering excellence in LPM service delivery to the firm's practice groups across the UK, US & EMEA
• Responsibility and accountability for the financial management and financial performance of LPM across the UK, US & EMEA in line with relevant budget targets
• The strategic management of LPM across the UK, US & EMEA toward demonstrable growth of the business unit - in respect of financial performance and the evolution of product offerings
• Leading accretive business development activities both internally and externally
• Formulating and communicating a clear vision and value proposition for Disputes and Transactions LPM and clearly defining and communicating its services to internal and external clients
• Communicating a clear vision for the team and demonstrating exceptional leadership
• Establishing and maintaining robust processes for quality delivery of work including developing and maintaining sustainable models of operational best practice in LPM
• Implementing and managing robust risk and governance procedures
• Implementing and managing robust financial management processes including time recording and productivity tracking and reporting
• Leading a high performing team which will include:
• Creating a framework to ensure team members' focus is directed towards activities that deliver optimal outcomes and maximum value to the firm
• Setting clear KPIs for team members and actively monitoring and reporting on performance against these
• Leading to build a high-performance culture where team members are engaged and inspired to work at their highest capacity. Managing performance actively and identify and address gaps in capability and performance
• Coordinating team members to ensure effective collaboration, cross-pollination and teaming in service delivery and across own team and across the Digital practice group more widely
• Collaborating with LPM leaders across Asia and Australia to ensure global consistency in the LPM delivery operating model and core service offering (where appropriate);
• Positively supporting the Associate Director of Disputes Legal, and the Director Transactions Legal in their respective roles

Qualifications, skills & experience:

• At least 7 years' experience in a senior leadership role in a law firm managing a Legal Project Management function, ideally leading large teams
• Demonstratable relevant "hands on" Legal Project Management experience at a law firm
• A deep knowledge of Legal Project Management acquired through experience including:
  • Best practice processes and methodologies
  • Capable of supporting a variety of large scale projects across litigation, arbitration, transactions/deals and/or regulatory change projects with Legal Project Management services and has a sound understanding of the pricing models which underpin them
  • Experience in using relevant technologies/ tech stack and the application of technology in Legal Project Management services
  • Able to anticipate the likely future evolution of Legal Project Management through experience gained in supporting contentious and non-contentious legal work in a law firm
  • Demonstrable ability to develop and lead mixed, high-performing teams of people with multiple skill sets and achieve optimal outcomes in the context
  • Extremely numerate, with the proven ability to convert complex/raw data into concise and actionable intelligence
  • Strong presentation and facilitation skills
  • Detailed understanding of law firm economics, pricing and resourcing models
  • Able to build relationships and experience of routinely working closely with senior firm management roles
  • Experience of using a Financial Practice Management System
  • Appropriate Graduate or post-graduate qualification
  • Professional Qualification e.g. Agile, PRINCE2 or equivalent

Please note the closing date for applications is Friday 20th December 2024 at 12pm.

We will not be using recruitment agencies for this position.