Legal Talent Strategy & Utilization Director

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 200,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is seeking a Director of Legal Engagement & Optimization to join the Talent team. The role partners with Business Group Leaders and Attorney Leadership to drive strategic staffing, workload optimization, and development alignment across the Firm’s practices.

This senior position connects practice leadership with recruitment and training to ensure attorney resources support client service, growth, and profitability.

Qualifications

• JD required; additional graduate degree (e.g., MBA) a plus.
• 12+ years of experience in a law firm or client-centered professional services environment with responsibility for attorney staffing, management, or resource optimization.
• Deep understanding of law firm economics, including utilization, leverage, realization, and the attorney life cycle.
• Strong analytical capability using financial, utilization, and workforce data to inform strategy and decision-making.
• Proven ability to build credibility with attorneys and partners across seniority levels, including equity stakeholders.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills; ability to synthesize complex information and drive alignment.
• Highly collaborative, proactive, and comfortable operating in a matrixed, multi-office environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement the Firm’s attorney staffing and resource optimization strategy across practices and offices.
• Establish staffing policies, workflows, and governance for assignment, ensuring transparent, equitable allocation.
• Analyze matter pipelines, demand forecasts, and utilization trends to identify staffing risks and leverage opportunities.
• Oversee attorney work assignment processes with staffing attorneys to manage capacity and workload balance.
• Track staffing and utilization metrics and translate insights into actionable recommendations.

Skills

Staffing optimization

Analytics

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive presence

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Job description

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP is seeking a Director of Legal Engagement & Optimization to join the Talent team. The role partners with Business Group Leaders and Attorney Leadership to drive strategic staffing, workload optimization, and development alignment across the Firm’s practices.

This senior position connects practice leadership with recruitment and training to ensure attorney resources support client service, growth, and profitability.