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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute · 6 hours ago

Director, Legal Operations

Brookline, MA

Full-time

Onsite

Director/Executive

$170K/yr - $203K/yr

8+ years exp

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a leader in life-changing breakthroughs in cancer research and patient care. The Director of Legal Operations will enhance operational efficiency and business processes within the Office of General Counsel, manage outside counsel, and oversee legal spend while leading a team of legal operations professionals.

CommunitiesHealth CareHealth DiagnosticsHospitalNon ProfitOncology

Responsibilities

Advise the General Counsel and senior leadership on the operational and strategic management of the department; lead process improvements and implement Lean Six Sigma methodologies to reduce costs and increase efficiency; establish and maintain data-driven metrics and analytics to maximize resources and performance; define and standardize workflows and governance; provide guidance across the organization as a member of multidisciplinary project teams; and serve on the legal leadership team to foster strong internal communications, high team performance, and team member well-being across the OGC

Oversee a comprehensive outside counsel management program that harmonizes engagement and performance, improves efficiency, and reduces costs; optimize the use of e-billing/legal spend and matter management technologies, including alignment of internal business processes and tools to drive efficiency, better decision-making, and cost reduction; and collaborate with internal counsel, external law firms, and benchmarking data to manage outside counsel performance, rates, and spend in accordance with firm guidelines and service-level expectations

Serve as the Legal Department’s primary liaison with DFCI’s Finance Department and the Innovations Office on finance matters; partner closely with Finance to manage budgeting, forecasting, monthly accruals, and budget variance analysis on legal spend; manage and track legal spend and ensure accurate allocation, in partnership with Finance and other stakeholders; coordinate with Finance to ensure accurate month-end close, reporting, and forecasting of legal fees; and support strategic short and long-term projects focused on efficient use of internal and external legal resources

Serve as the Legal Department’s primary liaison with DFCI’s Information Technology (IT) Department; partner with IT to assess, select, deploy, and maintain information systems, programs, and tools that support knowledge management and legal operations; ensure effective data governance and system integrations across platforms; and collaborate with IT to develop and implement dashboards and reporting that enhance information sharing, transparency, and decision-making

Manage and develop a high-performing team of legal operations and administrative professionals; set clear goals and performance metrics; provide coaching, mentoring, and professional development opportunities; optimize resource planning and workload management; and cultivate an inclusive, collaborative culture focused on excellence, continuous improvement, and well-being

Qualification

Legal OperationsLean Six SigmaOutside Counsel ManagementFinancial ManagementData LiteracyLegal TechnologyProject ManagementPeople LeadershipChange ManagementStakeholder ManagementAnalytical SkillsCommunication Skills

Required

Bachelor's degree required in a related field of study such as Pre‑Law, Political Science, or Paralegal Studies; or Business Administration or Management

8 years of substantive legal operations and project management experience required in corporate legal department or law firm, including outside counsel management, financial management and legal technology selection and implementation

Demonstrated experience using formal project management and process improvement tools and techniques (e.g., Lean Six Sigma)

Experience with e-billing/legal spend management, matter management, contract lifecycle management, extranets/online data rooms, collaboration tools, and SharePoint

A continuous improvement mindset with the willingness to challenge assumptions and propose bold, practical solutions

People leadership experience, including building, coaching, and developing high-performing teams

Deep legal operations expertise across outside counsel management, legal spend management, matter management, contract lifecycle management, and knowledge management

Strong financial acumen, including GAAP concepts, accruals, forecasting, and variance analysis

Proven ability to manage budgeting, forecasting, accruals, and variance analysis; familiarity with finance principle and month-end close processes

Advanced data literacy with the ability to define KPIs, build and interpret dashboards, and use benchmarking to drive performance and decision‑making

Proven process improvement capabilities (e.g., Lean Six Sigma), including process mapping, workflow design, and governance establishment to reduce cost and increase efficiency

Demonstrated ability to design and manage an outside counsel program: rate benchmarking, alternative fee development, RFPs/panel selection, performance scorecards, and enforcement of outside counsel guidelines

Proficiency with legal operations technologies and related integrations (e-billing/legal spend platforms, matter management, CLM, collaboration tools, SharePoint), and ability to partner with IT on requirements, selection, implementation, UAT, and change adoption

Demonstrated ability to function as a change agent, champion continuous improvement, and lead organizational adoption of new processes, tools, and operating models

Excellent oral and written communication skills, including creating executive-level presentations and clear, actionable reports

Strong analytical skills and facility with numbers; advanced Excel and comfort with BI/reporting tools to translate data into insights

Ability to build relationships and function in a highly matrixed, consensus-driven, and academic environment

Excellent stakeholder management skills

Strong analytical skills and data literacy, including the use of metrics, dashboards, and benchmarking to drive performance

Ability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams of legal executives and business partners