Professional Development Manager

Plona Partners; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Plona Partners is seeking a Manager of Professional Development for its Washington, DC office. This high-impact role involves designing and managing career development programs, advising associates, and tracking development opportunities across the firm.

The ideal candidate will have over 5 years of experience in attorney development and coaching, strong judgment, and be familiar with legal talent frameworks. A hybrid work model is offered.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in professional development or coaching.
• Preferred background in law firm or professional services.
• Strong understanding of attorney development frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design and manage attorney career development programs.
• Advise associates on career planning and development.
• Track attorney utilization and skill gaps.

Skills

Career development

Coaching

Emotional intelligence

Strong judgment

Education

Advanced degree in organizational development

Coaching certification

Job description

Manager of Professional Development — AmLaw 30 Law Firm

Washington, DC | Hybrid 4:1 | $140,000–$180,000

A leading AmLaw 30 international law firm is seeking a Manager of Professional Development to join its Washington, DC, office and play a key role in supporting attorney growth, career development, coaching, evaluations, and professional advancement initiatives.

This is a high-impact opportunity for a legal talent, professional development, attorney development, or career coaching professional who wants to work closely with firm leadership, practice group leaders, assigning partners, counsel, associates, and senior members of the Professional Development team. The ideal candidate will bring strong judgment, discretion, emotional intelligence, and the ability to operate as a trusted advisor in a sophisticated, consensus-driven law firm environment.

What You’ll Do

In this role, you will help design, implement, and manage attorney career development programs across the DC office, with a particular focus on associate and counsel development.

Responsibilities

• Partnering with Professional Development leadership on attorney career development initiatives.
• Advising associates and counsel on career planning, advancement, work allocation, firm resources, interpersonal challenges, leave transitions, and long-term development.
• Working closely with assigning partners, practice group chairs, and firm leadership to identify development needs and support attorney progression.
• Supporting counsel evaluations, annual goals meetings, and career development conversations.
• Tracking attorney utilization, skill development, and experience gaps to help improve development opportunities.
• Helping build systems to measure the effectiveness and ROI of coaching and attorney development programs.
• Supporting external career transition opportunities, including secondments and in-house pathways.
• Managing junior members of the Professional Development team.
• Monitoring best practices and trends in legal talent, attorney development, coaching, and professional services training.

The firm is targeting candidates with:

• 5+ years of broad-based career development, professional development, attorney development, coaching, HR, talent development, or legal talent experience.
• Experience in a law firm, consulting firm, or other professional services environment strongly preferred.
• Strong understanding of attorney development, career coaching, evaluations, utilization, and advancement frameworks.
• Advanced degree in organizational development, HR, social sciences, a related field, or J.D. preferred.
• Coaching certification or coaching experience preferred.