Senior Manager, Legal Shared Services

Stryker Group; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 149,000 - 329,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company is seeking a Senior Manager for Legal Shared Services to optimize legal operations. The role involves managing vendor relationships, ensuring high-quality service delivery, and aligning processes with business objectives. Candidates should have extensive experience in legal operations and vendor management, and be adept at communicating with multiple stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience.
• 5+ years in vendor management and legal operations.
• 3+ years managing external service providers.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary liaison between the legal team and ALSP.
• Oversee day-to-day service delivery and enforce SLAs.
• Drive continuous improvement through analysis of performance data.

Skills

Vendor Management

Stakeholder Management

Communication

Project Management

Process Improvement

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Project Management Tools

Legal Technologies

Job description

The Senior Manager, Legal Shared Services, will champion a new shared services model for our legal department in partnership with an Alternative Legal Services Provider (ALSP). In this strategic role, you will build an operational framework for administrative and operational tasks, evolve the ALSP relationship to deliver more sophisticated legal support, and ensure deliverables consistently meet or exceed expectations. You will align processes and performance metrics with business objectives and provide data-driven insights to senior leadership.

Working closely with stakeholders, you will shape foundational processes and partnerships that support our growing business by driving efficiency, quality, and value through the ALSP. This global role requires international travel and flexibility across multiple time zones.

What you will do

Vendor Management & Service Delivery:

• Serve as the primary liaison between the Stryker legal team, internal stakeholders, and the ALSP to drive clear communication and collaborative problem-solving to resolve issues .

• Conduct regular performance reviews, lead governance meetings, and track performance metrics to monitor relationship success.

• Oversee day-to-day service delivery and enforce SLAs, KPIs, and contract terms.

• Proactively manage escalations, troubleshoot performance gaps, and implement process improvements.

Strategic Alignment, Service Expansion, and Continuous Improvement

• Lead onboarding and service expansion projects for ALSP, ensuring readiness of processes, technology, and staffing.

• Work with internal teams to proactively identify, assess, and prioritize additional support opportunities by developing a framework that evaluates potential service expansion based on cost, impact, feasibility, and strategic alignment.

• Create a standardized playbook to onboard new workstreams or regions, ensuring efficient integration and scalability of ALSP services.

• Drive continuous improvement by analyzing performance data, incorporating stakeholder feedback, and monitoring industry best practices.

• Work with internal and ALSP teams to optimize workflows and enable scalable, efficient services.

Stakeholder Engagement, Communication, and Change Management

• Act as the trusted advisor for internal stakeholders by leading change management initiatives and ensuring alignment of strategic and operational objectives.

• Facilitate regular communication with department leaders to share updates, provide training, and swiftly resolve concerns related to ALSP deliverables.

• Develop and maintain transparent reporting mechanisms that deliver actionable, data-driven insights to senior leadership and support continuous service enhancement.

• Maintain regular performance dashboards and communicate progress to senior leadership.

What you need

Required

• Bachelor’s degree required

• 10+ years of professional experience

• 5+ years of experience in vendor management, legal operations, procurement, or contract administration—ideally in a corporate legal or compliance environment.

• 3+ years of experience in managing external service providers, contracts, and SLAs.

• Experience working in a matrix global environment

Preferred

• Master's degree or certification in Legal Operations Business, Law, Operations, Supplier Management, or a related field is preferred.

• Experience in legal department operations and vendor relationships.

• Proficiency in project management methodologies, tools, and software; demonstrated experience in implementing process improvements and performance metrics.

• Familiarity with legal technologies, document management systems, eBilling, or workflow automation tools is a plus.

• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex issues to diverse audiences.

$149,000 - 329,000 salary plus bonus eligible + benefits. Actual minimum and maximum may vary based on location. Individual pay is based on skills, experience, and other relevant factors.