Team Support Manager

Overview

Orrick currently has an excellent opportunity for a Team Support Manager. This position could be based in any of our West Coast offices .

Orrick is seeking an experienced people leader and operational executor within Team Support-our centralized, Financial Times-award-winning legal support organization. This role is a people-first, execution-oriented management position responsible for leading, developing, and navigating complex performance, engagement, and change issues in a demanding professional services environment.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who thrives in the day-to-day realities of managing a mix of experienced and early-career professionals, resolving difficult people issues, driving accountability, and executing operational change at scale. You will lead teams through ongoing evolution of our legal support model while ensuring stability, service quality, and trust with our lawyers.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience managing people through ambiguity, resistance, and change , paired with the operational rigor required to run a function-prioritizing work, managing capacity, using data, and delivering results. Successful candidates will have a strong track record in people-management roles within complex, high-expectation environments .

You will have direct management responsibility for one or more teams within Team Support and will serve as a coach and escalation point for the team members you manage. This role is a critical part of Orrick's strategy to modernize legal support while maintaining exceptional service and strong talent outcomes, and it requires excellent judgment, emotional intelligence, and the ability to move fluidly between people leadership and operational problem-solving .

Responsibilities

People Leadership & Team Management (Primary Focus)

• Directly manage and develop professional support staff, with a strong emphasis on performance management, engagement, and accountability.
• Address and resolve complex people issues, including role recalibration, resistance to change, and inconsistent engagement.
• Build a culture of accountability, professionalism, trust, and psychological safety while setting and enforcing clear expectations.
• Serve as a steady, credible leader during periods of organizational change, role evolution, and talent transformation.
• Conduct regular one-on-ones, team meetings, and coaching conversations; deliver direct, timely and candid feedback.
• Partner closely with HR on recruiting, onboarding, performance counseling, and employee relations matters.
• Develop and retain talent through intentional coaching, skill development, and succession planning.
• Act as a visible, hands-on leader-willing to step in alongside the team when needed to model standards and unblock work.

Operational Execution & Service Delivery

• Own day-to-day operational execution for assigned teams, ensuring work is appropriately staffed, prioritized, and delivered with high quality.
• Monitor workload distribution, capacity, utilization, and overtime; make real-time adjustments to ensure sustainability and service consistency.
• Oversee workflow tools and systems (including ServiceNow or equivalent), ensuring effective delegation, escalation, and use of technology.
• Serve as an escalation point for service issues raised by attorneys; address concerns quickly, professionally, and constructively.
• Staff and oversee special projects, ensuring clarity of scope, deadlines, and accountability.

Change Management & Process Improvement

• Lead teams through ongoing changes to roles, workflows, tools, and expectations.
• Translate broader Team Support and firm initiatives into clear, actionable expectations for the team.
• Identify operational friction, inefficiencies, or risk areas and implement pragmatic improvements that balance efficiency with people impact.
• Train and support staff on new processes, systems, and ways of working.
• Collaborate cross-functionally (IT, Finance, HR, Practice Management, Innovation) to ensure smooth handoffs and aligned execution.

Data, Metrics & Business Judgment

• Establish and monitor performance metrics related to service delivery, workload, skill development, and team health.
• Use data to assess pace, intensity, performance trends, and capability gaps-and take action accordingly.
• Prepare clear, actionable updates for senior leadership that translate data into decisions.
• Apply sound financial and operational judgment, including expense and overtime management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree (Master's preferred) or equivalent professional experience.
• 3+ years of direct experience managing teams in a complex, high-expectation environment.
• Demonstrated success handling difficult people issues, performance management, and organizational change.
• Strong operational background and ability to run day-to-day execution.
• Experience in legal or financial services, professional services, or similarly demanding client-facing environments strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to lead through ambiguity, earn credibility with senior stakeholders, and make independent decisions.
• Excellent judgment, emotional intelligence, and communication skills; able to be direct, fair, and steady under pressure.
• Comfort using data, metrics, and systems to manage performance and capacity.
• Familiarity with process improvement, automation, or AI-enabled tools is helpful but secondary to people leadership strength.

What This Role Requires

• Comfort being close to the work and the people.
• Willingness to have hard conversations and make thoughtful, sometimes unpopular decisions.
• Ability to balance empathy with accountability.
• Strong follow-through and ownership.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building strong teams, owning operational execution, and steadily raising standards - while navigating the real-world complexity of change.

Who is Orrick? Orrick is a global law firm focused on delivering innovative solutions for four sectors: Technology & Innovation, Energy & Infrastructure, Finance and Life Sciences & HealthTech. Founded more than 150 years ago in San Francisco, Orrick today has offices in 25+ markets. We are recognized globally for delivering the highest-quality legal advice and for our culture of innovation and collaboration.

Compensation and Benefits

The expected salary range for this position is:

• Silicon Valley and San Francisco $142,000 - $180,000
• Los Angeles, Orange County, Santa Monica, Sacramento, and Seattle $119,000 - $175,000
• Portland $104,000 - $170,000

Orrick is committed to providing a comprehensive, competitive, and thoughtful total compensation package to our attorneys and staff, wherever they work. This compensation and benefits information is based on the Orrick's estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future. The level of pay within the range will depend on a variety of job-related factors that may include, but not limited to, qualifications, relevant experience or education, particular skills or expertise, geography. Other compensation may include an annual discretionary merit bonus, which would be determined by Firm and individual performance.

We offer a full range of elective health benefits including medical, dental, vision and life; robust mental well-being programs; child, family, elder, and pet care benefits; short- and long-term disability and industry leading parental leave benefits, health savings account contributions (w/applicable medical plan), flexible spending accounts, and a 401K program. This role will receive compensated time off through our Flexible Time Off program and paid holidays.

Please visit for more information about the firm.

How to Apply: If you are searching for a chance to create an impact, you have a little grit and you love working with a team, we want to talk with you. To submit your resume and cover letter for this position, please visit our Staff and Paralegal Opportunities Listings at Orrick accepts applications for this position on an ongoing basis, until filled.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Consistent with the SF Fair Chance Ordinance, an arrest and conviction record will not automatically disqualify a qualified applicant from consideration.

Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for the position in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.

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