Senior Manager of Legal Project Management

Overview

Cleary Gottlieb is a pioneer in globalizing the legal profession. We have 14 offices in major financial centers around the world, but we operate as a single, integrated global partnership and not as a U.S. firm with a network of overseas locations. The firm employs approximately 1,100 lawyers from more than 50 countries.

Since 1946 our lawyers and staff have worked across practices, industries, jurisdictions, and continents to provide clients with simple, actionable approaches to their most complex legal and business challenges, whether domestic or international. We support every client relationship with intellectual agility, commercial acumen, and a human touch.

The Senior Manager of Legal Project Management will work alongside practice groups, legal matter teams, and partners to provide strategic and operational support across project management, staffing, budgeting, profitability analysis, and client communications. The Senior Manager of Legal Project Management will play a leadership role in driving meaningful improvements to legal service delivery by enhancing client service, streamlining workflows, championing process innovation and efficiency, and maximizing matter profitability.

This role reports to the Director of Strategic Pricing and Legal Project Management and will serve as a senior member of the team responsible for building and scaling a global Legal Project Management function at the Firm. In addition to managing a portfolio of complex matters, the Senior Manager of Legal Project Management will mentor and manage LPM team members, help set standards and best practices for the function, and act as a trusted advisor to partners and practice group leaders.

Responsibilities

Matter-Level Project Management

• Apply established project management methodologies to plan, lead, and coordinate matter deliverables through written communications (including project plans, workstream trackers, and budget estimates), team meetings, and regular updates to lead partner(s), matter team members, and clients.
• On all matters to which the person in this role is staffed, the role will involve substantial engagement in the following areas:
  • Scoping, Strategy, and Goal-Setting: Collaborate with attorneys and clients to define matter scope, strategy, objectives, and key milestones.
  • Budgeting and Financial Management: Develop and monitor budgets, including legal spend tracking, alternative fee arrangements (AFAs), and profitability analysis, in close collaboration with the Pricing Team, Financial Reporting team, and Practice Development Lawyers (PDLs). Ensure alignment with firm matter management strategies, client expectations, and financial goals.
  • Staffing and Resource Allocation: Support matter staffing decisions, balancing team capacity, expertise, and development needs, and facilitate clear communications regarding roles, responsibilities, and workstreams.
  • Time Entry and Data Integrity: Ensure the accuracy, completeness, and compliance of time entries with client billing guidelines, and support the harnessing of time entry data for matter analytics and reporting.
  • Client Service Delivery: Serve as a coordination point to ensure the matter team is meeting client expectations regarding quality, responsiveness, and deliverable timelines.
  • Task and Timeline Management: Develop and maintain project plans, track milestones, and proactively identify and escalate risks and bottlenecks.
  • Matter Closure and Post-Matter Review: Facilitate matter close-out processes and post-matter reviews, document key learnings, and ensure insights are captured and disseminated to improve future matter execution.
  • Client Feedback: Gather and synthesize client satisfaction information and data to inform continuous improvement efforts.

People Management and Team Leadership

• Supervise, mentor, and develop Legal Project Managers, including responsibility for onboarding, goal-setting, regular performance feedback, and annual performance reviews.
• Monitor and balance workloads across direct reports; assign matters and projects in coordination with the Director of Strategic Pricing and Legal Project Management to ensure appropriate coverage and professional development opportunities.
• Serve as a day-to-day coach and resource for team members, providing guidance on matter management, stakeholder engagement, budgeting, and client communication.
• Foster a collaborative and high-performing team environment; champion knowledge sharing and continuous improvement within the LPM function.
• Participate in recruiting efforts for the LPM team as needed,