This is a senior leadership role with a direct opportunity to shape how the firm's practice divisions perform, collaborate and grow. The successful candidate will bring commercial judgement, operational discipline and constructive challenge, helping to translate firm strategy into practical action and improve profitability, efficiency, client service and colleague experience.
The Director of Practice Operations will provide strategic and operational leadership across the firm's three practice divisions, working closely with the CEO, Divisional Heads, Business Managers and business services leaders to improve performance, sharpen commercial focus and ensure divisional plans are translated into measurable outcomes. The role will also require an international outlook, with the ability to support practice operations across different jurisdictions, cultures, time zones and legal systems as the firm continues to develop its international platform.
The role requires more than operational oversight. It calls for external perspective, insight and judgement on how the divisions operate, where investment should be focused and how decision-making can be strengthened across financial performance, resource planning, talent, client delivery and operational effectiveness.
Through leadership of the Business Managers, the Director will create consistency where it adds value, while recognising the different markets, client bases and operational needs of each division.
The team
Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, with direct responsibility for:
- Business Manager – Transactions
- Business Manager – Litigation & Risk
- Business Manager – Real Estate
The role works closely with Divisional Heads of Transactions, Litigation & Risk and Real Estate, the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Practice Group Leaders, Executive Board and Chief of Staff.
Main responsibilities
Strategic Leadership, Performance & Accountability
- Shape the performance framework and operating rhythm for the three divisions, ensuring plans support both firm-wide strategy and divisional priorities.
- Work with Divisional Heads to develop, test and refine strategic plans, bringing commercial insight, constructive challenge and delivery discipline.
- Use performance data, market insight and business judgement to identify risks, opportunities and areas requiring intervention.
- Provide clear reporting to the Executive Team and Board on divisional performance, strategic delivery and matters requiring decision or support.
Financial Performance & Commercial Discipline
- Provide leadership on divisional financial performance, including revenue, profitability, utilisation, leverage, recovery, pricing discipline and cash collection.
- Interpret financial and operational data to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improved performance.
- Support budgeting, forecasting, resource deployment and investment planning, ensuring decisions are evidence-based and commercially grounded.
- Ensure investment decisions, including lateral hires and strategic initiatives, are aligned to growth priorities and expected returns.
Leadership of Business Managers
- Lead, coach and develop the Business Managers so they operate as commercially credible partners to their divisions.
- Create consistent standards for planning, reporting, governance and performance management while allowing for appropriate divisional differences.
- Build capability within the team so they can provide insight, challenge and practical delivery support.
- Encourage collaboration and sharing of best practice between divisions, while holding Business Managers accountable for agreed outcomes.
Talent Strategy, Lateral Hires & Succession Planning
- Support strategic workforce planning across the divisions, ensuring talent decisions reflect growth priorities, client demand and profitability considerations.
- Work with divisional leaders and HR to identify capability gaps, succession risks and opportunities to strengthen leadership pipelines.
- Review business cases for strategic hires, promotions and investment decisions, applying commercial challenge and consistency.
- Track the integration and contribution of key hires, connecting talent planning with divisional strategy, financial performance and operational capacity.
Business Services Integration
- Act as a senior bridge between the divisions and business services functions, ensuring support is aligned to business priorities and delivered effectively.
- Work with Finance, HR, Risk, Technology, Innovation, Marketing and Talent Development to improve coordination, clarity and delivery against divisional needs.
- Identify and resolve cross-functional delivery issues, creating greater consistency where this improves efficiency, decision-making or colleague experience.
International Operations & Collaboration
- Bring experience of managing practice operations within an international platform, recognising the operational, regulatory and cultural nuances that shape delivery across jurisdictions.
- Support effective collaboration across offices and teams operating in different time zones, ensuring communication, decision-making and delivery remain coordinated and efficient.
- Apply judgement to the practical implications of different legal systems, market expectations and local ways of working when shaping operating models, governance and performance frameworks.
- Promote consistent standards where appropriate while respecting local requirements, cultural considerations and jurisdictional differences.
Innovation & Continuous Improvement
- Identify opportunities for innovation, AI adoption, automation and process improvement that improve divisional performance and service delivery.
- Bring an external perspective on operational best practice and assess where new approaches could create value for the firm.
- Sponsor transformation activity that improves profitability, client service, colleague experience or speed of execution.
Skills & Qualifications
Experience Required
- Significant senior leadership experience in practice operations, commercial management, business management, strategy execution or operational leadership within a professional services environment.
- Experience working in a partnership-led business, ideally within legal services or another complex advisory environment, with exposure to operating across an international platform or multiple jurisdictions.
- Able to navigate the operational impact of different jurisdictions, legal systems, cultures and time zones, balancing consistency with appropriate local flexibility.
- Strong understanding of financial performance drivers, including revenue, profitability, utilisation, leverage, recovery, pricing, working capital and cash collection.
- Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders, lead business managers or operational teams, and improve performance across multiple business areas.
- Experience translating strategy into operating plans, governance processes, delivery frameworks and measurable outcomes.
Desirable
- Exposure to strategic workforce planning, lateral hire assessment, transformation, process improvement, innovation or technology-enabled change would be beneficial.
The firm
Shoosmiths is the law firm clients choose for excellent service, incisive thinking and above all for our ability to focus on what matters. From offices across the UK and Brussels, we support some of the world’s most exciting and ambitious businesses; amazing clients making an impact. We empower our people to be their authentic selves and deliver together in supportive teams committed to excellence and innovation. The first top 50 law firm to achieve ‘Platinum Standard’ Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm.
We have an outstanding benefits package to complement our competitive remuneration system. In addition to the competitive salaries, great working environment and high-quality work, we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm through a comprehensive and flexible range of benefits.
To discover more about Reward and benefits at Shoosmiths, please visit our website.
Shoosmiths is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to encourage employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term conditions. The Disability Confident scheme replaced the Two Ticks Positive about Disabled People scheme. We had been accredited as a two tick employer for many years - Disability Confident broadens and develops that original commitment, and demonstrates we have adopted a proactive approach to employing disabled people and developing their abilities.
As part of our accreditation, we commit to interviewing any applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for each vacancy. In some circumstances we may only be able to interview those that best meet the essential criteria due to the volume of applications received.
Further information on the Disability Confident scheme is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign
We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible to and usable by everyone. If you have a disability or long-term condition and would like to receive information in a different way, or need us to make any adjustments, changes or do anything differently during the recruitment process, please get in touch with the Talent Acquisition team on [email protected]. We can consider your needs and requirements, and how we can assist you to apply for our roles. For example we can provide a copy of our application via email so that you can complete it using your own accessibility software.
Our approach to our people is underpinned by our approach to diversity, inclusion and well-being. Our ambition is to build a diverse and ambitious workforce that reflects all backgrounds and talents, and a workplace that is supportive and inclusive, recognises and nurtures talent, and has a strong sense of community between colleagues.
This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.
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