Director, Legal Operations

Job Description

​

Position Summary

​

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Director of Legal Operations to be the first hire of our newly formed Legal Operations department. As the Director of Legal Operations, you will be responsible for building and staffing Legal Operations department over the next three fiscal years, implementing our Legal Operations Strategic Plan focused on People, Technology, and Processes, and developing and directing strategy for future years.

​

Responsibilities

​

Legal Technology

​

• Executing our technology roadmap by leading technology system deployments and workflow automations, enhancements, and related process guidelines, in coordination with relevant stakeholders and/or business partners.
• Improving data integrity and analytical reporting capacity to inform decision-making and demonstrate the value Legal brings to the organization.
• Partnering with technology teams to troubleshoot equipment/systems issues.
• Driving change acceleration and championing the usage of technology to ensure adoption and enhance department efficiency.
• Hiring and supervising a manager/specialist of legal technology in FY25, overseeing their work, providing guidance and support, and ensuring their professional development aligns with the department's and organization's goals.

​

Financial Planning

​

• Assisting Finance and Chief Legal Officer in preparing accurate annual legal budget forecast and Annual Operation Plan (AOP), and report on and drive compliance thereto.
• Reviewing 3-year Long Range Plan (LRP) and Legal Operations Strategic Plan annually.
• Partnering with legal professionals to gather full matter costs to aid active spend management and to supervise operational costs for improved budget forecasting accuracy.
• Coordinating monthly reconciliation and reclassification requests, and half-yearly budget estimate updates.
• Supporting monthly law firm matter budget review process.
• Supervising and guiding outside counsel billing in compliance with Constellation Brands' billing guidelines, including rate approvals, invoice review and payment; resolving processing issues.

​

Outside Counsel Management

​

• Assisting Procurement in sourcing, negotiating, and selecting law firms.
• Negotiating alternative fee arrangements and engagement agreements.
• Leading law firms through defined CBI processes for billing and reporting and managing annual revision and distribution of billing guidelines and terms of engagement.
• Providing reporting and analysis of legal services spend.
• Assisting legal professionals in reporting legal spend to the business units.

​

Project Management and Other Responsibilities

​

• Developing, monitoring, and reporting on KPIs which demonstrate Legal Department value, status of work, and productivity for demonstrating.
• Providing project management support to legal department initiatives and serving as liaison between other departments on companywide initiatives that impact the Legal Department.
• Managing professional association memberships and subscriptions.
• Leading logistics for Legal Department meetings, summits, and similar events/meetings, including delegation of scheduling, technical support, communications, and meeting materials.
• Creating and maintaining a Legal Homepage characterized by transparency and availability of legal practice and operations information.
• Tracking trends in the law industry and participating and collecting relevant benchmarking to advise on department initiatives.
• Continuing to improve department processes and systems.
• Supporting Legal Department management team with annual goal planning and people development and engagement.

​

Qualifications

​

• Bachelor's degree required.
• MBA or JD preferred.
• Minimum 10 years' experience at law firm or in-house corporate legal department, including a minimum of 5 years in legal operations.
• Must demonstrate a deep understanding of Legal Operations principles and strategies.
• Proven track record of developing strategies from the ground up, executing such strategies, and delivering superior results in both the short and long term.
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills, with an ability to establish relationships and influence across the Legal team and external departments.
• Proactive, entrepreneurial approach to recognizing needs, solving problems, anticipating issues, and developing solutions; excellent business judgment and critical thinking.
• Attention to detail with excellent time management and multitasking/prioritization abilities.
• Advanced proficiency with SirionLabs or equivalent CLM, ELM, and workflow automation tools required.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Teams, and SharePoint.
• Familiarity with SAP Ariba, Concur, WebEx also preferred.
• Solid understanding of finance and accounting, with experience overseeing/managing budget(s).

​

Physical Requirements/Work Environment

​

• Must be able to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time, and work on a computer for extended periods. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• May require limited domestic and international travel.
• This position is located at our office in Rochester, NY.