Director Legal Operations - (Hybrid)
About Us
Georgia Tech prides itself on its technological resources, collaborations, high-quality student body, and its commitment to building an outstanding and diverse community of learning, discovery, and creation. We strongly encourage applicants whose values align with our institutional values, as outlined in our strategic plan. These values include academic excellence, diversity of thought and experience, inquiry and innovation, collaboration and community, and ethical behavior and stewardship. Georgia Tech has policies to promote a healthy work-life balance and is aware that attracting faculty may require meeting the needs of two careers.
About Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech is a top-ranked public research university situated in the heart of Atlanta, a diverse and vibrant city with numerous economic and cultural strengths. The Institute serves more than 45,000 students through top-ranked undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs in engineering, computing, science, business, design, and liberal arts. Georgia Tech's faculty attracted more than $1.4 billion in research awards this past year in fields ranging from biomedical technology to artificial intelligence, energy, sustainability, semiconductors, neuroscience, and national security. Georgia Tech ranks among the nation's top 20 universities for research and development spending and No. 1 among institutions without a medical school.
Georgia Tech's Mission and Values
Georgia Tech's mission is to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute has nine key values that are foundational to everything we do:
- Students are our top priority.
- We strive for excellence.
- We thrive on diversity.
- We celebrate collaboration.
- We champion innovation.
- We safeguard freedom of inquiry and expression.
- We nurture the wellbeing of our community.
- We act ethically.
- We are responsible stewards.
Over the next decade, Georgia Tech will become an example of inclusive innovation, a leading technological research university of unmatched scale, relentlessly committed to serving the public good; breaking new ground in addressing the biggest local, national, and global challenges and opportunities of our time; making technology broadly accessible; and developing exceptional, principled leaders from all backgrounds ready to produce novel ideas and create solutions with real human impact.
Job Summary
The Director of Legal Operations will serve as an executive administrative officer for the Georgia Tech Office of the General Counsel (OGC). The person in this role will initiate and execute OGC initiatives enabling and optimizing the OGC team's effectiveness with internal and external stakeholders. Plan and execute strategic initiatives in partnership with campus and OGC leaders and provide operational direction to the Legal Affairs and Ethics, Risk, and Compliance teams. Work closely with the General Counsel, workstream leads, the Director of Ethics and Compliance, the Chief Privacy Officer, OGC team members, campus leaders, and business partners to plan, direct, and manage department staff, monitor and mitigate enterprise risk, and work to support the Institute. This role will execute strategic initiatives, define and monitor key performance metrics, plan and monitor budget, and report on Office activities and results.
Responsibilities
Job Duty 1
Serve as a trusted and strategic advisor to the General Counsel on matters handled by the OGC, including operations, policies, strategy, communications, ethics, compliance, and investigations, in addition to various other legal matters affecting the Institute and its affiliates, including litigation, transactions, intellectual property, employment matters, athletics, campus operations issues, and enterprise risk management. Identify emerging trends and industry best practices in legal operations, integrating them into a strategy for continuous improvements, intellectual property, employment matters, athletics, campus operations issues, and enterprise risk management. Identify emerging trends and industry best practices in legal operations, integrating them into strategy for continuous improvement.
Job Duty 2
Drive the development of short-term and long-term strategic priorities for OGC. Oversee the execution of the OGC strategic plan priorities and measure results. Serve as a change agent and take a lead role in driving culture change within OGC.
Job Duty 3
Drive programs to enhance in-house efficiency, standardization of processes, and enhance cost controls and strategies. Develop and implement a technology roadmap that increases the visibility of current operations and identifies opportunities to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Manage overall legal operations for OGC.
Job Duty 4
Lead transformational projects defined in conjunction with other parts of OGC or the Institute. Lead coordinated projects with overlapping areas of responsibility and expertise.
Job Duty 5
Strategically lead the OGC forecasting and budgeting process, including a long-term OGC capacity plan regarding resource needs and allocation. Manage outside counsel spending, including coordinating billing with law firms, tracking internal and external outside counsel spending, and evaluating the effectiveness of outside counsel. Explore alternative fee arrangements and outsourcing strategies to optimize efficiency and cost savings without compromising legal service quality.
