Legal Support Manager

**Responsibilities
Team
- Setting strategy and direction for the legal support areas in line with the firm’s overall strategic plan
- Ensure effective operational management of all legal support teams, with a focus on service delivery and quality, proactivity, flexibility and service excellence
- Developing legal support service strategies to match the needs of each practice area
- Providing detailed management information to measure, monitor and improve service levels
- Measuring and setting team budgets whilst improving value and efficiencies year on year, ensuring all controls are managed and adhered to in line with form policies and procedures
- Setting standards of service and making sure they are consistently implemented, developing skills where required
- Ensure communication forums are established within the teams and all employees understand the importance of their role within the business
- Ensure that we have the right people in the right roles to provide an efficient service to our internal and external clients
- Build relationships with the legal teams to develop an understanding of their individual support requirements and assist with predicting any future support needs
- Build and maintain effective relationships between Legal Support staff (e.g. Secretaries) and the functional teams with whom they interact with e.g. Finance, Business Development, IT. This includes representing the Legal Support team to these functions and representing these Functions to the Legal Support team as well as developing a culture of collaboration and successful delivery
- Manage all changes to process to ensure appropriate communication plans are implemented
- Coordinate secretarial allocations, including organising cover for absence and planned annual leave, approving leave and updating leave calendar
- Work with Team Leaders to coordinate workflow and resourcing to ensure people are utilised in the most effective way possible
- Identify and work with HR in the creation and delivery of learning and development programs for legal secretaries to improve their skills and abilities and also support their career development
- Review recruitment needs with stakeholders, work with Recruitment team across hiring of legal support staff, and attend to onboarding of legal support teams
- Help maintain good morale among support teams, monitor performance and work with HR in relation to any performance issues which have been identified
- Facilitate regular one on one and team meetings with support teams to set and review objectives and ensure service levels are met
- Listen to feedback and concerns of team members and ensure these are responded to.

**Requirements**:

- Degree qualified in Business/ Organisational Change or other related degree (preferred)
- Experience managing a legal support or secretarial team
- Demonstrated experience in driving transformational change, with focus on continuous improvements of processes, systems, and operational effectiveness of the legal support function
- Demonstrated experience leading a team and developing peopl
- Self-motivated, strategic and analytical thinker with a positive, 'can do' attitude, and high levels of initiative, enthusiasm and attention to detail
- Ability to operate and thrive in a rapidly expanding, dynamic and often ambiguous environment where strong self-direction and independent problem solving is required to succeed
- Outstanding interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate effectively across all levels of an international organisation and externally
- Ability to solve problems practically and with commercial awareness.