Project & Innovations Manager (Legal Operations)

Projects & Innovation Manager

Experience level: Intermediate
Term: Permanent
Working hours: Full-time
Team: Projects & Innovation
Location: Birmingham, Northampton or Manchester

The role

This is an excellent opportunity for an established transformation professional to help the P&I team maximise the impact of major change programmes in the firm. The P&I Manager plays a pivotal role in supporting the team and wider business to deliver their strategic plans and change objectives. The role might include some line management.

You will be comfortable performing differing roles within change initiatives or projects, ensuring accountability and collaboration to achieve successful outcomes. Using your change management and project management skills, you will act as a champion of best practice and will apply industry standard methods for project management and business change.

The role demands a proactive approach and a self managing mindset and requires excellent communication skills.

The Firm

Shoosmiths is the law firm clients choose for excellent service, incisive thinking and above all for our ability to focus on what matters. From offices across the UK and Brussels, we support some of the world's most exciting and ambitious businesses; amazing clients making an impact. We empower our people to be their authentic selves and deliver together in supportive teams committed to excellence and innovation. The first top 50 law firm to achieve "Platinum Standard" Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. Shoosmiths is also on a pathway to net zero across the value chain by 2040.

We have an outstanding benefits package to complement our competitive remuneration system. In addition to the competitive salaries, great working environment and high-quality work, we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm through a comprehensive and flexible range of benefits.

To discover more about our benefits, please visit: Benefits Package.

Our Strategy

Shoosmiths strategy is to transform Shoosmiths from being a really good firm with a really solid reputation, into an excellent firm with a reputation for excellence. So that by 2030, we will excel in our chosen markets. At the heart of our new strategy is focus. Intense focus on what we do well. And a bold commitment to doing it even better.

The Team

Shoosmiths' Projects & Innovation (P&I) team is the primary delivery capability for all significant change programmes across the firm. Whether delivering projects themselves or supporting the wider firm to deliver their own change, the P&I team has oversight of all major change in the firm. The team drives efficiency and excellence in the way the firm operates, creates more competitive advantage in the delivery of legal services and maximises the impact and effective delivery of impactful change programmes in the firm.

Main Responsibilities

• Support the Director of P&I, the Heads of Operational Excellence and Legal Process Innovation and the Programme Management Office to implement their strategies and plans across the firm and to build the capability and profile of the P&I team.
• Lead major change initiatives or projects, collaborating with a cross functional team to achieve the change successfully. You will also provide support to other team members who are leading smaller change initiatives or projects. This includes advice on best practice and appropriate escalation routes for issues or risks.
• Communicate and collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, including Senior Leadership, Legal divisions, Business Services departments, clients, and suppliers.
• Develop relationships with the aligned business areas and support the senior colleagues to advise, oversee and coordinate change plans.
• You will act as a conduit to ensure that your team remains aligned to the execution of P&I' s strategies and plans and the firm's strategic ambitions.
• You might have responsibility for the day to day line management of a team for which you will conduct team meetings, 1:1 reviews and personal development.
• You might have responsibility for capacity planning to help others appropriately plan change in their respective business areas.

Skills & Qualifications

• Experience in a similar role, such as a law firm or professional services organisation, with responsibility for project management, process improvement, and change management.
• Accreditations such as Prince2, Agile, LEAN Six Sigma are desired but not necessary.
• Established leadership skills. You should have demonstrable coordination and delegation skills and experience in developing team members through training, mentoring or coaching.
• Excellent analytical, problem solving, and decision making skills with excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills. This should be grounded in commercial awareness and the use of established or emerging legal technologies.
• Possesses a good understanding of the commercial, organisational and financial context in which the firm operates, and consequently ensures that the team operate with the firm's processes, business objectives and budget in mind and actively contribute towards firmwide profitability and competitive advantage.
• Demonstrates a desire to role model best practices for the team and firm, and proactively identify opportunities for improvement of these in line with the wider team and firm objectives.