Director of Technology Platforms & Applications

Director of Technology Platforms & Applications

Cooley is seeking a Director of Technology Platforms & Applications to join the Technology Platforms and Applications team.

Position summary: The Director of Technology Platforms & Applications will play a key role in leading in our Technology & Security organization, overseeing many of the critical systems and tools that power a leading technology law firm. In addition to technical management, this role is instrumental in leading a team of experts, shaping our technological direction, and ensuring our lawyers, paralegals, and business professionals have the advanced tools they need to serve our clients and drive the business of law.
 

The Director of Technology Platforms & Applications is responsible for a wide-ranging portfolio and lead the teams that span our enterprise business systems, as well as applications supporting general, commoditized needs across practice areas and administrative departments. The Director of Technology Platforms & Applications is also responsible for a firmwide portfolio of core technology workflow and collaboration platforms from the Document Management System to ServiceNow to the Firm’s intranet and workflow systems including low-code/no-code, while shaping and driving a program of responsible enterprise AI initiatives. This role is also responsible for managing a significant annual budget, overseeing vendor relationships, and acting as a strategic partner across the firm, driving continuous improvement and growth. Specific duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
 

Strategic Leadership & Management

• Lead and mentor a team of Associate Directors by example, fostering a culture of ownership, accountability, Technology Service Management and continuous improvement across their teams
• Recruit, develop and retain top talent in all areas with clear roles and responsibilities, establishing key goals and performance indicators
• Develop and execute a strategic roadmap for our application and platform portfolio, ensuring alignment with the firm's business goals and measures with clear KPIs
• Manage a $10–twelve million annual budget, making strategic decisions to maximize technology value
• Ensure compliance with all firm and department policies
   

Operations & Technology Oversight

• Provide strategic oversight for all business-of-law applications, including finance and marketing, and toolsets which support commoditized eDiscovery and Intellectual Property services
• Drive the modernization and effective usage of our core enterprise platforms, including but not limited to our Document Management System, SharePoint Intranet, Microsoft Teams and Box.com
• Ensure a best-of-breed, center of excellence for database engineering, with redundant, scalable services for Microsoft SQL and other needed database functions
• Coordinating with Practice Innovation, drive the responsible use of enterprise AI across the firm in accordance with firm policy, enabling lawyers, paralegals and business professionals to be more efficient and productive

Portfolio, Project & Vendor Management

• Maintain a clear line of sight into top initiatives across teams, proactively identifying risks and raising concerns with leadership, along with proposed action plans when necessary
• Work collaboratively with the Firm Operations to ensure successful project execution and outcomes
• Manage and negotiate vendor contracts, holding vendors accountable to agreed upon terms and service level agreements
   

Collaboration & Communication

• Build strong, trusting relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Partner with peers across Technology & Security, Firm Projects and Procurement and Practice Innovation to improve ways of working and deliver measurable outcomes
• Synthesize and present complex technical information and ideas to diverse audiences with clarity and supporting data

Skills and experience:
Required:

• After orientation at Cooley LLP, exhibit proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, iManage and other firm applications
• Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours, as required
• Ability to travel, as required
• 10+ years of experience in an enterprise application-related role (e.g., managing large-scale application portfolios with significant budget, across project and operational needs) providing  data research, data delivery, data operations, etc. with 5+ years of management experience in relevant roles and with proven track record of effective leadership
• Demonstrated ability to negotiate and manage complex vendor contracts
• Bachelor’s degree