Operations & Resource Management Lead Legal
Schillings
Schillings handles high stakes opportunities and threats for an international clientele: successful individuals, businesses and high-profile organisations across the world.
We support our clients to achieve their goals by developing winning strategies to protect their freedom to operate, and are the first port of call in a crisis, defending our clients from attacks on their reputations, privacy and security. Schillings’ offer is unique to the market, combining strategic communications with law, intelligence & investigations, digital resilience and security.
Schillings is a collaborative and welcoming place to work, with a positive culture, strong values and a developed service ethic. We require commitment, diligence, curiosity, agility and professionalism, and in return provide competitive packages, stimulating challenges and interesting work. We are committed to sharing learning and creating development opportunities so you can progress your career with us. Our people’s career trajectories and average longevity at Schillings underline this.
Join us and become part of our story.
Job Title: Operations & Resource Management Lead Legal
Reporting to: Head of Fee-Earning Operations and Resourcing
Job Purpose:
The Operations & Resource Management Lead is responsible for the effective operation and resourcing of the Legal team, while managing the Operations & Resource Management Specialist for the ISD function. The role includes overseeing Legal resourcing, leading operational improvement initiatives, managing team databases and subscriptions, coordinating training, and handling administrative and ad hoc tasks as required. Working closely with the Legal Directors and Head of Fee Earning Operations & Resourcing, the role supports effective team management and smooth day-to-day operations.
Key requirements include excellent organisational, communication and stakeholder management skills, strong attention to detail, adaptability, project and change management experience, the ability to turn operational data into meaningful insights, a proactive approach to continuous improvement, and strong AI and technology literacy.
Role Accountabilities:
Resource Management:
- Lead the allocation and management of fee earners across matters, ensuring work is assigned based on skills, capacity, development goals and business needs.
- Oversee work allocation, utilisation, chargeable and non-chargeable hours, capacity planning and pipeline resourcing, proactively resolving conflicts, identifying over and under-utilisation, and providing data-driven insights and recommendations to stakeholders and line managers.
- Build strong relationships with lawyers to support career development, act as the subject matter expert for the resourcing platform, champion alternative resourcing solutions, and drive productivity, profitability and continuous improvement.
- Provide resourcing support across other practice groups and business areas as required, including cover during periods of absence, peak demand or operational need, and support workforce planning activities including leave management and leaver transitions.
Resource management system:
- Act as a subject matter expert for the Resource Management platform, overseeing system administration, data management, feature testing, issue resolution, and continuous improvement.
- Deliver training on new releases, manage business-wide communications and updates, and prepare reports, research and presentations for stakeholders.
Process Improvement:
- Identify and address operational inefficiencies, recommending and implementing improvements to processes, systems and ways of working.
- Lead and support operational improvement projects, helping to embed new processes across Legal and the wider business while driving consistency and adoption.
- Work closely with the Head of Fee Earning Operations & Resourcing to conduct matter debriefs, share key learnings, and implement continuous improvements that enhance efficiency, service delivery and business performance.
Management Information & Reporting:
- Lead the collection, maintenance and analysis of operational data and management information, ensuring high standards of accuracy and data quality.
- Monitor key metrics, identify trends, risks and opportunities, and provide meaningful insights and recommendations to support decision making.
- Produce regular reporting and analysis for stakeholders, proactively addressing data gaps and inconsistencies.
Databases & Software Management:
- Act as the primary point of contact for legal databases, software platforms and subscription services, managing vendor relationships, renewals, support requests and service delivery.
- Liaise with external suppliers and internal stakeholders, coordinate demonstrations and training sessions, manage user access and issue resolution, and oversee invoice processing and budget administration.
- Support the Legal leadership team with spend allocation, reporting and budget tracking, ensuring the effective and cost efficient use of technology and information resources across the team.
Subcontractor & Supplier Management:
- Support the management of subcontractors and suppliers used by the Legal team, including onboarding, documentation, invoice and billing administration, record keeping, and day-to-day liaison with external providers.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with subcontractors globally, supporting fee earners in delivering excellent client service.
- Maintain accurate subcontractor records within the Resource Management platform, ensuring resources are correctly allocated, tracked and reported on.
Team Administration:
- Provide operational and administrative support to the Legal team, including organising team events and offsites, supporting operations meetings, and managing ad hoc requests.
- Liaise with internal stakeholders, including Finance, on budget related matters, and proactively identify, develop and implement initiatives that improve team efficiency, effectiveness and ways of working.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required:
- Experience in resource management, workforce planning or a related area.
- Very strong organisational and planning skills, with the ability to prioritise competing demands and manage stakeholder expectations.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Able to communicate confidently and professionally with senior stakeholders.
- Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
- Exceptional attention to detail.
- Strong research, data analysis and reporting skills.
- Proactive in identifying opportunities to improve processes, efficiency and service delivery.
- Strong stakeholder management and relationship building skills.
- Highly proficient in working with technology platforms and systems.
- A keen interest in AI and emerging technologies, with the ability to identify and implement practical solutions that improve processes, efficiency and ways of working.
- Adaptable, flexible and able to thrive in a fast paced environment with competing priorities.
- Demonstrates strong critical thinking and problem solving skills.
- A collaborative team player who enjoys supporting others and delivering high quality outcomes.
Life at Schillings
Given our bold and innovative business strategy, it is not surprising that Schillings has a very strong culture. The atmosphere is highly collaborative and focused on excellence. We have worked hard over the years to develop a coaching culture. Schillings has adopted a set of values to put at the heart of this and they reflect the intention and tenor of our ambitious plans. They are: ‘Innovative; Bold; United; and Excellent’. Our client list speaks for the outstanding results that have been delivered over many years and the task now is to grow without losing any of the commitment to delivering for clients or our service ethos. Finding people who share our values and can thrive in this environment is key to our success.
It takes a unique mix of people to create something truly great. We appreciate that diversity of thought, background and culture creates the best environment to truly innovate, solve problems and achieve our goals. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds – if you are driven and want to achieve your best then we will give you the platform and support to succeed.
Please let us know if there are any extenuating circumstances we should consider, or any adjustments we may need to make to our selection process, when making your application.