Director of Legal Operations

Job Description:

About the Team:

The Legal department has deep expertise in all core practice areas relevant to a global media and information company, including labor and employment, commercial agreements across all our businesses, privacy, intellectual property, M&A, litigation, corporate governance, compliance, media law and a variety of other specialties. The team is also responsible for the company’s compliance program, including screening for compliance with international sanctions, enforcement of company policies—such as the Dow Jones Code of Conduct—and bolstering internal systems and controls.

You Will

- Build a Legal Operations Function: Serve as the first head of Legal Operations at Dow Jones. You will establish the function and develop a clear multi-year strategy. This role, which will have one direct report to start, will report to the General Counsel of Dow Jones, and will join the Legal leadership team.
- Strategic Planning & Execution: Assist in various key projects across the department. You will track department goals, manage the legal roadmap, and help ensure we are hitting our milestones.
- Financial Management: Assist with the legal budget. This includes outside counsel spend management, accruals, and finding "value-based" fee arrangements to replace the billable hour where possible.
- Technology & Data: Serve as the manager and visionary for our tech stack (CLMs, e-Billing, IP Management, AI integration, and agentic tools). You don’t just use the tools; you optimize them to drive global legal team transformation and provide data-driven insights to the executive team. To start, AI integration and AI-powered solutions (evaluating current tools and scoping the need for next-generation agentic solutions) alongside process improvement will be a key focus and strategic priority.
- Global Operational Scaling & Change Management: Partner closely with a globally distributed legal team across multiple international regions to harmonize processes and drive adoption of new technologies.
- Vendor Management: Oversee our relationships with law firms and ALSPs (Alternative Legal Service Providers). You’ll run RFPs when needed and hold our partners accountable.
- Project Management: Assist with various projects throughout the department. Whether it's implementing a new privacy compliance workflow, streamlining the workflow on contracts, or helping to coordinate legal resources on large projects, you provide the structure that frees up time across the department.
- Knowledge Management: Help the Legal team build and maintain our internal core contract templates, playbooks, and training materials that empower the wider company to move faster.
- M&A/Integration: Work closely with the M&A team on possible M&A opportunities and any resulting integration efforts.

Who You Are

- The Architect: You see a messy process and instinctively want to build a workflow for it.
- The Translator: You can speak Legal (risk mitigation/precedent) and Business (ROI/efficiency) fluently.
- The Diplomat: You can deftly handle an inflated bill just as effectively as you can pitch a new software spend to the CFO.

You Have:

- Experience: Minimum of 12 years of operations experience, and at least 5 years specifically within a Legal Operations function required. We are looking for someone who has worked in operations in a global legal department. Experience building a Legal Operations function from inception is strongly preferred.
- Education: A Law Degree (JD), MBA, or commensurate experience is valuable, but not required . We value operational excellence, project management experience, and other experiences that assist in navigating a growing, international business.
- Tech Savvy: Deep experience with Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) software, AI-powered legal solutions, agentic tools, and Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platforms, with a proven track record of leveraging technology for global legal team transformation, is a plus.
- Industry Knowledge: Experience in the Media/Entertainment or Tech sectors is a plus.

DESIRED TRAITS:

- Collaborative and innovative.
- Creative self-starter who takes initiative.
- Keen sense of how to make appropriate trade-offs between risk and business needs.
- Big-picture, strategic decision maker with an ability to analyze and explain complex concepts with speed and resolution.
- Superior work ethic and dedication to ethics and professional responsibility.
- High level of initiative and self-motivation, with an ability to work in a collaborative and congenial team environment.

Our Benefits

- Comprehensive Healthcare Plans
- Paid Time Off
- Retirement Plans
- Comprehensive Insurance Plans
- Lifestyle Programs & Wellness Resources
- Education Benefits
- Family Care Benefits & Caregiving Support
- Commuter Transit Program
- Subscription Discounts
- Employee Referral Program
- Financial Health Programs
- Cybersecurity Protection

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. EEO/Disabled/Vets

Reasonable Accommodation

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application and/or interview process. If you need assistance or accommodation in completing your application or participating in an interview due to a disability, email us at [email protected]. Please put "Reasonable Accommodation" in the subject line and provide a brief description of the type of assistance you need. This inbox will not be monitored for application status updates.

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Business Area:

Dow Jones - Legal

Job Category:

Legal, Compliance & Audit

Union Status:

Non-Union role
Base Pay Range: $180,000 - $220,000

We’re committed to offering competitive and flexible compensation to attract top talent. This pay range reflects our good faith estimate for the role and may vary based on a candidate’s experience, skills, location, and other relevant factors.

For bonus-eligible roles, targets are determined based on multiple considerations, including market benchmarks and individual contributions.

For benefits-eligible roles, we offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package covering health, retirement, wellbeing, and more, along with optional benefits to meet the diverse needs of our employees.