Senior Legal Project Manager

Gibson Dunn is a leading global law firm, advising clients on significant transactions and disputes. Our exceptional teams craft and deploy creative legal strategies that are meticulously tailored to every matter, however complex or high-stakes. The firm’s work is distinguished by a unique combination of precision and vision.

Based in New York or Washington, D.C., the Senior Legal Project Manager will be responsible for enhancing our client service delivery, driving operational efficiency, and elevating the firm’s legal project management capabilities. This senior position will take ownership of the firm’s largest and most complex legal matters within a defined portfolio of work, providing strategic guidance to partners and clients, mentoring junior team members, and ensuring that matters are delivered on time, within scope, and in line with client expectations.

This role reports to the Director, Legal Project Management.

Responsibilities include:

• Independently leading a complex portfolio of high-value matters, ensuring alignment across timelines, budgets, resources, and priorities; providing consolidated visibility to firm leadership and driving opportunities to improve performance and profitability.
• Serving as a senior point of contact for key clients on legal matter and portfolio delivery, including providing consolidated updates and strategic insights and advisory recommendations across the portfolio.
• Developing and implementing detailed matter plans, including timelines, milestones, and deliverables, for the firm’s most complex and high-stakes engagements to ensure successful execution.
• Collaborating with and influencing senior internal and external stakeholders, including relationship partners, client legal operations teams, and third-party vendors, to ensure seamless matter progress and effective communication.
• Managing resources across matters within the portfolio, balancing workloads, forecasting demand, and advising partners on optimal staffing to maximize delivery and efficiency.
• Identifying and assessing potential risks and proactively developing mitigation strategies to address matter and portfolio-level risks.
• Tracking, analyzing, and reporting on matter and portfolio-level budgets, including forecasting, trend analysis, profitability assessment, and recommendations to improve financial performance.
• Preparing regular matter and portfolio-level reporting, including dashboards, performance metrics, and executive summaries.
• Leading initiatives to streamline processes, reduce inefficiencies, and implement best practices in matter and portfolio management.
• Working closely with various internal departments such as Finance, Legal Operations, Business Development, Technology, and others to ensure effective coordination and alignment on matter requirements, resources, and objectives.
• Mentoring and coaching Legal Project Managers and Analysts, supporting onboarding and training, and contributing to the continued development of the firm’s LPM methodology, tools, and best practices.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively under pressure in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills with experience managing relationships and expectations with various stakeholders, including the ability to influence senior partners and executive-level client stakeholders.
• Advanced Excel skills with a proven ability to analyze data, create financial models, and produce insightful reports.
• Familiarity with project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall) and tools (e.g., MS Project, Asana) is a plus; PMP or equivalent certification is preferred.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years in matter and/or portfolio management within a law firm, with a proven record of independently managing large, complex matters and portfolios within a defined client or practice group.
• Experience mentoring, coaching, or supervising junior project management professionals and leading initiatives with minimal oversight.

Gibson Dunn will consider for employment qualified Applicants with Criminal Histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of local law.

Compensation & Benefits:

The annual compensation range for this position is $200-230k. The salary offered within this range will depend upon qualifications and other operational considerations.

Benefits offered for this position include health care; retirement benefits; paid days off, including sick time, and vacation time; parental leave; basic life insurance; Flexible Spending Accounts; as well as discretionary, performance-based bonuses.