Senior Program Manager, Legal Tech Implementations

Aderant Legal Holdings (AUS) Pty. Ltd.; New Zealand; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Aderant is seeking a Senior Project Manager in Auckland to own end-to-end delivery of complex implementations for mid-to-large law firms. You will manage cross-functional teams across consulting, technical delivery, data migration, and integrations, aligning scope, budget, and timelines with client expectations.

You will lead executive governance, manage RAID and risk, and maintain auditable delivery artefacts while fostering strong relationships with Partners, IT, Finance, and PMO.

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ experience delivering complex enterprise software implementations, including multi-workstream or programme‑level delivery.
• Proven track record of owning delivery outcomes in client‑facing environments, including budget, scope, and stakeholder management.
• Strong understanding of legal finance processes (GL, AR, Billing, Time) and professional services operations.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior and executive stakeholders.
• Strong commercial awareness, including experience managing project financials and change control.
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, fast‑moving environments with competing priorities.
• Comfortable and proactive in adopting AI‑enabled tools and workflows to enhance productivity and decision‑making across the project lifecycle.
• Full working rights in Australia required (or, for the Auckland‑based role, full working rights in New Zealand)

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of Aderant solutions (including Expert, Sierra, iTimekeep, and integrations) across the full project lifecycle.
• Be accountable for overall delivery outcomes, including scope, schedule, budget, quality, and client acceptance.
• Establish and maintain robust, auditable project plans, governance structures, and delivery artefacts.
• Own RAID management, proactively driving risk mitigation, issue resolution, and decision‑making.
• Enforce disciplined change control to ensure all scope variation is clearly defined, approved, and commercially captured.
• Act as the primary client delivery lead and escalation owner across assigned programmes.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, including Partners, Finance, IT, and PMO.
• Lead executive‑level governance, including steering committees and status reporting, with clear, outcome-focused communication.
• Manage escalations with professionalism and control, protecting both delivery outcomes and commercial position.
• Lead and direct cross‑functional delivery teams across Consulting, Technical, Cloud Ops, Data, and Product.
• Drive alignment across internal and client stakeholders, resolving conflicts and removing delivery blockers.
• Own resource planning, ramp‑up, and workload balancing to ensure effective and efficient delivery.
• Ensure delivery execution aligns with contractual commitments and agreed Statements of Work.
• Own financial performance of projects, including budget management, forecast accuracy, and margin protection.
• Track actuals vs forecast, including fixed‑fee burn and effort consumption, taking corrective action as required.
• Drive change control and variation management to ensure all additional scope is commercially captured.
• Identify and proactively manage financial, contractual, and resourcing risks.
• Apply and adapt Aderant delivery methodology (hybrid Agile / waterfall) to suit programme complexity and client context.
• Enforce quality gates across design, build, test, migration, and cut‑over.
• Ensure all key decisions, configurations, and approvals are documented, traceable, and auditable.
• Drive readiness for go‑live, ensuring minimal disruption and high-quality outcomes.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior Project Managers and consultants, supporting capability development.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of delivery standards, tools, and methodologies.
• Share lessons learned and best practices to improve consistency, scalability, and delivery performance across the organisation.
• 5+ years’ experience delivering complex enterprise software implementations, including multi-workstream or programme‑level delivery

Skills

Enterprise software delivery

Client-facing delivery

Stakeholder management

Executive communication

Project financial management

Risk & RAID management

AI-enabled workflows

NZ work rights

Education

PM Certification (PMP or equivalent)

Tools

Aderant Expert

Sierra

Job description

Aderant is seeking a Senior Project Manager in Auckland to own end-to-end delivery of complex implementations for mid-to-large law firms. You will manage cross-functional teams across consulting, technical delivery, data migration, and integrations, aligning scope, budget, and timelines with client expectations.

You will lead executive governance, manage RAID and risk, and maintain auditable delivery artefacts while fostering strong relationships with Partners, IT, Finance, and PMO.