Innovation Consultant (Hybrid / Permanent)

Key Responsibilities

• Taking accountability for the delivery of assigned projects and workstreams, working autonomously within the priorities, success measures and governance set by the Head of Innovation & AI and Innovation Managers.
• Working closely with our lawyers and Innovation Lawyers to develop a deep understanding of legal work and existing processes, in order to identify and assess opportunities to apply AI, legal technology, automation and process redesign, with a strong emphasis on process optimisation and change management.
• Leading delivery activity across the AI and legal technology product lifecycle for assigned products, including horizon scanning, vendor engagement, running proofs of concept and pilots, implementation, adoption and optimisation.
• Delivering assigned elements of the AI Enablement pillar, including driving the adoption and effective use of Legora, Microsoft Copilot and AI agents through practical use cases, training and ongoing support.
• Planning, managing and executing projects and workstreams, including scoping, planning, risk and issue management, and managing delivery and expenditure within an approved budget.
• Documenting requirements and developing the analysis, ROI and recommendation that underpin business cases, supporting the Innovation Manager or Head of Innovation & AI in securing investment approval.
• Recommending options and contributing evidence to lifecycle decisions, including pilot go / no-go, scaling, optimisation and retirement of tools.
• Becoming an SME for key products and solutions, leading on integration, configuration and further customisation to ensure successful rollout.
• Leading the introduction and embedding of new legal technologies and AI tools, including delivering training, presentations and demonstrations to our lawyers.
• Championing and promoting the use of our existing legal tech and AI solutions, proactively identifying opportunities to use technology to solve problems and encouraging innovative uses across the firm.
• Monitoring and reporting on the adoption, usage and benefits of the tools and workstreams you lead, feeding into wider benefits tracking and recommending improvements.
• Leading day-to-day engagement with lawyers, business services teams and vendors, and influencing senior stakeholders to secure support and progress for your work.
• Liaising with IT, Information Security, Risk & Compliance and data owners to ensure that all solutions are introduced and used in accordance with firm policies, regulatory requirements and professional obligations.
• Providing task leadership, technical guidance and quality review to Innovation Analysts working on your projects and workstreams and sharing knowledge across the team.
• Preparing and delivering defined demonstrations and briefings for clients and contributing to pitches and tenders where the firm’s AI, innovation or legal technology capability forms part of the proposition.
• Providing insight on legal market, AI and technology trends, and investigating potential new solutions to ensure we better address the challenges faced by lawyers.
• Championing and fostering a culture of responsible innovation, excellence and continuous improvement within the Innovation & AI team and the firm more broadly.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Bachelor’s degree or higher required (preferred in Management Information Systems, Computer Science, Business Administration, Commerce or Law.
• 5 years’ applicable experience is essential; experience of leading projects or workstreams with a high degree of autonomy is an advantage.
• Project management and project delivery experience is essential, ideally in a large consulting organisation, law firm or financial services company. A strong understanding of formal project management methodologies is important.
• Experience in leading business application deployments into a business organisation, including business analysis, business requirements gathering, process design, change management and training, is essential.
• Experience in driving process review and process re-engineering projects to deliver process efficiency is essential.
• Experience in screening the technology landscape to quickly identify appropriate solutions to a particular problem is essential.
• An understanding of how Generative AI works, and experience in applying Generative AI tools (e.g. Microsoft Copilot) to achieve useful outcomes in a business context, is essential.
• Certifications in Project Management (e.g. PRINCE2, PMP), Process Re-engineering (e.g. Lean Six Sigma), agile delivery methods (e.g. Certified Scrum Master) or Change Management methodologies are an advantage.
• Experience in configuring and testing process workflows in cloud-based productivity tools (e.g. SharePoint, HighQ, MS Power Platform) is an advantage.
• Strong working knowledge of MS Office (including Project, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Visio) is essential.
• Familiarity with the challenges affecting law firms and the changing legal services market is desirable but not essential.
• Familiarity with how legal work is delivered is desirable but not essential.
• Familiarity with the legal tech landscape is desirable but not essential.
• Team player with a track record of working in a highly collaborative environment with a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Ability to establish credibility with a diverse group of demanding senior stakeholders.
• Innate curiosity and willingness to learn about the legal business and technology environment, with a strong interest in AI and its practical application.
• Ability to distinguish genuine value from hype and to translate AI and technology developments into practical, well-governed solutions.
• Self-starter with a willingness to be hands-on, demonstrate attention to detail and take ownership of individual and team work, able to operate with a high degree of autonomy.
• Strong interpersonal, influencing and negotiation skills, often needing to influence to get things done rather than direct.
• Good judgement and risk awareness, balancing innovation with information security, data governance and professional obligations.