The Vacancy

We are recruiting a Senior Legal Technology and Innovation Manager to join our Lawtech department.

About Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes is a pre-eminent law firm that serves a global client base in Private Capital, Private Wealth, M&A and Disputes. Personal connection, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to excellence are at the heart of our firm. These values drive our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.

We are big enough to undertake the most complex and demanding mandates yet small enough to know each other well and to be agile, adapting to the needs of our clients. We seek to strengthen the firm by recruiting talented people from all backgrounds who want to build long-lasting and impactful careers with us. Our culture is challenging and supportive, creating an environment where individuals can thrive.

What this means for you

Joining Macfarlanes means being part of a collaborative, approachable team who want you to succeed. You'll be encouraged to get involved and recognised for your contribution.

We take your development seriously. Our learning and development programmes are second to none and are designed to help you strengthen your skills.

Above all, you'll be part of a firm where we all work together as part of a cohesive and supportive team, value your efforts and help you to thrive.

Lawtech at Macfarlanes

Emerging legal technologies, new tools and alternative approaches are driving significant change within the legal profession. They are transforming the way we work, how we deliver services to our clients, and the range of services we can offer, enabling us to operate more effectively while creating exciting new opportunities.

The Lawtech department consists of 18 individuals and is at the forefront of how we, as a firm, respond to this evolution and embrace these developments for the maximum benefit of our clients and teams alike. We recognise that fusing legal and technological expertise seamlessly can help our clients solve their most challenging business problems in more innovative, more sophisticated and more technologically advanced ways. By bringing together people, process, technology, and data, we help ensure the firm is able to achieve excellence in all aspects of legal practice and client service.

The role

We are committed to recruiting and developing the best people to ensure we deliver a high standard of service to our clients. We recognise that the success of a modern law firm depends on a range of business professionals contributing critical and complementary expertise. Our Lawtech team is structured around three core functions: Innovation & Change, Knowledge & Data, and AI Solutions. The Senior Legal Technology & Innovation Manager role sits within the Innovation & Change function and is a multi-disciplinary position (covering project management, business analysis, change management and technology adoption), responsible for managing operational delivery and driving adoption of AI and innovation solutions across the firm's business services functions.

The Senior Legal Technology & Innovation Manager will report to the Head of Innovation & Change and be expected to:

• lead the management, analysis and delivery of AI and technology projects for business services teams, including business case development, requirements analysis, process improvement reviews and mapping, solution assessment, implementation planning, user acceptance testing and training;
• work with Lawtech leadership to design, develop and implement an effective process for engaging with our business services teams to drive adoption and innovative working;
• guide the analysis and re-engineering of business services processes, producing process documentation, workflow mapping and process models to identify improvement opportunities;
• develop, prototype and roll out technology and AI solutions for business services teams, supporting change management, adoption and communications throughout implementation;
• define and track success metrics, ROI measurements and benefits realisation to demonstrate value and return on the firm's technology investment from a legal operations standpoint; and
• work with wider Lawtech team to develop engagement and training strategies to drive awareness, understanding and adoption of AI and technology solutions across business services teams.

Key duties will include:

Strategy & leadership

• supporting strategic initiatives across business functions with implementation of process and technology;
• identifying and communicating opportunities to transform legal operations and legal service delivery through AI, automation, data and process redesign;
• representing the team and the firm at external events; and
• contributing to the senior Lawtech team's discussions on strategy, objectives and business plans, supporting alignment with the firm's strategy for the future of business services.

AI Tools and Solution Development & Delivery

• leading and managing complex innovation projects and coordinating delivery across multiple stakeholders and workstreams (including the design, development, testing and implementation of Lawtech solutions and innovation programmes);
• identifying and communicating interdependencies between projects and actively working to reduce silos across business services functions; and
• working closely with AI Solutions, Knowledge & Data, IT, Risk, Compliance and practice teams to ensure solutions are effective, scalable and aligned with firm objectives and strategy.

Stakeholder Engagement & Technology Adoption

• building strong relationships with colleagues across business services teams, understanding their strategic priorities, operational challenges and opportunities for transformation;
• acting as a trusted advisor to business stakeholders on the application of AI and legal technology in a professional services setting;
• working with colleagues across business teams to increase firm awareness of project delivery tools, process improvement techniques and change management principles;
• driving adoption, engagement and change management activities across the business services teams and relevant practice areas, ensuring successful embedding of new technologies and ways of working; and
• serving as a business partner to the firm's business services (e.g. HR, Risk, Finance, Marketing, etc.) to help drive innovative working and adoption of Lawtech solutions.

Governance, Evaluation & Research

• horizon scanning, maintaining a comprehensive knowledge of the legal operations market, emerging technologies and adoption methods;
• supporting business development objectives for the Lawtech team, contributing to the development of our external and internal brand;
• contributing to AI governance frameworks and ensuring compliance with responsible AI principles and firm policies; and
• defining success measures and evaluation frameworks for AI solutions implemented for our business teams, including monitoring quality, adoption, value realisation and risk.

Training & Team Development

• mentoring and developing more junior team members, contributing to team growth and capability development;
• training Lawtech colleagues in topics related to business services, legal operations, process mapping, etc., and contributing regularly to the team's resource and knowledge base; and
• helping to shape the team's standards, methodologies and best practices.

This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the practice area.

The candidate

The successful candidate will ideally possess the following:

• a strong academic record, with a minimum 2:1 degree (or equivalent higher education) in any subject;
• a minimum of 4-5 years' experience working on technology or transformation programmes within professional services, ideally within the legal sector;
• strong experience in utilising a wide range of project management approaches and tools, understanding where and how to adjust and apply these;
• adept at process analysis, producing process documentation, workflow mapping and process modelling;
• strong understanding and experience of change management, adoption and communication principles and methodologies;
• experience of system administration, project delivery and development using key legal technologies, including artificial intelligence and generative artificial intelligence (e.g. Harvey, Claude, Legora, Microsoft Copilot, Foundry), collaborative technologies (e.g. HighQ Collaborate, SharePoint), document automation (e.g. Contract Express, HighQ), process automation & robotics (e.g. Power Automate), data capture and visualisation (e.g. PowerBI), expert systems (e.g. Power Automate);
• experience, or a strong interest, in AI technology solutions and how they can deliver value to the firm and its clients;
• excellent verbal, interpersonal, and written communication skills, including experience with developing and delivering presentations;
• confidence in contributing to internal and client meetings and supporting business development activities for the team;
• ability to explain complex technical concepts in an easily understandable format across a range of audiences;
• a broad understanding and competency in IT and systems;
• familiarity with budget management and tracking expenditures for projects and initiatives;
• collaborative and flexible approach with the ability to build strong relationships across different teams and stakeholder groups;
• experience of supervising and supporting junior colleagues;
• a methodical, detail-oriented approach with strong organisational skills;
• a passion for a challenge with the ability to thrive on problem solving and analysis; and
• positive and pro-active, with a "can do" attitude.

Application screening

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These checks will be initiated with your consent, and your CV will be sent to the provider by us. The screening will include but is not limited to your employment references, professional and academic qualifications including grades and any criminal records. Your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Our commitment to inclusion

Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the recruitment team at recruitment@macfarlanes.com.

The Company

The Company has experienced unprecedented growth over the past few years. We have a vast number of employees, and provide support to clients from all over the country.