Senior Legal Operations Manager

About the Department 

The Legal department is comprised of our Legal and Patents functions. We depend on our legal team to help drive growth and maintain the highest level of standards and practices across all of our legal efforts. It’s a tall order, which is why we only hire those who thrive on protecting the interests of our patients, employees and business, all while creating and implementing efficient and innovative solutions. As part of the team, you’ll work with employees across the organization to oversee legal matters and provide guidance on strategies that drive business and policy priorities and shape the reputation of Novo Nordisk Inc. (NNI). At Novo Nordisk, your skills, dedication and ambition will help us change lives for the better. In exchange, we’ll offer you an opportunity to work with extraordinary talent and benefit from a range of possibilities for professional and personal development. Are you ready to realize your potential?

The Position

Responsible for leading the Legal department’s overall budget planning and prioritization, outside counsel management approach, and legal spend optimization efforts. Responsible for department’s financial planning and analysis, and shaping how the Legal department engages, manages, and derives value from outside counsel and other legal service providers. This role leads panel strategy, engagement negotiations, performance management, managing relationships with external resources, and ensuring cost-effective and high-quality legal support for the department.

Relationships

Reports to Associate Director, eDiscovery & Operations. Partners and collaborates with internal teams including Legal, Finance, and Procurement to achieve operational objectives in support of legal strategy. Interacts with individuals in other USO departments, global headquarters, and affiliate companies. Also interacts with external law firms and service providers, including eDiscovery and alternative legal service providers, and other business entities.

Essential Functions

• Budgeting Strategy and Oversight:
  • Manage and lead the strategic oversight of the Legal department’s overall budget, with a particular focus on analysing outside counsel and external legal spend, working closely with finance and legal teams
  • Lead the annual and quarterly budget development, forecasting, and ongoing spend management
  • Monitor department-wide spend trends, risks, and opportunities, and provide recommendations to improve budget discipline, predictability, and resource allocation
  • Ensure accurate and transparent financial management of external legal service providers
  • Partner with in-house counsel and matter owners to identify cost optimization
  • Support Legal leadership in making informed decisions about departmental spending priorities and trade-offs
• Resource Engagement and Contract Negotiation:
  • Develop and lead the Legal Department’s outside counsel strategy across practice areas, jurisdictions, and matter types
  • Advise on external resourcing strategy, how to align staffing and fee structures with the needs of the matter
  • Design and manage preferred-firm and panel strategies, include law firm segmentation, consolidation opportunities, competitive sourcing, and governance framework
  • Support selection process of outside counsel based on expertise, service model, cost, overall value, and appropriateness for a specific matter
  • Lead the engagement process with external resources, including legal process outsourcing companies, managed review, and other service vendors, including negotiations of global engagement agreements with law firms
  • Develop consistent approaches to rate reviews, rate increase requests, and fee negotiations
  • Monitor matters for changes in scope, budget, or staffing and recommend proactive interventions to improve efficiency and predictability
  • Evaluate opportunities to improve matter economics through staffing changes, phased budgets, alternative fee arrangements, portfolio approaches, or use of lower-cost providers, where appropriate
  • Ensure compliance with company goals, and legal and regulatory requirements with all external engagements
  • Create templates, playbooks, and negotiation standards to drive consistency and leverage outside counsel relationships
  • Provide support for presentation materials for key steering and str