STRATEGIC LEGAL PROGRAMS & OPERATIONS CONSULTANT

at  University of California Office of the President

POSITION SUMMARY

The Strategic Legal Programs & Operations Consultant supports the management and delivery of strategic legal initiatives under the UC Legal Strategic Plan, and operational projects for UC Legal’s Immediate Office of the General Counsel. This role will work side-by-side with leaders for strategic legal initiatives, legal policy and operations, and the Associate Chief of Staff to the General Counsel, to help create processes and practices to enable the delivery of strategic programs, improve the day-to-day efficiency and effectiveness of the legal team, facilitate change, and support various strategic and program communications needs. This is a generalist role that involves managing and supporting projects across the full range of strategic initiatives impacting the legal team, on a variety of matters including strategic planning and operations, key performance indicators and metrics, collaborating on human resources matters, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, process development and improvement, policy analysis, research, and risk mitigation initiatives. The Strategic Legal Programs & Operations Consultant must be adaptable and able to juggle multiple priorities at any given time, helping to drive and support the successful execution of UC Legal’s Strategic Plan, comprised of several cross-functional, complex, long-term projects, conducting and synthesizing research, and preparing communications as needed. They may also receive a variety of other operational assignments time to time and will be adaptable to support such needs as they arise.
Responsibilities

35% Program & Organizational Change Management, Strategy, Delivery & Assessment

• Develop and support comprehensive change management, communications and training strategies to align with organizational needs and objectives internal to UC Legal and across the broad UC Legal base of stakeholders, including leadership, external partners and suppliers. Provide significant influence on identifying and framing systemic organizational issues and formulating approaches for addressing. Advance major organization initiatives through strategic planning and execution.
• Drive implementation of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to assess, measure and report on impact and effectiveness of tools, processes and approaches of change management activity and strategy associated with execution of Strategic Plan initiatives. Regularly evaluate and adjust strategies based on performance data.
• Serve as a knowledge expert on industry trends and best practices.
• Facilitate assessments of various processes to define, recommend, and implement solutions across UC Legal.
• Assist in identifying and implementing tools, templates, and processes to enable new or existing programs to be most effective, specifically in the areas of strategic project management, planning, risk mitigation and workflow efficiency. Manage design, rollout, change management, and training for new tools, templates and processes.
• Apply professional project management concepts and department / unit and Office of the President policies and procedures to manage projects. Provides analysis and status tracking for moderately complex, project-related issues.
• Track project progress from initiation through delivery, including oversight and integration of project, department, and Office of the President communications, interaction with vendors and managing risk. Identify and escalate risks and facilitate resolution among cross-functional project team members / stakeholders.
• Facilitate and coordinate moderate to large project teams or committees, design project plans and schedule and monitor budget and resources. Collaborate with various practice groups across all of UC Legal to develop strong, trusted working relationships, build awareness, and increase overall competencies in data analytics, metrics management, strategic project management and legal risk mitigation.

30% Operations/Research/Analysis

• Review, analyze, draft and revise a variety of documents including policies, delegations of authority, powers of attorney, annual report, progress reports, program proposals, talking points, legal documents, correspondence, and presentations, for various internal and external audiences.
• Gather, assemble and analyze data and various types of information to support UC Legal program development and reporting needs and present data to team, in support of various audiences including UC Regents, Office of the President, internal client groups, and UC Legal leadership team and UC Legal locally and systemwide.
• Translate data and information into various formats to help UC Legal leadership make decisions and communicate with program stakeholders and constituents. Serve as an active thought partner in planning discussions and provide commentary and/or recommendations to support UC Legal work product and program development.
• Serve as a generalist resource on a variety of legal operations matters, identifying solutions to issues involving people, policy, or process within UC Legal.

25% Strategic Communications

• Draft strategic communications for various audiences, using their understanding of UC Legal’s programs and initiatives in location-wide and systemwide matters. Ensure consistent team coordination with other UC and UC Office of the President communication initiatives, ensuring compliance with all University policies, branding and best practices.
• Support UC Legal leadership in communicating key initiatives and delivering organization messaging in a strategic and impactful way. Develop and implement strategic communication plans, tools and processes to motivate and engage colleagues and stakeholders and achieve objectives and meet organizational goals. Ensure consistent messaging across all channels for a cohesive organizational image.
• Identify gaps and synergies in training and communication activities, proactively resolving resource allocation issues to meet organizational needs.

10% Other duties and special projects as assigned in support of the strategic legal initiatives and operational projects for UC Legal’s Immediate Office of the General Counsel.

Experience

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant working experience required.

Required Qualifications

Project & Program Management Skills

• Demonstrated strong analytical, problem-solving, project planning and implementation skills
• Experience developing forms, processes, and policies
• Ability to move organizational programs forward by developing and maintaining tools and communications as needed to gain and maintain support from stakeholders
• Ability to work with multiple data sets in order to make informed recommendations; experience with business intelligence tools

Organizational Change Management Skills

• Demonstrated knowledge of organizational theory and ability to translate into practice.
• Large-scale influence-driven organizational change management experience.
• Ability to navigate complex organizational structures, influence stakeholder decision making and drive collaboration.
• Successful delivery of organizational change via cross-functional collaboration.

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

• Ability to exercise good judgment and discretion on confidential, sensitive matters; Able to motivate and energize teams, foster collaboration, and leverage skills in conflict management techniques.
• Highly skilled in developing presentation materials, meeting facilitation, consulting and relationship building.
• Strong communication skills and demonstrated examples of delivery against projects requiring broad stakeholder alignment and communication needs.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and successfully manage multiple deadlines

Technical & Data Skills

• Tech savvy and versatile with advanced proficiency in MS Office Suite, particularly PowerPoint, Excel, Sharepoint, and Project applications, and other office applications such as Visio, Smartsheet, Canva, and Box to manage complex, cross-functional initiatives and communicate with a variety of audiences
• Ability to review and analyze data and draw inferences and conclusions and develop metrics, key risk and performance indicators, and identify patterns and trends

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant work experience in one or more of the following organizations: higher education, in-house legal department, health care, or public entity.
• Program Management experience in an enterprise level program management office setting, advising on strategic project delivery issues and building processes to enable effective executive oversight.
• Working knowledge of legal department applications such as NetDocs, matter management applications, CounselLink, and legal research tools

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training required
• Advanced degree, such as JD, MBA etc highly desirable.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

10% Occasional travel to campus locations and/or conferences.

Please refer the Job description for details