Innovation Project Manager | Digital Transformation Lead

Freshfields; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Freshfields is seeking an experienced Innovation Project Manager to drive the firm’s innovation agenda across global operations. Based in Manchester or Bratislava, you will lead the delivery of initiatives from concept through pilot to business-as-usual adoption, balancing ambiguity with clear governance.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams, manage risks, produce executive reporting and ensure initiatives align with strategic priorities.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering projects within innovation, technology, digital transformation or related environments.
• Strong project management expertise with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience producing business cases, project plans, governance documentation and executive reporting.
• The ability to operate effectively in fast‑changing and uncertain environments.
• Experience working within professional services, legal, financial services or other regulated environments.
• Exposure to emerging technologies such as AI, agentic AI, automation, cloud technologies or data platforms.
• Familiarity with Agile, Lean or product‑led delivery approaches.
• Experience managing proofs of concept, pilots, innovation programmes or innovation labs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of innovation initiatives aligned to strategic business objectives.
• Manage projects through the complete lifecycle, from idea generation and proof of concept through pilot, production delivery and operational handover.
• Apply the most appropriate delivery approach, whether Agile, hybrid or waterfall, according to project needs.
• Coordinate multiple workstreams to ensure successful outcomes and delivery against agreed objectives.
• Establish robust project governance, milestones, dependencies and controls.
• Produce and maintain project plans, RAID logs, business cases, delivery artefacts and status reports.
• Work closely with Legal, Security and Procurement teams to ensure initiatives align with firm standards and risk requirements.
• Support governance forums and Go/No-Go decision-making for pilots and scaling activities.
• Monitor project performance, risks and benefits realisation throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Business case & governance docs

Executive reporting

Agile / hybrid / waterfall delivery

Ambiguity management

Job description

Freshfields is seeking an experienced Innovation Project Manager to drive the firm’s innovation agenda across global operations. Based in Manchester or Bratislava, you will lead the delivery of initiatives from concept through pilot to business-as-usual adoption, balancing ambiguity with clear governance.

You will coordinate cross-functional teams, manage risks, produce executive reporting and ensure initiatives align with strategic priorities.