Practice Innovation Specialist / Manager

Cedar Recruitment; Greater London, Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Cedar Recruitment is seeking a Practice Innovation Specialist/Manager to work in London (Belfast possible) within the Practice Innovation function. The role focuses on translating business problems in legal services into practical innovation projects, using AI where appropriate and distinguishing when conventional systems are better suited.

The successful candidate will collaborate with lawyers, partners and knowledge teams to deliver practical outcomes and scale innovations across the firm.

Qualifications

• Approximately three to five years of relevant professional experience.
• Experience in a law firm, professional-services business or large corporate environment.
• Direct experience working with lawyers, clients or senior professional stakeholders.
• Strong stakeholder-management, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal coaching on professional communication.
• Practical problem-solving skills and sound commercial judgement.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with lawyers, partners and practice groups to understand their challenges.
• Ask the right questions to identify the underlying problem before recommending a solution.
• Translate legal and commercial requirements into structured innovation projects.
• Identify where AI could improve legal-service delivery.
• Recognise where AI is not appropriate and where a conventional system, workflow or formula would be more reliable.
• Support projects from initial discovery through testing, implementation and adoption.
• Coordinate user testing and confirm that proposed solutions work in practice.
• Work with technology, data and knowledge teams to access the required expertise and information.
• Help move successful ideas beyond experimentation and into day-to-day use.
• Build relationships with senior stakeholders and become a trusted contact within the office.
• Spend time with practice groups to understand how they work and where improvements can be made.
• Help lawyers develop their own innovation capabilities rather than completing all innovation activity on their behalf.
• Communicate project progress, challenges and recommendations clearly to senior stakeholders.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Communication

Relationship building

Problem solving

Independence

Job description

Practice Innovation Specialist / Manager

Location: London preferred; Belfast may be considered
Level: Mid-level Specialist / Manager

The Role

This role will sit within the Practice Innovation function, helping legal teams identify business problems and turn them into practical innovation projects.

The position is not a technical AI development role. It requires someone who can work directly with lawyers and partners, understand how legal services are delivered and determine whether a problem is best addressed through AI, technology, data, process improvement or an existing solution.

Key Responsibilities

• Work directly with lawyers, partners and practice groups to understand their challenges.
• Ask the right questions to identify the underlying problem before recommending a solution.
• Translate legal and commercial requirements into structured innovation projects.
• Identify where AI could improve legal-service delivery.
• Recognise where AI is not appropriate and where a conventional system, workflow or formula would be more reliable.
• Support projects from initial discovery through testing, implementation and adoption.
• Coordinate user testing and confirm that proposed solutions work in practice.
• Work with technology, data and knowledge teams to access the required expertise and information.
• Help move successful ideas beyond experimentation and into day-to-day use.
• Build relationships with senior stakeholders and become a trusted contact within the office.
• Spend time with practice groups to understand how they work and where improvements can be made.
• Help lawyers develop their own innovation capabilities rather than completing all innovation activity on their behalf.
• Communicate project progress, challenges and recommendations clearly to senior stakeholders.

Experience Required

• Approximately three to five years of relevant professional experience.
• Experience working in a law firm, professional-services business or another large corporate environment.
• Direct experience working with lawyers, clients or senior professional stakeholders.
• An understanding of how complex organisations operate and make decisions.
• Experience supporting projects through discovery, delivery, testing and implementation.
• Strong stakeholder-management, communication and relationship-building skills.
• The confidence to hold credible conversations with partners from an early stage.
• Practical problem-solving skills and sound commercial judgement.
• The ability to work independently without significant coaching on professional communication.

Relevant Backgrounds

Candidates could come from:

• Legal project management.
• Legal operations.
• Legal technology.
• Practice or business management within a law firm.
• Business or data analysis with strong legal-sector exposure.
• Client-facing professional services.
• Legal practice followed by a move into innovation, transformation or project delivery.

AI Knowledge

The successful candidate does not need to be a technical AI specialist. However, they should:

• Understand the practical opportunities and limitations of AI.
• Treat AI as one potential tool rather than the default answer.
• Be able to explain when AI should not be used.
• Understand the importance of testing, accuracy and appropriate controls.
• Be able to distinguish between work suited to AI and tasks that require deterministic systems, established processes or traditional software.

Personal Qualities

• Confident and credible with senior stakeholders.
• Collaborative, approachable and relationship-led.
• Curious and willing to challenge assumptions.
• Comfortable working in an open and accessible culture.
• Professionally polished while remaining personable.
• Focused on delivering practical outcomes rather than innovation for its own sake.

Formal academic credentials are not the main consideration. Relevant experience, judgement, communication skills and the ability to work effectively with legal stakeholders will be prioritised.

Please feel free to reach out to Liam Meikle, if you have any questions