Job Duty 6
Delegate and assign inquiries and tasks, oversee administrative staff, and address OGC-related HR needs. The role will plan, direct, and manage department staff, monitor and mitigate enterprise risk, and work with external business partners to support the Institute. The role will also define and monitor key performance metrics, plan and monitor the budget, and provide recommendations and guidance to optimize and improve operations. The individual in this role will have proven experience leading people and guaranteeing service delivery to multiple stakeholders.
Job Duty 7
Collaborate with executive, cabinet-level leadership, staff, University System of Georgia staff, and external counsel to achieve organizational priorities. Is a visible presence at activities throughout the Institute, serving as a senior relationship lead across Institute units/departments. Act as a point of contact for inquiries, escalations, and requests from stakeholders.
Job Duty 8
Create metrics and trends on critical data points aligned to the OGC's key objectives, strategic plan, and overall OGC effectiveness and efficiency. Develop annual reporting to share performance and progress of priorities. Develop compelling narratives using data-driven insights to communicate legal trends, risks, and opportunities. Create visually appealing and concise reports, presentations, and dashboards that effectively communicate legal data.
Job Duty 9
Ensure communication and coordination within the OGC, including building knowledge management processes and capabilities. Provide leadership, coaching, and oversight to workstream teams on a regular basis.
Job Duty 10
Other duties as assigned.
Educational Requirements
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree from an accredited undergraduate institution or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Other Required Qualifications
- Exceptional financial acumen and problem-solving skills. Prior experience with a variety of technologies, including those related to budgets and finance, process improvement, and case management. Law firm, in-house, or government legal operations experience. Previous people or project team management experience, including developing and implementing work systems and processes related to enterprise-level business operations.
Required Experience
- 10 years of job-related experience in strategy, legal operations, or project management within a large organization
Preferred Qualifications
Additional Preferred Qualifications
- Member in good standing with the Georgia Bar or ability to be admitted to practice law in Georgia within six months of employment months of hire. Management experience within large public research universities or complex state government agencies.
Preferred Educational Qualifications
- Advanced degree (e.g., MBA, JD).
Proposed Salary
Min $155,169 - Max $211,030
Abilities
Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities
- Ensure Accountability: Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments and deadlines.
- Cultivate Innovation: Seek new and better ways for the organization to be successful.
- Program Management: Build structured and trackable methodologies to ensure priorities and projects are delivered on time and on budget.
- Negotiation: Use compelling arguments to gain the support and commitment of others.
- Communicate Effectively: Develop and deliver clear messages using tact and diplomacy. Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills.
- Develop Talent: Developing people to meet their career and organizational goals.
- Manage Conflict: Ability to handle conflict situations effectively and productively.
- Legal Insight: Requires advanced law knowledge as applied in higher education and research environments.
- Stewardship: Works quickly and effectively to ensure the state's resources are properly managed and utilized.
- Data Analysis: Comfortable using data to drive business insights.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. The University is committed to maintaining a fair and respectful environment for all. To that end, and in accordance with federal and state law, Board of Regents policy, and University policy, Georgia Tech provides equal opportunity to all faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including applicants for admission and/or employment, contractors, volunteers, and participants in institutional programs, activities, or services. Georgia Tech complies with all applicable laws and regulations governing equal opportunity in the workplace and in educational activities.
Georgia Tech prohibits discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, on the basis of race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, disability, genetics, or veteran status in its programs, activities, employment, and admissions. This prohibition applies to faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including affiliates, invitees, and guests. Further, Georgia Tech prohibits citizenship status, immigration status, and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, and recruitment, except where such restrictions are required in order to comply with law, regulation, executive order, or Attorney General directive, or where they are required by Federal, State, or local government contract.
All members of the USG community must adhere to the USG Statement of Core Values, which consists of Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values shape and fundamentally support our university¿s work. Additionally, all faculty, staff, and administrators must also be aware of and comply with the Board of Regents and Georgia Institute of Technology's policies on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. More information on these policies can be found here: Board of Regents Policy Manual | University System of Georgia (usg.edu).
