Senior Probate Operations Manager in Basildon

Contract: Full-time, Permanent

Location: Maidenhead (Hybrid - 3 days on-site, 2 days from home)

Salary: Up to £80,000 per annum depending on experience

About us: All of us will deal with death at some point in our lives. It's a fundamental part of being human - yet the legal services that should support people at that moment, particularly probate, have changed very little in decades. Too often, families experience unnecessary delay, complexity and confusion at a time when clarity and care matter most. Dignity Legal Services is being built to change that. We are a new legal services business within the Dignity Group, created to fundamentally improve how probate services are delivered at scale. Dignity is the UK's leading provider of end-of-life services, helping more than 70,000 families arrange a funeral every year. Probate is at the heart of the group's strategy in 2026.

We are building Dignity Legal Services from the ground up, powered by Farewill's market-leading probate technology and expertise. This gives us the rare opportunity to combine the backing, customer reach and stability of a large established group with the pace, ambition and product-led mindset of a start-up. The impact potential is significant. By rebuilding how probate works, we have the chance to make a meaningful difference to thousands of families every year - delivering a service that is faster, clearer and more human, at scale.

The role: We're looking for a highly driven, operationally focused leader to take ownership of how our probate service is delivered as we scale rapidly over the next 12-24 months. As Senior Legal Operations Manager, you'll be responsible for designing and running a clear, scalable probate operating model. You'll lead and grow a team of probate case managers, bring consistency and structure to delivery, and work closely with legal, product and technology teams to modernise how probate is delivered - including exploring how automation and AI can reduce time to complete probate. Probate is a complex and often daunting process for customers. This role plays a critical part in making it simpler, faster and more transparent, while maintaining strong quality and regulatory standards as volumes grow.

Key responsibilities:

• Design and implement a single, scalable operating model for probate delivery.
• Lead, manage and develop a growing team of probate case managers.
• Reduce time to complete probate while maintaining high quality and compliance standards.
• Define, embed and continuously improve clear processes, workflows and service standards.
• Establish QA frameworks and performance metrics across the probate journey.
• Use data to identify bottlenecks and drive operational improvements.
• Work closely with Product and Technology teams to implement tooling, automation and AI-led improvements.
• Recruit, onboard and develop high-performing team members.
• Provide clear operational reporting and recommendations to senior leadership.

What we are looking for:

• Proven experience designing and running operational processes in a regulated or professional services environment.
• Strong people leadership experience, including managing and scaling teams.
• High level of technical and data literacy, with a genuine interest in automation and AI.
• A delivery-focused mindset with a bias towards action and continuous improvement.
• Comfortable challenging existing ways of working and driving change at pace.
• Experience in legal services or probate is beneficial but not essential - mindset and capability matter more than tenure.

What We Offer:

• Annual salary of up to £80,000 depending on experience.
• 25 Days Holiday + Bank Holidays.
• BUPA Healthcare (Self).
• X2 Life Assurance.
• Pension Scheme.
• Hybrid flexible working (3 days in our Maidenhead office).
• Significant scope for growth and responsibility as the business scales.

What are the next steps? To be considered for this role, please submit your application via the 'apply' button, where a member of our Talent Team will review your application.

FCA Regulation Statement: We're regulated by the FCA, so some roles may be subject to background checks.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement: Our Vision is to connect with our clients, colleagues, company, and communities based on our principles whilst celebrating our differences. We aim to empower leaders and colleagues to seek out and understand new voices and perspectives; to be vocal about inequity and exclusion, and to take decisive, informed, and bold action to promote inclusion and belonging.