Applied AI Manager (White Collar)

Covington’s Applied AI function exists to leverage advanced technology to positively impact the organization, the business, and client service delivery. The Applied AI team designs, builds, and deploys AI-enabled workflows, automation, and matter-support tools across the firm’s legal practice areas. The White Collar Applied AI Manager will report to the Director of Applied AI and serve as the dedicated Applied AI lead for the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice, including internal investigations, government enforcement matters, FCPA and sanctions matters, and related risk reviews. The White Collar Applied AI Manager will partner with White Collar attorneys and investigation teams, the White Collar Knowledge Management (KM) and Practice Technology Manager, and the broader Applied AI team to identify, build, and scale AI-enabled tools that improve investigation efficiency, work-product consistency, and client service delivery, with appropriate care for the sensitivity of enforcement-related matters. Duties and Responsibilities: Design, build, and maintain AI-enabled workflows and automation for white collar defense, internal investigations, enforcement matters, and risk reviews, including large-scale document review, witness preparation and interview support, timeline and chronology construction, enforcement trend tracking, and reporting workflows. Partner with White Collar attorneys and investigation team leads to identify, prioritize, and sequence the highest-impact AI use cases for White Collar workstreams. Translate White Collar practice knowledge – investigation methodologies, interview approaches, enforcement patterns, and reporting conventions – into reusable prompt patterns, agent workflows, and AI tooling, with appropriate controls for sensitive matters. Partner with the White Collar KM and Practice Technology Manager to ensure AI tools are grounded in well-curated investigation playbooks, enforcement trend trackers, interview outlines, chronology models, and matter intelligence suitable for controlled AI use. Educate and enable White Collar attorneys and investigation teams on the safe, effective, and confident use of AI tools through demos, training sessions, office hours, and ongoing support, with attention to the heightened controls required for sensitive matters and partnering with practice group leadership and the White Collar KM and Practice Technology Manager to drive adoption. Evaluate, configure, and implement third-party AI tools and platforms relevant to investigations and enforcement work, advising on build-versus-buy decisions and integrating selected tools into matter workflows with attention to confidentiality and matter-specific access controls. Define and apply quality controls, evaluation criteria, and review checkpoints to ensure AI-enabled work product is accurate, defensible, and consistent with Covington standards. Track adoption, performance, and value metrics for White Collar AI tools, surfacing actionable insights to the Director of Applied AI and White Collar practice leadership. Coordinate with the broader Applied AI team to share patterns, evaluations, and reusable components across practices wherever applicable. Stay actively informed of developments in legal AI for investigations and enforcement work, and proactively bring forward new opportunities, pilots, and pattern improvements suited to the sensitivity of these matters. Operate with appropriate attention to data handling, privilege protection, confidentiality, and AI governance in all tool design and deployment. Perform other duties as assigned by Firm management. Uphold high standards of confidentiality, discretion, and integrity, particularly with respect to all sensitive and/or confidential firm and client information to which this position will have access. Qualifications: Minimum of 5 years of transferable professional experience, with a meaningful portion in applied AI, machine learning, or legal technology delivery within a law firm, professional services organization, or comparable environment. Track record of designing, building, and shipping AI-enabled tools or workflows into production with measurable adoption and impact; experience with LLM-based applications, retrieval-augmented generation, evaluation methods, and modern AI tooling preferred. Working understanding of investigation and enforcement workflows (e.g., large-scale document review, witness preparation, timeline construction, internal investigations, FCPA, sanctions, enforcement defense) sufficient to translate attorney requirements into AI solutions; demonstrated appreciation for privilege, confidentiality, and the heightened controls required for sensitive matters. Demonstrated initiative and bias for action, with the willingness to own outcomes through to delivery and the judgment to know when to ship, when to iterate, and when to escalate. Genuine intellectual curiosity, with a habit of staying ahead of developments in AI and a track record of bringing fresh ideas and approaches forward. Solution- and objective-oriented mindset, with the discipline to anchor every project to a clear business or client-service outcome and the persistence to drive it through to delivery. Strong listener: genuinely curious about how attorneys work and what clients need, with the ability to surface root problems before proposing solutions and the patience to push past the first ask to understand the underlying objective. Comfortable as a teacher: able to demonstrate, train, and bring along attorneys and business professionals at all levels of technical fluency, with patience for the realities of change management in a partnership. Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships across practices and functions – with attorneys, business professionals, technology partners, and operations teams – and to operate as a credible cross-practice and cross-functional connector. Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities, drive projects through to completion, and lead effectively and with professionalism in a fast-paced environment. Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to communicate complex AI concepts in terms that resonate with attorneys and business professionals. Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in a relevant technical, legal, or business discipline preferred. Position requires access to equipment, software, or technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. To be granted access pursuant to US Export Control laws, candidate must be either (a) a United States citizen or national; (b) a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence of the United States (i.e., “Green Card” holder); or (c) an INS-approved refugee or asylum holder who has applied for naturalization within six months of the date the individual first became eligible; and if not yet naturalized, is still actively pursuing naturalization if 2 years have passed since the date of application to be granted access pursuant to US Export Control laws. Candidates will be required to submit appropriate documentation to determine whether access can be granted before proceeding further through the application process. Status: Exempt Workplace Type: Hybrid (must be local to Los Angeles, Palo Alto, or San Francisco) Salary range: $153,000 – $228,000 depending on candidate location and experience. Candidates hired for staff positions with a minimum work schedule of 30 hours per week are eligible for a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare insurance. Learn more about benefits at Covington. View Covington job applicant privacy notice here: Covington & Burling LLP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in any aspect of employment, including hiring, salary, promotion, discipline, termination, and benefits, on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, sexual orientation, family responsibility, disability (including physical handicap), or any other improper criterion. Covington will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with applicable laws, including the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, and the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. #J-18808-Ljbffr Covington & Burling LLP