Business Relationship Manager

WilmerHale; New York (NY); On-site; USD 178,800 - 223,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off and holidays

Job summary

WilmerHale is seeking a Business Relationship Manager to establish and manage strategic relationships with internal stakeholders, focusing on advancing the firm's AI strategy. This role includes identifying opportunities to integrate technology into legal workflows and communicating these strategies effectively with legal and business departments.

The ideal candidate will have significant legal technology knowledge, strong analytical skills, and a JD or relevant degree. The position offers a comprehensive benefits package and a hybrid work schedule.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years of relevant experience in legal technology or law firm operations.
• Ability to translate business needs into IT-specific requirements.
• Familiarity with AI and its implications for the law firm.

Responsibilities

• Establish and manage strategic relationships with internal stakeholders.
• Facilitate continuous planning with stakeholders to evaluate technology options.
• Communicate technology strategies and advocate for stakeholder needs.

Skills

Stakeholder service orientation

Knowledge of law firm technology

Analytical and problem-solving skills

Communication skills

Education

JD or Bachelor's in relevant field

Tools

SDLC concepts

Job description

WilmerHale is a leading, full-service international law firm with 1,000 lawyers located throughout 12 offices in the United States and Europe. Our lawyers work at the intersection of government, technology and business, and we remain committed to our guiding principles of providing quality, excellent legal and client services; developing diversity among our lawyers and staff and cultivating an environment that promotes an ambitious spirit, collaboration and collegiality by drawing on the extraordinary talents and dynamic experience of our lawyers. Our goal is to reflect the diversity of our clients and the communities in which we practice.

The Business Relationship Manager establishes and manages strategic relationships with internal stakeholders across legal practice groups and business departments, with a primary focus on advancing the firm’s AI strategy. Owns the front-end engagement lifecycle for assigned practice groups and departments, including opportunity discovery, initial scoping, business case development, and preparation of opportunities for prioritization and delivery. Shapes AI and technology opportunities that align with stakeholder objectives, legal workflows, and firm priorities.

What You Will Be Doing

• Identifies practical opportunities to use technology, including AI-enabled solutions, to improve how legal practice groups and business departments work and deliver services.
• Facilitates continuous planning with stakeholders to prioritize opportunities, identify pain points, assess technology options, and estimate organizational value and ROI.
• Establishes regular engagement routines with assigned legal and business departments to understand priorities, surface emerging needs, communicate IS capabilities, and ensure opportunities are tracked and advanced appropriately.
• Communicates technology strategy, plans, status, and tradeoffs to legal practice groups and business departments; advocates for stakeholder technology needs; and keeps IS informed of stakeholder priorities and needs.
• Elicits requirements through stakeholder interviews, workshops, document review, workflow analysis, and other business analysis techniques.
• Understands legal and business processes, assesses stakeholder needs, and works with stakeholders to define and validate system requirements. Prepares functional and system design specifications that IS can use to build solutions.
• Evaluates information from multiple sources, resolves conflicting input, and distinguishes stated requests from the underlying business or practice need.
• Clarifies engagement expectations, service needs, escalation paths, and measures of stakeholder satisfaction in partnership with IS service owners. Works with IS to resolve issues and improve stakeholder experience and service delivery.
• Acts as the liaison between legal and business stakeholders, technology teams, and support teams.
• Partners with IS, project teams, change management, and stakeholders to support implementation, drive adoption, gather feedback, measure outcomes, identify follow-on improvements, and coordinate training.
• Builds IS’s understanding of legal and business needs and helps educate stakeholders about emerging technologies, including AI.
• Helps legal practice groups and business departments understand available IS capabilities and how those services can support business objectives and improve adoption.
• Assumes additional responsibilities as assigned.
• Demonstrates a strong commitment to professionalism, delivering high-quality service, and maintaining a positive, solution-oriented (“can-do”) approach. Effectively supports internal departments, external clients, and vendors through clear, courteous communication via electronic correspondence, telephone, and in-person interactions.

What You Will Bring to This Position

• Strong stakeholder service orientation, with the ability to build and maintain effective relationships within, across, and outside organizational boundaries.
• Significant knowledge of law firm technology, artificial intelligence, legal workflows, and lawyer work practices, with the ability to assess the practical impact of technology on legal and business processes.
• Ability to understand legal practice group and business department needs, translate those needs into IT-specific requirements, and develop business cases and business requirements documents.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving abilities, including the ability to assess benefits and risks, propose practical technical strategies, and meet challenging deadlines.
• Communicates clearly and effectively with technical and non-technical audiences, both orally and in writing.
• Identifies and acts upon opportunities for continuous improvement, encourages prudent risk-taking and alternative approaches, and helps stakeholders navigate periods of change and uncertainty.
• Familiar with systems development life cycle (SDLC) concepts.
• Remains open to technological change as generative AI becomes more integrated into the firm’s practice, actively develops comfort with new tools, and adapts how work is performed to support efficiency and innovation.

Education

• JD strongly preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree required; concentration in Computer Science, Management, or a related field preferred.

Required Experience

• 7–10 years of relevant experience in legal technology, law firm operations, practice support, or a related field strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of law firm processes and lawyer workflows is strongly preferred.

Benefits

• A values‑driven firm that fosters collaboration and respect.
• The hiring range for this position is $178,800 - 223,500 annually, with final compensation based on experience, qualifications and internal equity.
• This position is eligible for a Hybrid Schedule.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) with company match and profit‑sharing options.
• Paid time off and holidays.

Our Commitment

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale) is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to compliance with all applicable laws prohibiting employment discrimination. It is our policy to take all employment actions and make all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, citizenship status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, disability, military status, status as a disabled or other protected veteran, or any other protected status under applicable law. WilmerHale will make reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities and otherwise as required by applicable law.

For more information about Equal Employment Opportunity, please click here.