SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Technical & Analytical Skills

• AI & Legal Tech Fluency: Deep understanding of AI technologies (e.g., NLP, machine learning, generative AI) and their application in legal contexts such as contract review, legal research, and compliance.
• Data Literacy: General understanding of data structure and its role in AI and Innovation delivery.
• Solution Architecture Awareness: Familiarity with system integration, cloud platforms, APIs, and legal tech ecosystems.

Project Management

• Project Delivery Expertise: Qualified and skilled in project delivery methodologies including agile (e.g. Scrum, Kanban, DSDM) and iterative delivery of innovation projects.
• Risk & Issue Management: Proactive identification and mitigation of delivery risks, especially around data privacy, ethics, and regulatory compliance.
• Budgeting & Resource Planning: Experience managing project budgets, vendor contracts, and internal resource allocation.

Stakeholder & Change Leadership

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Ability to work across legal, IT, compliance, and operations teams to align goals and drive execution.
• Change Management: Expertise in driving adoption of new technologies and processes within traditionally risk-averse environments.
• Influencing & Communication: Strong storytelling and presentation skills to communicate complex AI concepts to non-technical stakeholders.

Strategic & Innovation Thinking

• Innovation Strategy Development: Ability to define and evolve a legal innovation roadmap based on business priorities and market trends.
• Design Thinking: Skilled in user-centric design approaches to ensure solutions meet real-world legal needs.
• Market & Trend Awareness: Up-to-date knowledge of legal tech vendors, regulatory developments, and competitive benchmarks.

Governance, Ethics & Compliance

• Responsible AI Practices: Understanding of ethical AI principles, bias mitigation, and explainability in legal applications.
• Regulatory Compliance: Familiarity with GDPR, data protection laws, and legal privilege considerations in AI deployment.
• Governance Frameworks: Ability to establish and maintain governance structures for innovation and AI initiatives.

THE ROLE

Aligned to a continuous drive to innovate, Withers has recently launched a new business strategy which focuses on reviewing and improving how our firm operates across all regions and divisions in order to optimise productivity through the better use of technology, and ultimately to deliver the best service to our clients.
This will be achieved through a number of means including examining and optimising technology skills, the processes that our people use, and the technologies which they are using. It will address both the better use of our existing systems, and the purchase and /or development of new tools aligned to business needs. Given the scope of the firm’s strategy, the work will cover a wide breadth of technology areas including legal-specific and more general operational systems, including the embedding of new technologies such as generative AI into working practices.
In support of this, we are recruiting a number of roles to constitute the core of a new ‘AI & Innovation’ team (supplemented by resources from our project management office, IT team and external consultancy as required) which will lead the delivery of this work. In order to ensure better alignment to the firm’s standards and to provide supplemental support as required, the members of this team will be ‘homed’ inside the IT and PMO teams (as appropriate) but will work together as a ring-fenced team dedicated to delivering the AI & Innovation work under the direction of a multi-disciplinary steering group.
As part of this AI & Innovation team, we are seeking an experienced and driven Legal Innovation and AI Delivery Lead who has a passion for delivering innovation and change, and for working with stakeholders across all disciplines and seniority levels.
This is a very exciting opportunity to be a core part of a new capability for our firm, with sponsorship from the highest levels of the firm, and high visibility for the value delivered. It is a hands-on, strategic role ideal for a self-starter who thrives in an innovative, fast-paced and pragmatic environment, who excels in inter-personal relationships, and wants to make a lasting impact by delivering change to the working practices of a global law firm.
A high level of personal organisation and professionalism is critical to this role, together with a ‘can-do’ attitude and an ability to work to tight deadlines and under pressure. You must inspire a positive work environment and help champion quality, innovation, teamwork and service to the business.
Working as part of our Project Management Office your primary work base will be the London office, but travel may be required. The chosen candidate will line-report to the Global Head of Portfolio Management (based in London) and work closely with them and the global team, to assist with delivery of the firm’s strategy and expectations. You will be working alongside a team of Programme Managers, Project Managers, Business Analysts and PMO Analysts (based in London and Los Angeles).

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Innovation Leadership

• Schedule, facilitate and manage the AI and Innovation leadership group meetings, prepare agendas, create meeting notes and ensure follow-up on decisions and actions.
• Provide delivery leadership, working closely with the trainer, business analyst and solution architect to help define and drive the innovation agenda.
• Assist the AI and Innovation delivery group in the development and maintenance of the legal innovation roadmap, aligning AI initiatives with firm-wide or departmental strategic goals.
• Identify emerging technologies (e.g., generative AI, NLP, predictive analytics) with potential to transform legal services.
• Lead ideation and process mapping workshops and innovation sprints with prioritized legal teams to surface pain points and co-create solutions using existing tools better, by either improving processes or ‘tailoring’ tools to specific needs or identifying and using new tools where required.

Project Delivery

• Manage end-to-end delivery of AI and Innovation projects, from business case development to post-implementation review.
• Define project scope and approach, plans, success metrics, and resource requirements.
• Coordinate with IT, legal operations, compliance, and external vendors to ensure seamless execution.

Stakeholder Engagement & Change Management

• Act as a trusted advisor to partners, management committee and legal operations teams on AI and innovation strategy.
• Working with the AI and Innovation Trainer, manage the development and delivery of training, demos, and communications to drive adoption and change readiness
• Manage stakeholder expectations and ensure alignment across technical and non-technical audiences.

Governance, Risk & Ethics

• Working with the AI and Innovation solution architect, ensure all AI solutions comply with legal, ethical, and regulatory standards (e.g., GDPR, client confidentiality).
• Ensure alignment with Withers governance frameworks and policies for responsible AI use, including bias mitigation and explainability.
• Monitor and report on AI performance, risks, and impact across legal functions.

Continuous Improvement & Market Awareness

• Stay up to date with developments in legal and general technology, including AI regulations, and Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities.
• Track legal tech trends, vendor landscape, and regulatory developments.
• Benchmark internal capabilities against industry standards and competitors.
• Foster a culture of experimentation, feedback, and iterative improvement.
• Assist the PMO and IT teams with queries as required.
• Assist the Head of Portfolio Management with additional responsibilities where requested.

This list of duties and responsibilities is not exhaustive. It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for the performance of this job, and as such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.