Legal Ops and Project Executive

The Legal Operations and Project Management team supports our lawyers to deliver their legal matters (projects) more effectively and efficiently by applying legal project management (LPM) principles. This encompasses training, hands on support on matters, developing project management resources and process improvement projects. Please note this role can be based in our London or Bristol office.

As part of the selection process, we would like you to send a cover letter including the following:    
•    Motivation and Experience: Highlight your 2-3 years of experience in a project role, particularly within professional services or the legal sector and explain why you are drawn to this role.
•    Skills and Achievements: Discuss your expertise in project management, stakeholder management, and navigating change. Provide specific examples of experience in managing timelines and budgets, multitasking, relationship management, and delivering actionable results.
•    Technical Proficiency: Highlight your proficiency in MS Office, especially PowerPoint and Excel, with examples of how you've used these tools in previous roles. 

Keep your cover letter concise, well-structured, and tailored to the role's requirements. Use specific examples and achievements to support your claims and demonstrate your suitability for the position.

About us

CMS is a Future Facing firm with more than 70 offices in over 40 countries and 5,000+ lawyers worldwide. We combine deep local market understanding with a global perspective. We are passionate about building strong relationships with our clients, our people, and the communities we work in.

We take a bold, dynamic, and agile approach to ensure our clients are able to face the future with confidence. We are driven by technology and readily embrace the possibilities it opens up for developing new and better ways of working.  Our aim is to inspire, impact and support our clients and our people, helping them to maximize their potential and thrive.

About the Role

As part of a growing and dynamic team you will play a pivotal role in implementing project management disciplines and behaviours to ensure our legal services are delivered effectively. You will utilise your expertise in project management, stakeholder management and navigating change to enhance service delivery, reduce ‘wastage’ and ensure projects/matters adhere to timelines and budgets. The ability to multi-task, build relationships and translate legal requirements into actionable plans, will be essential to the role and achieving successful outcomes. 
This role would be responsible for delivering project management training across the firm and driving engagement with our LPM tools and supporting delivery across various projects and work types. You will work closely with our team’s Ops Managers and various other senior stakeholders across a number of initiatives.
Typical responsibilities will include:
•    Provide project management support across a number of client projects
•    Supporting to scope and understand project/matter requirements
•    Use project management tools to manage and monitor progress on projects
•    Understand budgets and support on financial reporting and tracking of matters
•    Understand the resources available in the firm and identify opportunities to consider different options
•    Support on delivering specific comms outputs to support client and team engagements
•    Analyse data and deliverables to communicate value to key stakeholders
•    Understand the financial drivers and metrics of the firm and ensure projects adhere as best as possible
•    Record time to track capacity and bill for project management time and contributions (as required)
•    Confidently deliver training across the firm
•    Supporting on the development of new and bespoke LPM tools 
•    Drive engagement of LPM tool implementation across the firm

When working with clients directly on other initiatives and projects, the typical responsibilities include:
•    Promote/sell the value of LPM and Operational services/products to different stakeholders
•    Ensure effective governance, processes and defined outputs are in place
•    Understand how technology and of different resources can support project delivery

About You

We are looking for project executives with a background in professional services or the legal sector, with a minimum of 2-3 years experience in a project role. Candidates must be self-motivated, solution orientated and demonstrate practical project and technical examples. Given the nature of the role, candidates must be able to prioritise work, communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels and confidently navigate change/unknowns. Those applying must be pro-active, results driven and have excellent attention to detail. To excel in the role candidates must be personable, foster a culture of collaboration and build credible and trusted relationships. We are a growing team, so adaptability, diversity of thought and delivering with impact are all crucial to the role. 
In addition, those applying must exhibit strong technical skills across all MS office applications in particular PowerPoint and Excel. Experience of process mapping tools would be advantageous. 

What's in it for you?

We want to reward you today and help you plan for tomorrow.  We appreciate that everyone is different, therefore we have designed a benefits system that offers choice and flexibility based on individual needs and lifestyles.  To name just a few, these include: 

• Competitive basic salary (reviewed annually)
• Flexible, hybrid working policy
• Generous bonus scheme
• Up to 25 days holiday (rising to 28 days with service)
• Holiday exchange scheme
• Private medical insurance
• Enhanced parental leave
• Reasonable adjustments and accommodation for disabled talent in accordance with the Equality Act 2010

If you would like to read more information regarding our range of benefits please visit our Rewards & Benefits page on our website.

Equal Opportunities

At CMS, we place diversity and inclusion at the centre of our culture and at the heart of our organisation.  Not only does it make our firm a more rewarding place to work, but it also creates a stronger, more successful, and sustainable business where everyone feels comfortable and welcome. 

We are a Disability Confident Employer, and we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities, whether visible or invisible.  We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity as well as recruiting, retaining, and developing disabled talent at CMS.  If you have a disability, or if you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements or adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact Ruth Kavanagh at TalentAcquisition@cms-cmno.com who will be happy to support you. 

Ready to apply?  Here are the next steps.

We look forward to receiving your application via our CMS Careers site.  Please contact our Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions.  

Please note that we have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.

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