Legal Operations & Project Manager

The Legal Operations and Project Management team supports our lawyers to deliver their legal matters (projects) more effectively and efficiently by applying legal project management (LPM) principles. This encompasses training, hands on support on matters, developing project management resources and process improvement projects.

About CMS

CMS is a Future Facing firm with more than 70 offices in over 40 countries and 5,000+ lawyers worldwide. We combine deep local market understanding with a global perspective. We are passionate about building strong relationships with our clients, our people, and the communities we work in.

We take a bold, dynamic, and agile approach to ensure our clients are able to face the future with confidence. We are driven by technology and readily embrace the possibilities it opens up for developing new and better ways of working.  Our aim is to inspire, impact and support our clients and our people, helping them to maximize their potential and thrive.

About the Role

Our Legal Operations Business Partner’s are aligned to one of the firm’s Practice Groups. This strategic role is dedicated to identifying and implementing changes that enhance working practices, ensuring the profitable and efficient delivery of matters. The remit is broad and demanding, focusing on implementing project management disciplines to streamline operations, designing and delivering training programs to upskill teams, leading operational changes to drive efficiency, and creating bespoke solutions tailored to client needs for high satisfaction and value delivery . You will be responsible for raising awareness driving engagement with of the team's services, tracking opportunities, and ensuring the continuous improvement of our service delivery.

Responsibilities (not exhaustive):
Strategic Planning: 
a)    Contribute to growth objectives and support to build Legal Ops service lines.
b)    Act as a senior member of the practice group operations team to implement the Legal Ops strategy.
Project Management: 
c)    Responsible for end to end management of projects and matters related to your specific practice group.
d)    Identify opportunities to implement LPM resources and methodologies.
e)    Demonstrate understanding of specific types of legal work and how to design tailored delivery solutions.
Process improvement/Change management:
f)    Identify ‘AS IS’ and ‘TO BE’ states to develop recommendations that enhance productivity and streamline delivery/processes.
g)    Evidence the ability to deliver change effectively and onboard stakeholders with trust and collaboration.  
h)    Facilitate workshops to design processes and act as a change agent for projects.
Data Analysis:
i)    Ability to gather, analyse and derive informed insights from relevant data.
j)    Define relevant KPIs and metrics to articulate value and reporting.
k)    Strong financial acumen to understand different financial models
Technology and Systems:
l)    Understand scope and functionality of legal tech to support with client solutions
m)    Understand billing and time-recording systems to support with matter set-up and solution design.
Training and Development : 
n)    Contribute to design internal and client training content and bespoke client training solutions.
o)    Effectively deliver training to senior stakeholders and in-house legal teams.

About You

We are looking for experienced Ops professionals from professional services or the legal sector. It will be important for candidates to evidence their consultative mindset, experience and knowledge of the legal profession. Candidates will have to demonstrate business change delivery projects experience and that they have a strong ability to translate objectives into tangible outputs. Those applying must exhibit strong multi-tasking abilities and maintain excellent attention to detail across various tasks. Exceptional stakeholder management will be expected and an ability to confidently sell the value, benefit and results of the team. Given the nature of the role candidates will have to demonstrate financial and commercial acumen to be able to excel in the role and lead with initiative. We are a growing and dynamic team, so collaboration, a personable nature and adaptability are crucial for effective team culture. We pride diversity of thought, drive and delivering with impact.

Education/Qualifications
•    Degree (or equivalent)
•    PRINCE 2 (or equivalent)
•    Lean Six Sigma (or equivalent) 
Office Skills
•    Excellent working skills of all MS office applications, including strong Excel skills for analysis.
•    Experience of process mapping tools.

Equal Opportunities

At CMS, a next-generation mindset is woven into all we do. We're diverse, supportive and inclusive, embracing our corporate social responsibility and creating a culture of sustainability in which every one of our people, whatever their background, can maximise their potential and thrive. For further information about CMS' diversity initiatives and programmes, please view the Diversity & Inclusion pages on our website.

Please apply online or contact a member of the Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions. For information regarding our competitive range of benefits please visit our Rewards & Benefits page on our website.

Please note that CMS have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.

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