Director, Legal Operations

Director, Legal Operations & Finance The Director, Legal Operations & Finance is a strategic leader responsible for driving operational excellence, financial discipline, and technology enablement across the global legal function. This role partners closely with the General Counsel, legal leadership, and cross‑functional stakeholders to ensure efficient, cost‑effective, and scalable delivery of legal services aligned with business priorities. About You Accountability: Own the legal department’s budget management, forecasting, and financial reporting processes, and lead the strategy and execution of legal technology initiatives—including AI implementation, enterprise reporting, and digital transformation—to ensure efficient, cost‑effective, scalable delivery of legal services aligned with business priorities. Collaboration: Build trusted, practical partnerships across the enterprise and work comfortably with diverse stakeholders. Partner with Finance on budgeting and forecasting, coordinate with IT and Digital teams on legal technology solutions, work with Procurement on vendor management, and align with Compliance and Cybersecurity on e‑discovery and data preservation. Adaptability: Thrive in a dynamic environment and shift seamlessly between long‑term strategic initiatives and time‑sensitive operational demands such as e‑discovery deadlines and budget close cycles, exercising strong judgment and maintaining a professional, polished approach to competing priorities. Employee Champion: Lead and develop legal operations professionals, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence, setting clear expectations, delegating effectively, ensuring high‑quality execution, and managing vendor and outside counsel engagement. Key Responsibilities Strategic Leadership Partner with the General Counsel and legal leadership to set priorities and drive execution against departmental goals. Serve as a trusted advisor by providing insights and practical recommendations to support leadership decisions. Translate strategy into actionable plans with clear milestones, accountability, and measurable outcomes. Identify opportunities to improve service delivery, strengthen value, and reduce outside legal spend. Legal Financial Management & Analytics Act as department liaison partnering with Finance for budgeting, forecasting, month‑end close, and financial reporting. Oversee invoice lifecycle management ensuring compliance and accuracy. Outside Counsel & Vendor Management Support Legal Department leaders and other stakeholders in outside counsel and vendor management initiatives. Manage outside counsel billing and onboarding. Establish billing guidelines and engagement standards. Oversee coordination of Legal Settlement payments with payroll and accounts payable. Work with procurement in establishing purchase orders with vendors. E‑Discovery & Legal Data Management Oversee the global e‑discovery function, ensuring efficient, defensible, and cost‑effective management of electronically stored information (ESI) for litigation, investigations, and regulatory matters. Manage the end‑to‑end e‑discovery lifecycle (legal hold, preservation, collection, review, production, disposition). Administer the legal hold program, ensuring timely issuance, tracking, and compliance. Manage e‑discovery tools and vendors; leverage analytics, AI, and automation to improve quality and reduce cost. Partner with Legal, IT, Cybersecurity, and Compliance on data preservation, incident response, and investigations. Process Improvement & Operational Excellence Work with legal functions to standardize and improve processes. Identify inefficiencies and implement scalable solutions. Administer SharePoint sites. Legal Technology & Digital Transformation Develop and execute legal operations strategy, including process optimization, technology roadmap, AI implementation, and enterprise reporting. Oversee selection, implementation, and administration of legal technology (matter management, e‑billing, automated workflows, document management). Manage integrations and system enhancements. Partner with Legal, IT, Digital, and business stakeholders to evaluate, implement, and govern legal technology solutions. Oversee matter lifecycle management: intake, tracking, reporting, taxonomy, and closeout. Lead change management, training, and adoption for new tools and workflows. Drive adoption of tools and processes that improve productivity, transparency, reporting, and decision‑making. Leadership & Team Management Lead, mentor, and develop a team of legal operations professionals, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence. Collaborate with Finance, Procurement, IT, and Compliance teams to ensure alignment on cross‑functional initiatives. Define performance metrics and foster continuous improvement. Support change management initiatives, including those arising from corporate transactions or organizational restructurings. Communications & Administration Support change management and communication efforts associated with new processes, technologies, governance structures, and operating models. Promote best practices and help develop department guidelines, policies, training materials, playbooks, and self‑service resources. Support cross‑functional coordination and ensure follow‑through on key operational decisions and initiatives. Additional Responsibilities Lead or support additional projects and responsibilities as assigned by the General Counsel. Stay current on developments in legal operations, legal technology, and related industry trends to help shape continuous improvement. Basic Qualifications Education & Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Legal Studies, or a related field. 10+ years of experience in legal operations, legal project management, or a related function, with at least 5 years in a leadership role. Experience managing direct reports, consultants, contractors, and cross‑functional project teams. Strong understanding of in‑house legal department operations, including matter management, contract workflows, legal spend, reporting, and stakeholder service models. Deep expertise in e‑discovery tools and processes (e.g., Relativity, legal hold platforms) and cloud data environments (e.g., M365). Strong working knowledge of e‑discovery regulations and data privacy requirements (e.g., FRCP, cross‑border data considerations). Demonstrated experience managing legal department budgets. Experience with outside counsel management, including RFPs, rate negotiations, and performance metrics. Experience implementing, administering, or optimizing legal technology platforms, including matter management, e‑billing, contract lifecycle management, legal intake, document management or knowledge management systems and Relativity. Proven ability to lead cross‑functional projects and drive process improvement in complex, matrixed organizations. Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills. Preferred Qualifications CLOC (Corporate Legal Operations Consortium) certification or active participation. Familiarity with data analytics, AI/ML applications in legal, and emerging legal. Experience in a multinational organization. Competencies Strategic thinking with the ability to translate vision into actionable plans. Data‑driven decision‑making and financial acumen. Strong vendor and relationship management skills. Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast‑paced, global environment. Commitment to fostering an inclusive, high‑performance team culture. Additional Compensation KBR may offer bonuses, commissions, or other forms of compensation to certain job titles or levels per internal policy or contractual designation. Additional compensation may include sign‑on bonus, relocation benefits, short‑term incentives, long‑term incentives, or discretionary payments for exceptional performance. Benefits KBR offers a selection of competitive lifestyle benefits, including a 401(k) plan with company match, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, AD&D, flexible spending account, disability, paid time off, and flexible work schedule. We support career advancement through professional training and development. KBR is an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. #J-18808-Ljbffr KBR, Inc