Operations Manager - Legal Sector

Role: Operations Manager - Serious Injury

Location: Wakefield / West Yorkshire

Working Pattern: Hybrid

Salary: £50,000 - £70,000 DOE

Contract: Full-time, Permanent

Are you an experienced Operations Manager who knows how to get the best out of people, process and performance?

CRA Consulting are working exclusively with a large, established legal services business looking to appoint an Operations Manager to take responsibility for a substantial Serious Injury operation.

This isn't a legal fee-earning role. It's a senior operational leadership position with genuine influence across people, performance, productivity, customer service, resource planning, MI and continuous improvement.

If you enjoy taking a good operation and making it better, this could be a very interesting move.

Why this opportunity stands out

You’ll join the leadership team of an established Serious Injury operation, helping drive performance across an environment of 150+ FTE.

Influence across

• Operational strategy and delivery
• Leadership and development of Team Leaders
• Performance, productivity and case progression
• Customer service and client outcomes
• Recruitment, retention and resource planning
• MI, data and performance reporting
• Financial and trading performance
• Process and continuous improvement
• Talent and succession planning
• Operational risk and compliance
• Strategic change projects

The business wants somebody who can understand why performance looks the way it does, identify opportunities for improvement and lead people through the changes required to deliver results.

The Role

Working closely with the Director of Legal Services Operations, you'll take a leading role in the operational management and continued development of the Serious Injury function.

Responsibilities will include:

• Leading, motivating and developing operational teams
• Taking ownership of key performance metrics
• Monitoring productivity, case progression and financial performance
• Using MI and data to identify trends, risks and opportunities
• Managing recruitment, attrition and resource requirements
• Identifying and mitigating operational risks
• Developing and improving operational processes
• Supporting strategic change programmes
• Driving efficiency while maintaining technical quality and client service
• Coaching and developing Team Leaders
• Identifying talent and creating succession plans
• Working closely with senior stakeholders
• Presenting performance and recommendations at executive level

There is also a strong commercial element, including understanding budgets, cash flow, productivity and P&L performance.

What we’re looking for

Legal sector experience would be useful, but leadership capability and experience operating at scale are more important.

We’re particularly interested in speaking with people who have previously led operations of around 150 FTE or more, ideally within legal services, insurance, claims, financial services or another regulated/professional services environment.

Experience you’ll ideally bring

• Large-scale operational leadership
• Leading through Team Leaders / Managers
• Workforce and resource planning
• Performance and productivity management
• Recruitment and attrition
• Coaching and developing leaders
• MI and data analysis
• Budget and P&L management
• Continuous improvement
• Risk management

  You’ll need to be commercially minded, analytical and comfortable making decisions based on data.

  Strong Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Teams skills are expected, while experience of Power BI or similar reporting tools would be advantageous.

  The person

  This appointment is as much about how you lead as what you've managed.

  The right person will balance the numbers with the people. You’ll be comfortable challenging performance and making difficult decisions while creating an environment where people remain engaged and motivated.

  Commercial. Analytical. Decisive. Approachable. Accountable.

  You’ll operate with pace, take ownership of outcomes and be willing to challenge existing processes when there's a better way of doing things.

  The Package

  £50,000 - £70,000 DOE

  You’ll also benefit from:

  • Hybrid working
  • Senior leadership exposure
  • Responsibility for a substantial operation
  • Established management infrastructure
  • Genuine influence over operational strategy
  • Long-term career development
  • Opportunities to progress into broader leadership positions

  Why speak to CRA Consulting?

  CRA Consulting has recruited across the UK legal market for over 20 years, working with law firms and legal services businesses on both legal and senior operational appointments.

  Importantly, you don't need to be a lawyer or necessarily come directly from a law firm.

  If you’re currently leading a sizeable operation within legal services, insurance, claims, financial services or another professional services environment and are ready for a bigger challenge, I’d be very interested in speaking with you.