Senior Manager, Legal Operations and Governance

ADP is hiring a Senior Manager, Legal Operations and Governance.

• Have you helped transform how organizations manage outside counsel, legal spend, and vendor partnerships?
• Have you leveraged data, technology, and operational insights to drive business decisions, strengthen vendor performance, and optimize spend?

Well, this may be the role for you.  Ready to make your mark?

As Senior Manager, Legal Operations and Governance, you will play a key role in advancing and modernizing how ADP manages outside counsel, legal service providers, legal technology, and legal spend. This position sits at the intersection of legal operations, legal spend management, vendor governance, and transformation and will help build a more data-driven, scalable, and operationally efficient legal organization.

In this role, you will strengthen governance and consistency across outside counsel and Alternative Legal Service Provider (ALSP) relationships while helping improve legal spend visibility, forecasting, reporting, and financial management capabilities. Partnering closely with stakeholders, including Legal, Finance, Technology, Security, and Procurement, you will drive initiatives that improve operational effectiveness, support strategic decision-making, and enhance the overall legal operating model.

You will also contribute to legal technology, AI, and digital transformation initiatives while helping establish and mature governance frameworks and data-driven approaches to outside counsel management. This includes oversight of AI usage and the application of AI, security, and compliance best practices across outside counsel and Alternative Legal Service Provider (ALSP) relationships.

Success in this role requires a demonstrated ability to balance operational, financial, technology, and vendor management priorities while building trust, influencing stakeholders, and driving meaningful change. Equally important, you have successfully led cross-functional initiatives and partnered with diverse stakeholder groups to improve processes, strengthen governance, and support effective global legal budget planning and management.

Like what you see? Apply now!

Learn more about ADP at jobs.adp.com

What you’ll do:

Here’s what you can expect on a typical day:

Outside Counsel Strategy & Governance:

• Support modernization of outside counsel and ALSP management across Legal.
• Strengthen governance and consistency across outside counsel and ALSPs for legal work.
• Help build the data foundation for better “Build vs Buy” decisions across law firms, ALSPs, internal teams, and technology.
• Drive cross-functional coordination across Legal, Finance, Tech, Security, Procurement, and external providers to move initiatives forward.
• Support reporting, security, compliance, and data governance across outside counsel data flows and risk tiers.

Legal Spend & Financial Management:

• Improve matter-level legal spending visibility, reporting, forecasting, accruals, and budget discipline.
• Support management of complex global legal budgets, including outside counsel spend, forecasting, reporting, and spend controls.
• Support more data-driven provider selection decisions.
• Establish clear criteria for outside counsel performance review. Lead performance review panels with legal stakeholders and outside counsel and ASLP.
• Leading Administrator and focal point for existing e-billing framework.

Alternative Fee Arrangements & Commercial Negotiations:

• In partnership with legal stakeholders support alternative fee arrangements and related commercial discipline with outside counsel and ALSPs.
• Identify and lead opportunities for hybrid solutions between AI technology, ASLP and outside counsel to deliver operating model efficiencies at better cost and scale.
• Contribute data, reporting, and financial insights that support value-based provider decisions.

Matter Management & Billing Governance:

• Help reduce manual invoice processing and reporting through stronger e-billing and operational processes and solutions.
• Expand e-billing solutions to all legal teams and geographic locations to align with legal support coverage.
• Strengthen billing governance, matter-level controls, and process discipline across outside counsel engagements.

Legal Technology, AI & Digital Transformation in eBilling:

• Support oversight of AI usage, compliance, and maturity governance on the law firm and ALSP side.
• Support legal technology and e-billing initiatives that improve data quality, operational efficiency, and spend governance.
• Partner on cross-functional implementations tied to outside counsel management, billing operations, analytics, and digital transformation.

Experience.  You have 8-10 years of relevant experience in Legal Operations, outside counsel management, legal vendor management, law firm operations, Alternative Legal Service Provider (ALSP) management, or a corporate legal department.

TO SUCCEED IN THIS ROLE:

• Demonstrated understanding of law firm operations, outside counsel engagement models, billing practices, fee arrangements, and legal vendor management.
• Experience supporting complex global legal budgets, including outside counsel spend management, budgeting, forecasting, reporting, spend controls, and vendor performance management.
• Experience evaluating and managing relationships with outside counsel, Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs), or other legal service vendors.
• Strong understanding of legal department operations and the ability to identify opportunities to improve efficiency, governance, and cost management.
• Experience building partnerships, influencing without direct authority, and navigating challenging stakeholder conversations to drive alignment and achieve desired outcomes.
• Strong project management experience with the ability to lead complex initiatives in a matrixed environment.
• Experience partnering with stakeholders including Legal, Finance, Technology, Security, Procurement, and external service providers.
• Experience translating complex operational, financial, data, risk, and compliance considerations into practical recommendations and business decisions.
• Experience leveraging data, reporting, and analytics in a legal or professional services environment to support decision-making, improve processes, and identify opportunities for operational and financial improvements.
• Experience supporting legal technology, e-billing, matter management, AI, digital transformation, or related operational initiatives.
• Proven ability to build trust-based relationships and drive meaningful change across diverse groups and competing priorities.
• You'll have a bachelor's degree, or equivalent.

For additional comfortability in the role:

• Experience working within a law firm environment.
• Experience supporting law firm performance management, alternative fee arrangements, or legal vendor procurement initiatives.
• Experience with legal analytics, AI governance, or digital transformation initiatives within a corporate legal environment.
• Experience supporting a global legal department or complex multinational organization.

YOU'LL LOVE WORKING HERE BECAUSE YOU CAN:

• Collaborate. We value courage, ownership, and respect to find the best solutions together.
• Deliver at epic scale. Your work will shape learning experiences for associates and clients worldwide.
• Be surrounded by curious learners. We stay agile, learn from mistakes, and grow together.
• Act like an owner & doer. You’ll set direction and see your strategy come to life.
• Give back to others. We do the right thing for our clients, associates, and communities.
• Join a company committed to equality and equity. We’re building a culture where everyone belongs.

What are you waiting for? Apply today!

Find out why people come to ADP and why they stay: https://youtu.be/ODb8lxBrxrY

(ADA version: https://youtu.be/IQjUCA8SOoA )

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