Legal Technology Manager in North East

We’re Norton Rose Fulbright - a global law firm with over 50 offices and 7,000 employees worldwide. We provide the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. At Norton Rose Fulbright, our strategy and our culture are closely entwined. We know that our expansion will mean little unless it is underpinned by truly global collaboration and we understand that pioneering work only takes place when our people have room to move and think beyond boundaries. As well as the relevant skills and experience, we’re looking for people who are innovative, commercial and value the work that they do.

Our Newcastle office is recruiting a Legal Technology Manager to join our growing matter support capability within the Innovation Design and Technology (IDT) team.

The Role

This role offers the opportunity to oversee the technological support provided by the team to the firm’s core practice areas by:

• Managing the legal technology support service provided by our team of technologists
• Providing technical expertise on complex legal matters and client solutions
• Line management of our team of technologists
• Collaborating with senior members of IDT and other senior legal and business stakeholders regarding their legal technology support needs
• Delivering the firm’s legal tech training curriculum
• Managing the roll-out of new features in existing legal technology including how these features are incorporated into standardised ways of augmenting legal tasks and services

In the longer term, as the team evolves, we expect that this role will move full-time to a specific function either providing technology services for clients and legal teams on live matters or to focus on upgrading and standardising the use of technology (including Generative AI integrated tools) by lawyers and legal support staff.

The Team

The IDT team is a central part of a wider transformation function with responsibilities for legal teams across EMEA and works in close collaboration with Legal Project Management team (LPM), the Legal Services Team (LST) in Newcastle, the Digital Solutions team (DS), IT and the Knowledge Management team (KM). The goals of the broader transformation function are to improve: (i) the lawyer experience (LX); (ii) the client experience (CX); and (iii) financial performance of the firm. This is done by identifying opportunities to support, and deliver innovative solutions, using technology, and new ways of working.

Key Responsibilities

Matter and client support

• Serve as a front door for our technology capabilities.
• Manage capacity and triage requests for technologists’ expertise.
• Assist the team with prioritisation and delivery concerns where conflicting or demanding workloads arise, with reference to complementary roles & responsibilities matrices and the competency of other legal support teams.
• Oversee the monitoring, recording, analysis, and communication of metrics and outcomes, such as efficiency gains, cost savings, quality improvements, and client satisfaction, to demonstrate adoption and effectiveness.
• Support the team with the setting of scope and deadlines to ensure that matter or project deliverables are met.
• Ensure all relevant stakeholders are regularly updated on progress, milestones, and any changes.
• Promptly address and resolve or escalate any stakeholder concerns or issues to maintain trust and collaboration.
• Contribute to matter retrospectives and lead on continuous improvement based on any relevant lessons learned or other feedback received on the team’s services.

Manage and collaborate

• Provide line management of the team’s group of technologists. This includes performance management, administration of line management tasks e.g. budget controls, and ensuring compliance with the firm’s regulatory duties and policies.
• Manage engagement with IT Service Desk to ensure our colleagues experience seamless service delivery between the two teams with respect to technical support on legal matters and projects.
• Collaborate closely with your IDT teammates and other teams within the firm’s legal transformation programme based in the UK and Europe, to ensure that the right people with the right expertise and experience are involved in appropriate opportunities early.

Technical expertise

• Advise and influence partners and lawyers in specific circumstances in collaboration with colleagues in IDT or the broader Legal Transformation Programme e.g. when a new matter is being scoped, on appropriate technology tools and augmented service delivery of legal tasks to add value and deliver better outcomes for clients.
• Where appropriate, bolster the team’s capacity with technological expertise to build, configure and troubleshoot for both technology deployed on live matters and as part of the firm’s client-facing digital solutions.
• Translate your deep understanding of the features of our technology to the challenges and pain points faced by our lawyers and their clients in the delivery of specific types of legal work, so that the firm can continuously improve the service delivery of legal tasks.

Training and Learning

• Oversee the team’s technical training curriculum and schedule.
• Ensure training incorporates and considers the relevant tools and approaches for tech augmented service delivery and determine updates and changes to the curriculum based on new features and different ways of working.
• Develop and deliver demonstrations and training sessions on the capabilities and benefits of our technology tools.
• Coach and train legal and legal support teams to ensure they are adept at using our technology and its features effectively, to the appropriate level of competency for legal service delivery.
• Collaborate with Learning & Development team to create self-service and in-the-moment training materials available through the firm’s online training platform.
• Ensure information regarding tools and tech augmented working are included and maintained into best practice guides, templates, client materials, and new employee onboarding programmes.

Knowledge Sharing and Industry Awareness

• Maintain understanding of the latest legal innovation and technology trends and developments in the market.
• Document and share insights and best practices learned.
• Support the team with their horizon scanning and experimentation efforts.
• Cultivate relationships with the local/regional legal technology and innovation ecosystem by attending events, presenting at conferences, and delivering lectures.

Skills And Experience Required

• Minimum 3 years of experience working in a global law firm or legal department, preferably within a verein structure
• Implementation of legal technology solutions within a law firm or legal department, including the deployment of AI/ML tools
• Managing and delivering innovation, improvement, or change projects in a legal context from inception to completion
• Thorough and current knowledge of the legal technology market and available tools, including a technical understanding of artificial intelligence/machine learning and its applications in legal and business context
• Working within matrix reporting structures and managing multiple stakeholders
• Experience in a client-facing role, with the ability to understand client needs, manage client relationships, and deliver innovative solutions that enhance client satisfaction
• Proficiency in data analytics and the ability to leverage data to drive decision-making, measure project outcomes, and identify opportunities for improvement
• High proficiency in a variety of industry standard technology platforms and applications e.g. Thomson Reuters and Litera products, and point-based solutions e.g. Office & Dragons intended to streamline legal processes and increase lawyer and legal support teams’ efficiency
• Ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams and with senior stakeholders
• Power Platform experience is a plus
• Native or fluent in English, with other languages as relevant for the region a nice to have
• Client-centered design, agile, and lean methodologies for project delivery
• Excellent attention to detail
• Excellent advocacy and presentation skills

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

To attract the best people, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, have a sense of belonging, and realize their full career potential. Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people’s health and overall wellbeing. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We strive to create an inclusive and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any tailored adjustments or accommodations, please let us know.

Employment Details

• Seniority level: Mid-Senior level
• Employment type: Full-time
• Job function: Engineering and Information Technology
• Industries: Law Practice