Director of Practice Management

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK

Jenner & Block LLP is a law firm with global reach, with offices in Century City, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice, global investigations practice, regulatory and government controversies work, and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Its clients include Fortune 100 companies, technology companies, large privately held corporations, emerging companies, Native American tribes, and venture capital and private equity investors. The American Lawyer has recognized Jenner & Block as the No. 1 pro bono firm in the United States 10 times.

OVERVIEW

The Director of Practice Management reports directly to the Chief of Administration. This is an exempt position and based in any of Jenner & Block’s six US Offices.

The Director of Practice Management is responsible for the continued development and ongoing management of the firm’s practice group management support team. The individual will provide leadership, direction, and administration of operations support staff embedded in practice groups (the firm’s core management units) to ensure team goals are met. The Director will also have management responsibility for the firm’s lawyer and firmwide administration support teams. The Director works collaboratively with other professional services team leads to execute on the firm’s strategic goals and related practice group projects and initiatives, in concert with practice group leaders and firm management.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Continually assess management support needs of practice groups and work with practice group leaders and professional support leaders to implement enhancements as needed
• Continually assess development needs of the practice group operations support team, design and execute ongoing training and development programming for operations support team members
• Put tools, processes, and systems in place to facilitate effective execution of operations support roles
• Create effective team organization and communication mechanisms
• Build relationships with and across practice group management coordinators
• Coordinate activities across teams where appropriate
• Identify opportunities for improvement
• Share best practices
• Supervise, coach, mentor, and evaluate practice group management support team members in partnership with practice group leadership, ensuring alignment with related professional service teams’ operations (e.g. finance, talent, marketing)
• Work closely with COO, CMO, CFO, CSO, and their offices/teams to ensure effective integration of all aspects of practice group support and appropriate evolution of practice group management support roles
• Define objectives, deliverables, and timeline expectations for practice group related to professional services operations and requirements
• Assess operational health/efficacy of practice groups
• Develop and execute plans to improve operational performance of practice groups
• Supervise, coach, mentor, and evaluate the Manager of Support Services
• Oversee services and performance of the lawyer and firmwide administration support teams. Oversight includes assessment of programs, implementation of improvements, and ongoing training and development of team members.
• Additional responsibilities and firm projects as required

DESIRED SKILLS/ATTRIBUTES AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of relevant experience in a professional services firm
• Law firm experience required
• Operations and client service experience a plus
• 5+ years of management experience including hiring, coaching, mentoring, and evaluating team members
• Strategic focus: ability to rapidly understand firm goals and metrics-driven deliverables, as well as services, culture, and strategy and align personal/team efforts with overall firm priorities
• Strong interpersonal, team, and communication skills
• Builds and maintains solid relationships with diverse range of people including firm management, attorneys/professionals, and professional staff
• Works collaboratively on teams, with high energy and creativity
• Effective coach and mentor
• Communicates and operates with courtesy, diplomacy, maturity, and discretion
• Distills and communicates information effectively, whether written or orally
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and project management skills
• Critical thinker who logically analyzes wide variety of operational issues and client needs, develops practical plans for resolution/improvement and effectively implements to deliver on-time, on-budget and with full capture of intended benefits
• Adept at multitasking, prioritizing, and executing in a fast-paced and rapidly evolving environment
• Proactive with excellent troubleshooting, problem resolution and follow-through skills
• Financial acumen: comfortable reviewing financial statements and understanding operational drivers of financial performance
• Computer proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Jenner & Block LLP is an equal opportunity employer. Recruitment and employment decisions are not made on the basis of an individual’s race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability or medical condition, genetic information, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity and/or expression, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions, arrest record, matriculation, personal appearance, political affiliation, marital, parental, veteran, military, or order of protection status, or any other protected status or that of their relatives, friends, or associates.