Deputy Operations Director - Complex Injury

This is an operational leadership role responsible for the delivery of a high-performance culture and ensuring the targeted development of our next generation of leaders in order that we can retain our place as the largest complex and catastrophic injury team in the UK. The right candidate will inspire confidence by competently navigating operational challenges, managing change initiatives and influencing the optimum use of tools and systems to ensure excellent client care, quality and risk management and financial discipline. They will have sound business acumen enabling them to support the Deputy Operations Director by accurately forecasting and reporting on the financial performance of smaller business units within the division.

The role will draw on the candidate’s previous leadership experience to provide support to Partners and other Lead Lawyers in the management of their mini-teams, including monitoring professional development and, where necessary, assisting with performance management. The role will involve working closely with the Deputy OD and Technical DBUDs to ensure consistency of operational delivery across CIC in order that we can deliver our Vision for 2030 that we are one team passionate about working together to deliver the highest quality services, one team who are friendly and down to earth, providing opportunities for everyone to achieve their career ambitions.

Key Responsibilities

• Working closely with the Deputy OD and Technical DBUDs to deliver a high-performance culture.
• Targeted development of the next generation.
• Engagement, retention and career progression for colleagues.
• Financial responsibility, forecasting and reporting.

Resulting in:

• High performing business units.
• A diverse and inclusive environment where everyone is treated equitably.
• High levels of engagement in that our people are motivated and committed to the growth and success of the business and their own careers and personal development.
• A continuous pipeline of talented lawyers and assistants who are supported to reach their full potential, to future proof CIC.

Leadership

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with our junior partners and non-partner lead lawyers and their mini-teams in order to deliver growth and profitability targets whilst maintaining high performance standards.
• Understand our Junior Leads’ career aspirations and goals to support their advancement, anticipating needs and concerns and navigating challenges as they arise.
• Ensure they are adequately supported with capacity planning so caseloads can be proactively handled to an excellent standard and work is handled in the most effective and profitable way.
• Support them with the leadership of their team members to achieve productivity targets and deliver growth with a high level of engagement, retention and progression from within.
• Support them with recruitment to ensure time to hire does not drift and budgeted headcount-driven growth is achieved.
• Monitoring performance of the teams in order to identify any individual underperformance and support the Leads to promptly investigate the cause and take appropriate action to address or mitigate including, where appropriate, to support the Lead in performance management.

Client & Quality

• Working with CAMs (Client Account Managers) to deliver high quality service which meets our clients’ needs, including producing data for stat-packs which CAMs provide to clients.
• Working with Technical Specialists and our Auditor to deliver training initiatives which are implemented across CIC business units.
• Improve the use of our case management system as a risk mitigation tool, persuading stakeholders of its value and benefit to them.
• When quality issues arise, delivering agreed mitigation or resolution strategies.

Engagement

• Lead a strong culture of fairness, transparency and consistency across all people related activities, putting this at the heart of all decision making processes and ensuring risks/challenges are considered and mitigated.
• Using your knowledge and understanding of the junior lead lawyers ambitions, identify growth opportunities and drive career advancement, balanced with capacity planning and business need.
• Track each Assistant’s journey on a technical framework tracker and ensuring appropriate development plans are in place taking into consideration the needs and aspirations of the individual.
• Identifying any people risks, considering appropriate mitigation.
• Become an expert in our policies and procedures in order to deal with queries and resolve operational challenges as they arise.
• Manage the implementation and embedding of change initiatives and improvements, positively influencing others to adopt and embrace change, driving the successful implementation of firm wide and area specific projects.

Financial

• Responsibility for tracking performance against budget and predicting future performance of defined business units within the division, identifying trends and implementing mitigation strategies where necessary.
• With appropriate support the DBUD will craft an accurate and stretching budget for the business unit annually, which is delivered against.
• With appropriate support the DUB will review financial performance monthly, producing accurate and up to date forecasts and analysing any variance to budget and reporting against key issues.
• Line Management Responsibility for the Finance & MI Support Assistant in order to take ownership of the management of net working capital, driving prompt billing and addressing any blockers to the realisation of aged WIP.
• Management of the response to any challenges arising from Legal Spend Management tools (e.g. Tymetrix/COG) ensuring lawyers deal with queries promptly and appealing where appropriate.
• With the support of the wider operational support team and CILA team, ensuring regular caseload cleanses take place to ensure matters are final billed and closed promptly, reducing write off of aged WIP.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Proven track record in operational leadership.
• Self-driven focus on continuous improvement with experience leading and implementing change.
• Proven track record in working collaboratively with key stakeholders necessary to devise and deliver engagement, development or financial management strategies.
• Skilled in diplomacy and strategic influence, able to influence others whilst understanding the broader organisational landscape.
• Understanding of business financial measures.
• Proactive and focused on achieving results and finding solutions.
• Dynamic ability to prioritise and re-prioritise.

Benefits

Working at Keoghs as part of The Davies Group, you will receive a host of benefits that can be flexed to suit your needs:

• Hybrid working 2 days minimum per week in office.
• Entry into the Davies Incentive Plan.
• Private medical insurance.
• Permanent health insurance.
• Critical illness cover.
• Health Care Cash Plan.
• Holidays 25 days plus 8 bank holidays (opportunity to buy & sell 3 days), holidays rise to 26 days after 5 years’ service and 27 days after 10 years’ service.
• Death In Service – after 1 year.
• Employer Pension Contribution.
• Cycle to Work Scheme, Tech Scheme, Season Ticket Loan, Gym Flex.