Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is the premier legal advisor to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises worldwide. We represent companies at every stage of development, from entrepreneurial start-ups to multibillion-dollar global corporations, as well as the venture firms, private equity firms, and investment banks that finance and advise them. The firm has approximately 1,200 attorneys in 19 offices: 14 in the U.S., three in China, and two in Europe. Our broad spectrum of practices and entrepreneurial spirit allow our staff exceptional opportunities for professional achievement and career growth.
The Pricing and Legal Project Management team supports partners with the full spectrum of pricing and legal project management needs, including the creation and management of alternative fee arrangements, rate management and negotiation, development of product pricing strategies, and novel approaches to important business problems that impact client acquisition, retention, and profitability.
The Senior Manager, Legal Project Management will lead and help jumpstart the Legal Project Management function by managing matter intake, budgeting, tracking, and reporting along with other tasks related to LPM.
Responsibilities
- Accountable for the management and adoption of the project management systems in the firm for all fixed fee and capped fee matters
- Identify opportunities to improve the creation of budgets and use of budget tracking for all matters regardless of fee arrangement type
- Ensure the firm’s partners are engaged on their matters while implementing best practices in LPM
- Utilize proven project management techniques to support the efficient management of the firms largest and highest-profile clients and matters throughout all stages of the matter lifecycle including intake, scoping, budgeting, monitoring, and closing
- Work closely with the attorneys and the Pricing team on developing matter budgets and staffing strategies
- Create and deploy firmwide training on LPM methodologies and best practices
- Develop and lead training and implementation of project management systems in the firm
- Track projects with robust budget vs. actual reporting that accounts for nuance and context beyond financial data
- Provide key information and reports on the status of projects to Account Managers, Project Managers, Partners, Director, Pricing and Legal Project Management, and CFO
- Liaise with client’s internal legal operations teams and prepare client reporting for bespoke projects
- Develop and refine scoping and estimate templates and procedures
- Assist with pricing requests as needed
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree is required, preferably in a business-related field
- 7+ years of project coordinating, project analyst, or project management experience in professional services (legal industry experience highly preferred)
- Identify opportunities for process improvement initiatives and knowledge management projects; and, where appropriate, develop and evangelize best practices
- Employ a strong understanding of financial terms and metrics with the ability to adjust necessary levers to improve client and matter performance
- Extensive financial modelling experience and ability to maintain complex spreadsheets (creative use of formulas, sophisticated data presentation, pivot tables, etc.).
- Flexibility to adjust work schedule according to workload demands
- Experience with SQL and VBA is a plus
- Ability to manipulate data effectively and present findings to management and attorneys using data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau) is a plus
Skills & Knowledge
- A proactive self-starter, with a drive to grow and enhance the function
- People management experience strongly preferred
- Ability to communicate effectively and efficiently with staff, senior leadership, and lawyers
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills capable of maintaining strong relationships
- Highly effective creating business process documentation
- Ability to develop, refine, and improve utilization of project management tools
- Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills
- Comfortable with analyzing and managing data
- Excellent analytical and creative problem-solving abilities
- High degree of efficiency and expertise in Excel and PowerPoint
- Exceptional attention to detail in a high-pressure environment amidst tight timelines
The primary location for this job posting is in Palo Alto, but other locations are also listed. The actual base pay offered will depend upon a variety of factors, including but not limited to the selected candidate’s qualifications, years of relevant experience, level of education, professional certifications and licenses, and work location. The anticipated pay range for this position is as follows:
San Francisco and Silicon Valley: $153,000 – $207,000 per year
Austin, Boston, Boulder, District of Columbia, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Seattle, and Wilmington: $137,700 – $186,300 per year
Salt Lake City and all other locations: $122,400 – $165,600 per year
The compensation for this position may include a discretionary year-end merit bonus based on performance. We offer a highly competitive salary and benefits package.
Benefits information can be found here. Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).
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