Legal Operations Manager

Stephens Scown; Exeter; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Private medical insurance

Group life assurance

Wellbeing support

Three extra days' paid leave

Job summary

Stephens Scown is seeking an experienced Legal Operations Manager to drive excellence across the firm. You will lead initiatives to improve efficiency, knowledge management, and the use of legal technology and AI, while coordinating with Partners, divisional heads and business services teams.

You will shape governance, operating models, and processes to transform how legal services are delivered, balancing stakeholder needs with measurable outcomes and client service excellence.

Qualifications

• Experience in a legal services environment.
• Proven knowledge management experience.
• Experience implementing or supporting legal technology, AI, or knowledge management initiatives.
• Demonstrable experience leading operational improvement or business change projects.
• Strong stakeholder management and the ability to balance competing priorities.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Experience using data and insights to drive improvements and business decisions.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead initiatives to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability of legal service delivery.
• Review and enhance legal processes, workflows, and ways of working.
• Support the implementation of legal project management and matter delivery best practices.
• Help legal teams reduce administrative burdens and maximise fee-earning time.
• Establish performance measures and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Develop governance and knowledge resources to support organisational learning.
• Drive adoption and value realisation of legal technology and AI solutions.
• Analyse data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.

Skills

Legal operations

Knowledge management

Legal technology

AI adoption

Stakeholder management

Project management

Data analysis

Communication

Change management

Legal project management

Job description

At Stephens Scown, every day is what we make it. So we make it matter. Doing notable work for notable clients, building our skills with talented people and having a positive impact on our communities sits at the heart of everything we do.

We don’t just say it, we live it. Our commitment to our people, clients and communities runs through our DNA. We are employee-owned, we are a Certified B Corporation TM , and we are featured in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2026 list – ensuring our culture and ethos of going above and beyond for our people, our colleagues and our communities is recognised nationally.

The Role

We are looking for an experienced and forward-thinking Legal Operations Manager to play an essential role in driving operational excellence across the firm.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a passion for continuous improvement, legal technology, knowledge management, and innovation to help transform the way legal services are delivered. Working closely with Partners, Divisional Heads, Team Leaders, Legal Advisors, and Business Services teams, you will lead initiatives that enhance efficiency, improve collaboration, maximise the value of technology and AI, and support exceptional client service.

As a newly established firm-wide role, you will have the opportunity to create the frameworks, governance structures, and operating models that will shape the future of legal operations across the business.

What You’ll Be Doing:

Operational Excellence:

• Lead initiatives that improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability of legal service delivery.
• Review and enhance legal processes, workflows, and ways of working.
• Support the implementation of legal project management and matter delivery best practices.
• Help legal teams reduce administrative burdens and maximise productive fee-earning time.
• Establish performance measures and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Knowledge Management:

• Develop and promote the firm’s legal knowledge resources, including precedents, templates, guidance, and know-how.
• Improve access to and utilisation of knowledge assets across teams and offices.
• Facilitate knowledge-sharing initiatives and encourage collaboration between practice areas.
• Capture expertise, lessons learned, and best practice to support organisational learning.
• Establish governance arrangements to support effective knowledge management.

Legal Technology & AI:

• Drive the implementation, adoption, and optimisation of legal technology and AI solutions.
• Identify practical use cases that deliver measurable value for clients and colleagues.
• Develop training, guidance, and support materials to encourage effective adoption.
• Monitor usage and benefits realisation from technology investments.
• Stay informed on emerging legal technology and AI developments, recommending opportunities for innovation.

Data, Insight & Reporting:

• Support the development of operational reporting and management information.
• Analyse data to identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
• Help teams leverage matter intelligence and experience data to enhance planning, pricing, and service delivery.
• Support evidence-based decision making across the firm.

Change & Transformation:

• Champion innovation and continuous improvement.
• Support strategic transformation and operational change initiatives.
• Build strong relationships across legal and business support functions.
• Encourage engagement with new systems, processes, and ways of working.
• Contribute to the firm’s wider innovation, technology, and operational excellence agenda.

About You

We’re looking for someone who combines operational expertise with strong stakeholder management skills and a genuine enthusiasm for improving how legal services are delivered.

• Experience working within a legal services environment.
• Proven experience in a knowledge management role.
• Experience implementing or supporting legal technology, AI, or knowledge management initiatives.
• Demonstrable experience leading operational improvement, transformation, or business change projects.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to balance competing priorities.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Experience using data and insights to drive improvements and support business decisions.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Experience supporting technology adoption and change programmes.
• Experience delivering projects and driving change through influence rather than direct authority.
• Knowledge of legal project management methodologies.
• Understanding of law firm operations and commercial performance drivers.

What You’ll Bring:

• A collaborative and inclusive approach.
• A passion for innovation and continuous improvement.
• Confidence engaging with senior stakeholders.
• A practical, solutions-focused mindset.
• Excellent organisational and project management skills.
• The ability to influence and build consensus across teams.
• A commitment to delivering outstanding outcomes for clients and colleagues.

What we can offer you

• We offer a competitive salary and an impressive array of benefits and rewards. Not least of these is through the Firm’s employee-ownership status, where every employee is listened to, helps to realise our vision and receives an equal share in our annual profit-share.
• Our hybrid working model and approach to flexible working enables our people to share their working time between home and the office to support a healthy work / life balance.
• Employee benefits – including 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays and your birthday), private medical insurance, group life assurance, access to a comprehensive range of wellbeing support, and three additional days’ paid leave to support good causes.
• Progression opportunities – including, regular training, qualification options, mentorship, and continued professional development.

Why Stephens Scown?

Working here is something else entirely. It’s a place where we can step up to tough challenges with people so good they inspire us to be better. We proudly work in a beautiful part of the country, go beyond expectations and achieve things that matter.

Owning It Matters…

We’re the UK’s first major employee-owned law firm. But more than this, we’re people-centred, people-powered. We do what it takes to help each other overcome every challenge. Whatever’s happening in the world, empowering our people is what matters.

Our communities and colleagues give us a lot to be thankful for. So we try to make them feel as valued as our clients. Whether we’re digging deep and giving our time and money, picking up rubbish from our streets and beaches, at Stephens Scown, if it’s right, it matters.

We might have the expertise of a top city firm, but outside our offices there’s not a skyscraper in sight. Whether we’re getting to know our clients on our local beach or having fun in the park with colleagues, we’re all about living a life enriched by work. Making the fun matter.

At Stephens Scown, we believe that a diverse workforce delivers better results for ourclients and creates a happier workplace where everyone feels valued and appreciated. Thereforewe welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds, abilities and beliefs.

All offers of employment at Stephens Scown are subject to Basic level of Disclosure and BarringService check. Any information gathered in relation to the DBS process is held in in accordancewith all relevant data protection regulations. Having a criminal record will not necessarilybar you from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstancesand background of your offences. At interview, or in a separate discussion, we ensure that an openand measured discussion takes place on the subject of any offences or other matter that might berelevant to the positionsought could lead to withdrawal of an offer of employment. We make every subject of a DBSDisclosure aware of the existence of the DBS Code of Practice. This is available on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-code-of-practice