Associate Director, Outside Counsel & Vendor Management

Job Description

The Legal Operations, Innovation & Technology team’s responsibilities include financial management, program law firm management, legal records and information management, legal technology strategy, learning and development initiatives, and increasing overall operational effectiveness.

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Associate Director of Outside Counsel and Vendor Management to join our Legal Operations team. In this role, you will be responsible for overseeing the effective management of outside counsel and legal vendors, ensuring alignment with our strategic goals, and optimizing performance and costs. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in legal operations, vendor management, and a deep understanding of legal procurement processes. This role requires excellent analytical, negotiation and communication skills.

This role will report directly to the Chief of Staff to the General Counsel & Executive Director, Legal Operations, Innovation & Technology and will be based in Rahway, NJ.  This position will work closely with and oversee the company’s eBilling Administrator.

Law Firm and Legal Vendor Management:

• Ensure excellence in managing legal service providers, including vendor onboarding, rate approvals, enforcement of billing guidelines, and serving as the primary contact for related inquiries.

• Administer the company’s preferred law firm program, leading RFP projects, managing timelines, preparing reports and analyzing data, creating presentations, and coordinating deliverables.

• Respond to inquiries from internal teams and provide training on vendor management and e-billing systems.

• Assist in firm rate negotiations, matter budgeting, and billing issues.

• Foster strong relationships with cross-functional partners to enhance operational effectiveness.

• Advocate for technology solutions to improve efficiency and reduce legal costs.

• Help document legal processes/procedures to keep our internal knowledge management portal updated.

• Keep abreast of market trends, alternative fee arrangements, and best practices.

Legal Services Spend Reporting and Analytics:

• Manage legal spend reporting and analysis, including maintaining and enhancing PowerBI dashboards.

• Analyze spending patterns to identify cost-saving opportunities and assist with cost containment.

• Present findings and make recommendations as needed.

eBilling Oversight and Support:

• Oversee the eBilling function, ensuring compliance with policies, financial practices, and SOX requirements.

• Provide support and training for legal staff and outside counsel on the eBilling system and developing resources for new users.

• Implement solutions to streamline billing practices.

• Serve as a backup to the eBilling Administrator for the TyMetrix 360° (T360) system.

Other:

• Coordinate and track Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programming, including scheduling, communications, and logistics.

• Coordinate Comet/SAP roles for the OGC and manage end-user support and role recertification processes.

• Collaborate with the Legal Operations team on program improvements and overall department strategy.

• Assists with industry benchmarking survey responses.

• Provide support on integration activities.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required

Required experience and Skills

• 7 years of experience working in a large corporate legal department, focusing on e-Billing operations or law firm equivalent (pricing, analytics, project management, etc.)

• Demonstrated track record of running and managing e-Billing systems (e.g. T360, Legal Tracker, SimpleLegal, etc.)

• Experience with advanced data functions (pivots, vlookups, etc.)

• Strong analytical skills to interpret data sets and make informed recommendations.

• Advanced proficiency in MS Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and SharePoint as well as eBilling/Matter management systems

• Proficiency in data analytics tools (e.g., MS Excel, Power BI, Tableau, Cognos) and report automation preferred.

• Project management experience leading