Legal Operations Manager, Legal: Corporate Legal Operations - 12-month FTC

Group Legal is supported by a global Legal Operations team that enables efficient, consistent and technology-enabled delivery of legal services. The team works across legal service delivery, external counsel and supplier management, financial oversight, technology, capability building and strategic change. The maternity cover role will provide continuity across a defined portfolio of operational and transformation activity, working independently on some areas and in partnership with existing team members on others.

The role requires a practical, hands-on operator who can move comfortably between day-to-day delivery and project work, manage senior and external stakeholders, and maintain momentum across multiple concurrent priorities in a global environment.

To provide fixed-term maternity cover for selected Legal Operations responsibilities, ensuring continuity of critical service delivery and progress of priority initiatives. The role will coordinate and deliver activity across external counsel management, legal technology, learning and engagement and merger integration, while partnering closely with internal Legal Operations colleagues, the Group Legal & CoSec Leadership team, Finance, Supply Chain, technology teams, legal stakeholders and external suppliers.

Strategic planning and integration

• Partner with the wider Legal Operations team and General Counsel on the annual Operations planning cycle, including priority-setting, socialisation and alignment.
• Shaping, mobilizing and implementation of projects to deliver strategic operational outcomes.
• Support Legal and Corporate Affairs functional leads with merger integration activity, including data gathering, service delivery design, culture and change support.

Process improvement, technology, systems and AI

• Work with teams and leaders to help define, design, and deliver internal process change, including helping to drive continuous improvement across the team. This would include coaching and support in project delivery for team members in relation to transformational change.
• Act as product manager for legal technology stack vendors, maintaining vendor relationships and coordinating feature updates and service improvements and leading commercial negotiations for licence renewals.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to iterate and maintain our matter management system (recently refreshed), including adoption, governance and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Maintain key knowledge management artefacts in our technology platforms, iterating and updating as required.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to further develop and deliver the Legal AI programme, including learning, community engagement, responsible adoption, use-case identification, and solution development.

External counsel, supplier and financial operations

• Support legal team members and Finance with budgeting and outlook tracking for significant legal matters to maintain a clear view of anticipated spend.
• Lead the annual cycle of law firm rate reviews across rosters with relevant reporting in collaboration with Supply Chain, including reviewing proposals, leading negotiations and maintaining the central rate repository.
• Coordinate relationship management for Corporate and UK roster firms, including preparing meetings, shaping discussion topics, communicating process changes and acting as a point of contact for operational matters.
• Review rates submitted with invoices on behalf of the UK Legal team and resolve exceptions with relevant stakeholders.
• Manage contracting and purchase order set-up for non-legal-matter suppliers delivering wider services to the function, working with the invoice support team.
• Coordinate ad hoc roster or preferred-firm appointments, including supplier engagement, internal alignment, rate negotiation and contracting; support any roster exercise required by integration activity.
• Partner with internal stakeholders on the management of specific legal service delivery models, including changes to the model and supplier engagement as required.
• Partner with internal stakeholders on management of the service delivery of invoice support across the UK legal team.

People, learning and communications

• Design and coordinate global training initiatives.
• Define and implement ad hoc speaking and learning events with roster firms.
• Draft and coordinate award submissions, communications and announcements on behalf of the Legal team.
• Provide line management cover where agreed, including regular touchpoints and mid-year/full-year performance conversations.

• Strong understanding of Legal Operations in a global in-house legal function.
• External counsel, roster and supplier management, including rate negotiations, contracting and savings reporting.
• Legal finance processes, including significant matter budgeting, forecasts, purchase orders and invoice controls.
• Legal technology product and vendor management, ideally including matter management, e-billing and AI-enabled legal tools.
• Project, change and stakeholder management in a complex matrix organisation.
• Awareness of responsible AI adoption, governance and change considerations in a legal environment.

• Advanced written and verbal English.
• Strong Microsoft 365 skills, including Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and SharePoint.
• Ability to analyse financial, supplier and operational information and translate it into clear actions and reporting.
• Experience managing technology licences, renewals, invoices and vendor performance.
• Excellent drafting, facilitation, planning and organisational skills.
• Legal Tracker and Microsoft 365 Power Apps experience would be advantageous.

• Credible and confident with senior legal, business and external stakeholders.
• Collaborative and comfortable sharing ownership with internal team members.
• Highly organised, proactive and able to prioritise across BAU and project demands.
• Commercially minded, detail-oriented and willing to be hands-on.
• Able to work with discretion on sensitive legal, supplier, financial and people matters.
• Adaptable, pragmatic and capable of maintaining momentum through ambiguity and change.

• Substantial experience in Legal Operations, professional services operations, legal procurement, legal technology or a closely related role.
• Demonstrated delivery across several of the following: external counsel management, finance, supplier management, legal technology, learning programmes, AI adoption or integration/change programmes.
• Experience operating in a global or multi-jurisdictional organisation and working across functions and time zones.
• Experience in a large corporate legal department or regulated/complex industry is desirable.

A legal qualification is not required, but familiarity with the operating context of an in-house legal function is essential

• Critical operational activities continue without material disruption during the maternity cover period.
• Key stakeholders receive timely, clear and accurate support across supplier, technology, financial and programme matters.
• Priority projects and integration activities maintain agreed momentum, with risks and dependencies surfaced early.
• Law firm, technology and managed service provider relationships are actively managed and commercial commitments remain controlled.
• Handover information, decisions and documentation are maintained so responsibilities can transition smoothly at the end of the assignment.