Senior Legal Process Designer in Ipswich, Suffolk

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals and over 600 staff based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

We are seeking a Senior Legal Process Designer to join a leading UK Top 50 law firm at an exciting stage of its legal transformation journey. This role will work closely with partners, lawyers, business services teams and technology colleagues to redesign how legal work is delivered, improving efficiency, transparency, consistency and client experience.

The successful candidate will bring experience in legal operations, process improvement, business analysis, consulting, legal project management or professional services transformation. Strong stakeholder management, workshop facilitation, process mapping and communication skills are essential. Experience with legal technology, continuous improvement methodologies and law firm operating models would be highly advantageous.

Main Responsibilities include:

• Analyse current legal service delivery processes across practice groups, sectors and client teams.
• Map existing as-is workflows and design practical to-be processes that reduce friction, duplication and operational risk.
• Identify bottlenecks, hand-off issues, rework, unnecessary variation and opportunities for standardisation or automation.
• Create clear process maps, standard operating procedures, playbooks, templates and process documentation.
• Embed continuous improvement disciplines into legal teams, balancing efficiency with quality, regulatory obligations and client expectations.
• Support firm-wide transformation initiatives that modernise how legal services are scoped, resourced, delivered and measured.
• Design scalable operating models for repeatable legal work, complex matters, managed services and client-led solutions.
• Contribute to improved work allocation, matter planning, matter management, resource utilisation and delivery governance.
• Work with pricing, finance, project management and knowledge teams to improve predictability, profitability and transparency.
• Identify opportunities to use legal technology, workflow automation, document automation, AI-enabled tools, collaboration platforms and matter management solutions.
• Translate legal and operational requirements into clear technology requirements.
• Work with legal technologists, product owners and IT colleagues to design, test, implement and iterate practical solutions.
• Support adoption activity, including training materials, user guidance, communications and feedback loops.
• Facilitate workshops and discovery sessions with partners, lawyers, business services teams and, where appropriate, clients.
• Build consensus around process improvements and influence adoption through credible, evidence-based recommendations.
• Prepare concise recommendations, business cases and implementation plans for senior stakeholders.
• Act as a trusted adviser to practice leaders and transformation sponsors.
• Support client transformation projects, legal managed services opportunities and process-led service design.
• Contribute to tenders, panel responses and pitches by demonstrating the firm's operational excellence and innovation capabilities.
• Attend pitches and client meetings as appropriate.
• Help develop repeatable propositions that improve client experience, transparency and value for money.

What we are looking for:

• Degree or equivalent experience in Law, with at least 5 years PQE.
• A transactional background would be an advantage (real estate or corporate).
• 2 years' experience of process design and/or project management in a similar role in a professional service.
• An understanding of agile methodology would be an advantage or experience of working in an agile way.
• Legal project management experience desirable.
• Strong process mapping and workflow design skills, with practical use of Service Design, Operational Excellence or Continuous Improvement approaches.
• Good understanding of legal technology, automation, collaboration platforms, AI use cases, matter management and knowledge management tools.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to produce clear process documents, executive summaries, slide materials and implementation guidance.
• Comfortable managing multiple workstreams, priorities and deadlines in a fast-moving professional services environment.

Hybrid Working:

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. This role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week. We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application.

Benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays.
• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service.
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed).
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee).
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme.
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance.
• Paid CSR Day.
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave.
• Subsidised gym membership.
• Electric car scheme.
• Dress for your Day Policy.

Inclusivity and Culture:

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth. Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Intelligence (AI):

At Birketts, we recognise the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal profession and recruitment. We welcome innovation and understand that candidates may use AI tools to support their job applications. However, we expect all applicants to use AI responsibly and ethically.