Legal Business Senior Program Manager

Overview

Are you interested in helping us maximize the value of our legal service provider relationships by designing, implementing, and overseeing legal service provider programs and offerings?

That’s the mission of the Legal Business & Strategy team in Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs Department (CELA), and we have an immediate opening for a Legal Business Senior Program Manager.

Our team administers a number of programs related to CELA’s procurement of legal services, including our Strategic Partner Program (preferred outside counsel panel), Law Firm Diversity Program, and annual rate negotiations.

We also support CELA in legal competitive bidding processes, such as legal RFPs and reverse auctions, structuring and negotiating alternative fee arrangements, auditing legal service provider compliance, and reporting on legal service provider performance.

CELA procures legal services from hundreds of providers around the world, and you can help us maximize the value of those services while managing our costs.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and we’re dedicated to this mission across every aspect of our company.

Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. Join us and help shape the future of the world.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications :

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Operations, Finance or related field AND 6+ years’ work experience in legal operations for a corporate in-house legal departmentOR equivalent experience.
• Experience developing, implementing, and enhancing programs, processes, and workflows.
• Experience in O365 applications, including, but not limited to Word, Excel, Teams, SharePoint, OneNote, Planner / Project, and Dynamics CRM.

Preferred Qualifications :

• Experience designing and building PowerBI (or similar reporting analytics technology) dashboards for reporting and analysis.
• Experience with pricing for legal services (hourly and non-hourly models) and aptitude for financial and data analysis.
• Experience negotiating and drafting statements of work, fee arrangements, and RFPs for legal services.
• Experience leading the implementation of third-party technology platforms and managing associated change.
• Experience with competitive bidding platforms for law departments (e.g., PERSUIT).

Business Program Management IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $112,200 - $194,800 per year.

There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $142,200 - $213,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here :

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until May 31, 2024.

Responsibilities

• Lead a portfolio of projects including the project plans, timelines, milestones, financial management, performance metrics, and / or resource needs for our programs, communicate program status and risk to relevant stakeholders and hold them accountable for following the established schedule, risk mitigation plans, and processes, and establish objectives and success criteria for each project in an inclusive, collaborative manner with all stakeholders.
• Advise practice group leaders on legal service provider strategies such as panel optimization and use of alternative legal service providers, assist attorneys and practice group business managers in structuring fee arrangements and, if needed, negotiate and draft statements of work and fee agreements, and continually evaluate CELA’s use of legal service providers to identify trends and opportunities to increase value and reduce costs.
• Monitor legal industry and legal operations field for trends, best practices, and new developments that could lead to improvements to our existing programs or new programs.
• Conduct business reviews with legal service providers with whom CELA does significant business, advise providers on Microsoft policies, and negotiate and draft agreements and statements of work with providers to achieve CELA’s goals.
• Advise practice groups on the use of competitive bidding processes such as RFPs and reverse auctions to ensure CELA obtains maximum value for the price it pays, assist attorneys in properly scoping and documenting work for use in those processes, and orchestrate competitive bids as needed.
• Oversee our annual rate negotiation program, handle escalations from our rates team, and negotiate rates and rate agreements with our law firm partners
• Define and track program success criteria and performance metrics, continually evaluate our metrics and reporting strategy and develop new insights to help us improve the performance of Microsoft, CELA, and our team, and work with other members of our operations and IT teams on reports for the broader department.
• Use Microsoft Power Platform low-code / no-code tools to enhance our programs and processes.

Work with multiple stakeholders on the implementation of new technology platforms (Microsoft and third-party), design and implement associated change management plans, and evangelize our programs and platforms to gain buy-in.

Embody our and

Benefits / perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

Industry leading healthcareEducational resourcesDiscounts on products and servicesSavings and investmentsMaternity and paternity leaveGenerous time awayGiving programsOpportunities to network and connect