Head of Practice Systems

Linklaters

Linklaters is a global law firm, providing legal services in 20 countries and through 30 offices.

Linklaters is a people business. Being best in class in the eyes of our clients means that our people must be exceptional.

We look not only for brilliant minds, but for people who will thrive in our environment: people who love working collaboratively and demonstrate the innovative, efficient, agile, entrepreneurial, and responsible mind-set we aim to bring to every interaction.

Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere.

We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.

Your Role

Oversees all products within the Practice Systems product stream, aligning Product Leads and Owners around a global strategy to enhance client delivery efficiency. Collaborates with practices, Business teams, and external suppliers to develop, deliver, and drive adoption of legal technology solutions that align with the Firm's Technology Strategy and roadmap. 

• Provides strategic accountability for the evolution of all tools and services within the Practice Systems product stream. Ensuring alignment with the Technology and Data strategy and Firm Wide Strategy, collaborating with other Tech & Data 'Heads Of' roles and the Chief Technology & Data Officer to input into the function strategy.  
• Collaborates extensively with fee earners and partners understand their requirements and deliver technical solutions to enable execution of legal processes, including managing documents from open to close, tracking matter completion, and surfacing third party knowledge.  
• Maintains overall responsibility for the service quality and reliability of Practice Systems products. Drives the development, deployment, and evolution of all tools within the Practice Systems product stream (Contract Express, iManage, Litera) and in four key areas: Document Lifecycle, Matter Management, Matter Management, Knowledge & Information, and Document Management. 
• Collaborates with Product Owners, Service Owners, Architects, and Business Analysts to monitor product performance and drive technical development. Acts as escalation point for key decisions on Practice Systems product development, including prioritisation of demand, involving the business where appropriate.  
• Manages external suppliers for technology and resources, ensuring delivery and alignment with the Firm's strategy. Collaborates with Procurement to select the best technology and service providers.  
• Develops talent strategies for the Practice Systems sub-function, ensures alignment with broader goals, and promotes diversity and inclusion within the Product stream. This includes providing guidance to the Product Owners and supporting roles within the stream.  
• Responsible for, creates, manages and develops the Practice Systems budget, with a view to constant service and service optimisation, inputting into Tech & data portfolio teams where appropriate.     
• Fosters continual improvement within Practice Systems, leveraging user insights, data, and trends to refine products, enhance service quality, and address changing legal business requirements. 
• Acts as a champion for adoption of Practice Systems tools and services, evangelising their value, providing guidance for stakeholders, and driving user engagement across the firm to achieve strategic alignment and maximise benefits. 

About You

• Significant experience overseeing the development, deployment, and evolution of enterprise-level technology solutions within a professional services or legal environment, ideally with a focus on systems that support legal processes. 
• Proven success in leading cross-functional teams to deliver user-centric products that address dependencies and support collaboration between internal stakeholders and external suppliers. 
• Deep understanding of legal technology trends and best practices, with the ability to align products and strategies closely with a firm-wide Technology Strategy and roadmap. 
• Demonstrated expertise in managing product streams or portfolios across the areas of Document Lifecycle, Matter Management, Knowledge & Information, and Document Management. 
• Strong track record of driving continuous improvement and innovation in systems and processes to meet evolving business and legal requirements. 
• Skilled at monitoring and ensuring the technical performance, service quality, and reliability of business-critical applications. 
• Experience working closely with Service Owners, Architects, and Business Analysts to resolve issues and deliver high-performing, reliable products. 
• Ability to develop and implement talent strategies that attract, develop, and retain diverse talent, fostering a culture of inclusion and high performance. 
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to influence and align product owners and business leaders around a shared strategic vision. 
• Analytical thinker with a practical approach to problem-solving, leveraging data and feedback to drive decision-making and enhance client delivery efficiency. 

Our Benefits

This role is based at the Linklaters London office with a hybrid working model available.

Joining Team Linklaters will see you qualify for a range of benefits designed to reward the vital contribution you'll be making to our success. These include:

Health & Wellbeing:

• Private Medical Insurance
• Free in-house fitness centre and subsidised health club memberships
• Free onsite GP service and periodic health assessments 

Finance:

• Pension and flexible savings options
• Income protection and life assurance
• Mortgage advice and will-writing services

Family & Lifestyle:

• Electric car and cycle to work schemes
• Emergency family care
• Additional holiday/birthday leave
• Maternity/paternity/shared parental leave
• Travel insurance and season ticket loan
• Option to join sports and social clubs, as well as our employee networks groups (such as our Gender Equality Network, With Pride, or Social Mobility Networks)

Technical Skills

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