Head of Legal Project Management

Due to continued success, our innovative and growing Osborne Clarke Solutions (OCS) team has an exciting opportunity for a Head of LPM to join them. This role will have a primary focus on leveraging AI technologies to enhance client service delivery and operational efficiency across the firm. The role is full time, permanent, usually based out of our Bristol or London offices on a hybrid working arrangement.

The Team

Osborne Clarke's Solutions team plays a crucial role in helping clients explore exactly how they would like legal and related services to be delivered to maximise the value to their businesses. The team is client led, developing new products and services to deliver existing services better, and to deliver entirely new services to meet growing client needs. The team operates out of the UK and Europe, with teams of ex-lawyers, and technologists across locations.

Our Solutions programme has two key goals. First, to make sure we're responding to client demands for greater value, efficiency and certainty from their lawyers, whilst maintaining the highest quality. Secondly, in helping us bring innovative ideas to the delivery of our, or our clients', current and new, services. A significant part of this innovation involves integrating AI technologies throughout our offering.

We want to ensure our lawyers have the best products and resources needed to provide the best possible service to our clients.

As our Head of LPM you will have the opportunity to help shape and lead the LPM function in a forward looking firm, whilst gaining direct exposure to senior leadership, strategic clients and high value matters.

Role Purpose

The Head of LPM will lead the firm’s Legal Project Management offering, driving consistent delivery of legal work that is efficient, predictable, transparent and aligned with client objectives. This role will set the strategy for LPM, build a robust framework to work alongside high‑performing teams, also working closely with clients, partners, matter teams and business services to design and embed best‑practice project management across the firm’s key strategic work types, matters and portfolios.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategy & Leadership

• Co-develop and execute the firm‑wide LPM strategy, aligned with the firm’s overall business and client strategy.
• Act as a trusted advisor to partners and senior leadership on matter planning, pricing, scoping, resource allocation and delivery.
• Champion a culture of disciplined execution, project management, continuous improvement, and client‑centric delivery.

2. Matter & Portfolio Management

• Oversee the application of LPM methodologies across key work types, matters, mandates and client portfolios (e.g. complex transactions, large disputes, multi‑jurisdictional projects, managed legal services).

• Support matter teams to: Define scope, deliverables, pricing, assumptions and success criteria.
• Develop budgets, timelines, budget management, resourcing plans and work breakdown structures.
• Establish governance, communication plans and risk/issue registers.
• Monitor progress, track scope changes, manage risks and issues, and escalate where appropriate.

• Ensure LPM support for strategic clients, panel relationships and key framework agreements. 

• Work closely with partners, Finance and BD to develop commercial and sustainable fee proposals, including AFAs, blended rates, volume‑based arrangements and retainers.
• Implement tools and processes for matter budgeting, fee tracking and margin analysis.
• Provide analysis and insights on matter performance, profitability, service line productivity and efficiency to support better pricing, resourcing and scoping decisions.

4. Process Improvement & Innovation

• Work with others to help map, design and refine legal workflows and processes to reduce waste, improve quality and enhance client experience.
• Identify opportunities for standardisation, automation and use of legal technology (e.g. document automation, AI tools, collaboration platforms, matter management systems). Including to bake-in better project management to the tools used by lawyers in service delivery.
• Work with OCS, Knowledge, S&M and ITS to embed technology and process improvements into day‑to‑day delivery.
• Lead pilots and change initiatives to test and scale new ways of working.

5. Client Engagement & Relationship Management

• Collaborate with partners and BD to position LPM as a differentiator in pitches, RFPs and panel reviews.
• Join client meetings (where appropriate) to explain delivery approach, fee structures and project governance.
• Collect and act on client feedback regarding matter delivery, reporting, communication and value.
• Develop standard client‑facing materials (e.g. project governance packs, reporting templates, dashboards).

6. Governance, Standards & Reporting (working esp with Risk & Compliance, Knowledge and Finance)

• Define and maintain LPM frameworks, methodologies, templates and best‑practice guidance for the firm.
• Ensure LPM practices support risk management, compliance and quality standards.
• Develop and track KPIs for LPM and report regularly to leadership on adoption, performance and impact (e.g. profitability, realisation, client satisfaction, on‑time/on‑budget delivery).
• Promote firm‑wide LPM training for lawyers and business services to build project management capability.

Skills, Experience & Qualifications

• Significant experience in project management, programme management or legal project management within a law firm or partnership environment.
• Strong understanding of legal service delivery, law firm economics and matter profitability drivers.
• Proven track record of leading teams and building a function or capability from inception or early stage.
• Demonstrable experience managing large, complex, multi‑stakeholder projects with responsibility for scope, budget, resources and timelines.
• Advanced project management skills, including planning, risk management, stakeholder engagement, reporting and change management.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work credibly with partners, senior stakeholders and clients.
• Strong analytical skills; confident using data and metrics to inform decisions and demonstrate value.
• Professional project management qualification (e.g. PRINCE2, PMP, MSP, Agile, APM) or equivalent experience.
• Experience of workflow, process improvement and innovation technologies

Competencies & Behaviours

• Client‑centric mindset – focused on delivering value, transparency and predictability to clients.
• Commercial acumen – understands profitability, pricing, leverage and the financial dynamics of law firms / professional services.
• Change leadership – able to drive behavioural change, manage resistance and embed new ways of working.
• Collaboration – works effectively across practice groups, offices and other operational functions.
• Pragmatic and solution‑oriented – able to balance best practice with what is realistic and proportionate for each matter.
• Continuous improvement mindset – always seeking ways to enhance efficiency, quality and client satisfaction.
• Resilience – comfortable working in a fast‑paced, partnership environment with competing priorities.

We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits. We value the health and wellbeing of our people and our wide range of initiatives and benefits support this.

Our recruitment process

Please note that although we include closing dates for our roles as a guide, we review and progress applications on a rolling basis. At Osborne Clarke we do not make any recruitment decisions using automated decision-making.

We are committed to providing an environment where you can perform to the best of your abilities at every stage of your recruitment experience and beyond. If you require any adjustments to be made during the application stage, interview process, or when working with us, please let us know in confidence.