Job Description

The Manager, Legal Operations plays a pivotal role in driving the Legal function’s strategy, operational excellence, and service quality. The role leads and executes key operational activities across Legal Operations, Technology, and Innovation, supporting global stakeholders and enabling Legal to operate with greater velocity, consistency, and impact. Working directly with senior legal and enterprise leaders, this role helps Legal modernise how it operates, supports the company’s ambitions for winning work and driving business growth, and ensures Legal remains a high‑performing, data‑driven, reliable partner to the organisation.

Your role

Legal Operations & Governance

• Support creation and delivery of the global Legal 3-Year Strategy, new operating model, annual priorities, and all strategic roadmaps.
• Run Legal Operations governance routines, including KPIs/OKRs, dashboards, portfolio reviews, and operational performance tracking.
• Maintain service standards and operational controls that enable efficient, scalable, high‑quality support across regions.
• Contribute and lead elements of global assessments, benchmarking, and operational insights that increase Legal’s agility and decision‑making velocity.

Process Improvement & Operational Excellence

• Lead and execute improvements across intake, matter management, contract workflows, playbooks, and knowledge tools.
• Identify friction points and redesign processes to improve speed, consistency, and client experience.
• Embed a data‑driven, continuous‑improvement mindset across Legal, ensuring insights become part of everyday operations.
• Support adoption of new ways of working across the function, enabling Legal to operate with greater velocity and reliability.

Technology, Data & Innovation

• Support Legal leads and execute delivery of the Legal Technology and Innovation roadmap, including CLM, AI‑enabled drafting tools, matter systems, analytics, and automation.
• Lead operational readiness, testing, user engagement, and rollout activities to ensure tools land effectively and accelerate work.
• Maintain dashboards, data models, and reporting that enhance visibility into workload, cycle times, risk trends, and service performance.
• Promote responsible innovation and help Legal use technology to increase efficiency and support business growth.

Vendor, Budget & Commercial Support

• Support administration of the global Legal budget, including forecasting, tracking, and investment case support.
• Assist in managing the global vendor ecosystem, including outside counsel, ALSPs, and service partners.
• Contribute to vendor performance assessments, pricing models, and sourcing decisions that increase value and reduce cost.
• Ensure compliant and effective use of third‑party platforms in collaboration with IT, Security, Procurement, and Compliance.

Programme & Initiative Leadership

• Lead projects and key workstreams on behalf of the VP, Legal Operations, ensuring momentum and measurable outcomes.
• Provide structured governance, reporting, risk oversight, and stakeholder coordination for priority initiatives.
• Work cross‑functionally within Legal Operations team and IT, Digital, HR, Finance, Risk, Operations, as well as regional Legal teams to deliver aligned, enterprise‑ready outcomes.
• Ensure initiatives drive higher velocity, stronger business partnering, and improved support for the company’s strategic goals.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Collaborate with senior Legal leaders, practice groups, and enterprise stakeholders to support a modern, scalable operating model.
• Create, own and prepare clear updates, dashboards, presentations, and communication materials for Legal leadership and function‑wide engagement.
• Influence and lead adoption of new tools, processes, and behaviours across regions and practice areas.
• Act as a connector across Legal, helping teams accelerate their work and align to business priorities.

About you

Desirable

• Operational experience in Legal, professional services, or a related corporate environment.
• Demonstrated ability to run structured projects or programmes with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills and experience generating insights from reporting, data, and metrics.
• Understanding of legal operations, digital tools, workflow optimisation, and service delivery models.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work with senior leaders globally.
• Practical, execution‑driven, and capable of balancing detail with broader strategic context.
• Experience with legal technology (CLM, matter management, AI tools, knowledge platforms).
• Exposure to vendor management or managed services/offshoring.
• Certifications in project management, business analysis, or operational disciplines.
• Degree in Law, Operations, Business, Technology, or a related field.
• Postgraduate qualifications or professional certifications are beneficial.

Behaviours

• Pragmatic, delivery‑focused, and committed to increasing velocity and reducing friction.
• Highly collaborative and able to build trust across regions and functions.
• Strong communicator with the ability to simplify complexity.
• Embraces innovation and continuous improvement to help Legal operate at its best.
• Acts with integrity, ownership, and accountability.
• Energised by helping teams win and enabling the business to grow.

Additional Requirements

• Global remit with flexibility across time zones and cultures.
• Some international travel may be required.
• Ability to handle confidential and sensitive information.

Rewards & benefits

Explore the rewards and benefits that help you thrive – at every stage of your life and your career. Enjoy competitive salaries, employee rewards and a brilliant range of benefits you can tailor to suit your own health, wellbeing, financial and lifestyle choices. Make the most of a myriad of opportunities for training and professional development to grow your skills and expertise. And combine our hybrid working culture and flexible holiday allowances to balance a great job and fulfilling personal life.

Be rewarded. Find out more.

About AtkinsRéalis

We're AtkinsRéalis, a world-class engineering services and nuclear organization. We connect people, data and technology to transform the world's infrastructure and energy systems. Together, with our industry partners and clients, and our global team of consultants, designers, engineers and project managers, we can change the world. We're committed to leading our clients across our various end markets to engineer a better future for our planet and its people.

Find out more.

Additional information

Security clearance

This role may require security clearance and offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance. If this is necessary, it will be discussed with you at interview. The vetting process is delivered by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) and may require candidates to provide proof of residency in the UK of 5 years or longer. If applying to this role please do not make reference to (in conversation) or include in your application or CV, details of any current or previously held security clearance.

We are committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they belong - a place where we can all be ourselves, thrive and develop to be the best we can be. So, we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and employee resource groups to support all employees. As an Equal Opportunities Employer, we value applications from all backgrounds, cultures and ability.

Worker Type

Employee

Job Type

Regular

At AtkinsRéalis, we seek to hire individuals with diverse characteristics, backgrounds and perspectives. We strongly believe that world-class talent makes no distinctions based on gender, ethnic or national origin, sexual identity and orientation, age, religion or disability, but enriches itself through these differences.