We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded Senior Legal Project Manager to join our growing Legal Project Management team, part of WBD Advance.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in transforming the way legal services are delivered, working alongside lawyers, technologists, analysts and operations professionals on some of the firm's most significant matters, programmes, service implementations and client initiatives.

Our Senior Legal Project Managers are trusted advisers to both clients and legal teams, leading governance, managing stakeholder relationships and bringing structure, visibility and control to complex programmes of work.

This role can be based in Bristol, Newcastle or Plymouth, with hybrid working available. Ideally, the successful candidate will be able to attend one of our offices one to two days per week to support collaboration with colleagues, partners and clients.

About WBD Advance

WBD Advance is Womble Bond Dickinson's alternative legal and business services division. Bringing together lawyers, legal project managers, technologists, data analysts and operations professionals, we help clients and legal teams deliver work more efficiently, effectively and intelligently.

Our Legal Project Management team is embedded within legal delivery, working directly with partners, lawyers and clients to scope, manage and deliver complex legal matters, programmes and strategic initiatives. The team plays a critical role in improving client experience, managing risk, driving efficiency and supporting innovative approaches to legal service delivery.

The Role

This is a broad and varied role that combines project delivery, implementation, mobilisation and operational improvement.

You will be responsible for leading complex matters and programmes from initial scoping through to successful implementation and transition into business-as-usual operations. Working closely with lawyers, clients and business services teams, you will help design and embed scalable delivery models, sustainable processes and effective governance arrangements.

The role will initially have a primary focus supporting our Planning & Infrastructure practice, including major infrastructure and Development Consent Order (DCO) projects. However, WBD Advance supports a wide range of legal and business services across the firm, and there will be opportunities to work on a variety of legal, operational and transformation initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the planning, governance and delivery of complex legal matters, programmes and strategic initiatives.
• Work closely with partners, lawyers and clients to define scope, objectives, delivery approaches and success measures.
• Manage risks, issues, dependencies, budgets and resources to ensure successful outcomes.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary teams across legal, operational and technology workstreams.
• Develop reporting, governance and management information that provides clear visibility of progress and performance.
• Support the implementation, mobilisation and transition of new client services and solutions into operational delivery teams.
• Design and embed efficient, scalable delivery models and ways of working.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance efficiency, quality and client experience.
• Support business development activities and help demonstrate the value of Legal Project Management to clients and prospective clients.
• Coach and mentor junior members of the Legal Project Management team.

What We're Looking For

To be successful you will have:

• Significant project or programme management experience within legal services, professional services, consulting or a similarly complex environment.
• Experience delivering large, multi-stakeholder projects and programmes.
• Experience implementing new services, operational processes or business change initiatives.
• Experience supporting the transition of projects into operational or business-as-usual delivery environments.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and confidence working with senior leaders, lawyers and clients.
• A structured and pragmatic approach to planning, governance, risk management and problem-solving.
• Strong commercial awareness and a focus on delivering value and client outcomes.
• Excellent communication, organisation and influencing skills.
• A recognised project management qualification such as PRINCE2 Practitioner, or equivalent practical experience.

We continually work hard to create an open culture that sets us apart from other firms.

As signatories to the Mindful Business Charter, it's important to us that our people are able to maintain healthy and happy lives, both in and out of work. We have a number of resources and initiatives designed to support health and wellbeing and we're very happy to talk flexible working.

Through our DEI initiatives we create an environment in which difference is valued. We have an Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Group, led by our Board Sponsor, which works with our colleague networks (we currently have firm supported networks for race, ethnicity, and cultural heritage, LGBTQ+, disabilities, neurodiversity, families, and women's career development and we're in constant dialogue with our people about how we expand our networks to better support everybody). Find out more about DEI at WBD here. We encourage applicants from all social backgrounds, ethnicities, disabilities, gender identities and sexual orientations.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to all. If you have a disability or long term condition and need us to make any adjustments to give you the best possible recruitment process, please let us know by contacting the recruiter on the right hand side of this page. Please also let us know if you need this job advert or the application form in a different format.

We will offer an interview to candidates with a disability or long-term condition who meet the minimum criteria for this role. You can opt into this scheme within the application form. Your response to this question is only used for this purpose, is only visible to the recruitment team and is not used for data monitoring. 

We are an in-house recruitment team and will always aim to fill our roles directly in the first instance. If you're an agency, please click here for ways that you can work with us.