Sr. Manager, Head of Strategic Insights - (Hybrid Schedule) - Open to all U.S. Offices

US Job Description

Firm Information

Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers in 30 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses, from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its lawyers provide litigation and other dispute resolution services in multi-jurisdictional and other high-stakes matters; deliver regulatory counsel; and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising, entertainment and media, shipping and transport, energy and natural resources, real estate, manufacturing, technology, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com.

Position Summary

The preferred offices for this position are New York, Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Philadelphia

Reed Smith is seeking a Senior Manager, Head of Strategic Insights to play a critical role in translating complex data analysis into meaningful and actionable insights for our firm's leadership. This role is not about dashboarding – we already have a significant data collection, a broad team of analysts, and plenty of great dashboards. This position will act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, guiding and empowering them to understand, interpret, and act upon key insights from our data collection to enhance firm performance, drive growth, and deliver superior client outcomes. The role is as broad as the range of insights, which include identifying special intelligence across client, financial, pipeline, market, risk, competitive, pricing, talent, and other aspects of tuning a global legal practice.

The role must also bridge between leadership and our Intelligence and AI analysts. To curate the most impactful insights, these technical and data teams must be assembling, growing, enhancing, and correlating our data with these outcomes in mind.

Reporting to the Director of Intelligence, the Senior Manager, Head of Strategic Insights will play a pivotal role in shaping the firm's future by championing a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

Context For Strategic Insights

Reed Smith has committed to an extended program of re-examining how it approaches traditional business operations and the provision of legal services. The firm is creating a common global platform that provides its lawyers and clients with a competitive edge, in terms of intelligence, learning, collaboration, efficiencies, and risk management. The firm has completed an initial foundational phase which included the provision of 22 new or improved business systems, the expansion of the firm’s data framework to over 8 billion elements, and ongoing piloting of key Generative AI systems. The firm invested in a data analytics COE, expanded programs in Client Value and Strategic Resourcing, and recently hired a Director of Applied AI.

But these elements are means to an end. To prepare to evolve the DNA of the firm, the firm created the Innovation Lab in 2022 headed by a PhD Anthropologist, utilizing human centered design and client feedback in creating fresh playbooks. In alignment with senior partners, the firm identified four key practices to serve as long term proofs of concepts for these collective changes as well as fresh considerations of incentives, mentoring, and value. Our objectives aren’t simply to use tech better, but to grow our pipelines, understand and predict our clients’ needs more deeply, be leaders in collaboration despite our global footprint, and optimize our efficiency along the way. As we prove and tune our results through key practices, we will grow to impact more of the firm overall.

Thus, insights from our data have become critical to our work. Our expectations for what our leaders should understand are as broad as the ever-expanding volumes of data available to them. We have to cut through the noise, predict the future, and keep attention on the most important issues.

Team

Reporting to this role is a small although experienced team of business and data insight analysts. This role is a senior member of our Intelligence team, which also currently includes team members focused on CRM administration, data quality, data analysis, and reporting. As beneficial, we also contract skills with particular areas of expertise, notably vendors to develop data science solutions and to implement vendor-created software systems. There are also complementary resources around the firm including our Innovation Lab, Applied AI, Change Leadership, Learning & Development, IT Transformation, and the Innovation and Strategy Committee.

Essential Functions

With Intelligence teams: Gain a thorough understanding of existing analyses across all areas of the firm, including financial, client, talent, and competitive intelligence. Seek to understand what existing analysis should mean to leadership and what stories it does not yet reveal. Ensure the Insights team becomes experts in sources of intelligence, whether structured or unstructured, internal or external, established or emerging, explicit or tacit. Guide the roadmap of data acquisition and data quality work based on the stories that need to be learned and told. Guide the analyst and technical roles on the Intelligence teams on how to tune analysis, perform new investigations, seek patterns, improve depth, identify new sources of data, or otherwise push further into learning from our data assets. Evaluate, challenge, tune, and lead user testing of new areas of analysis and insights to continuously improve depth, usefulness, and uniqueness. Stay informed about emerging trends, best practices, and advancements in data analytics and strategic planning, and recommend innovative approaches to enhance the firm's data capabilities and competitive advantage. With firm leadership: Collaborate closely with firm leadership to identify key business questions and objectives that can be addressed through data analysis and insights. Partner with practice group leaders, department heads, and other stakeholders to assess data needs, define performance metrics, and develop actionable insights tailored to specific business areas. Support the development and implementation of a strategic framework for leveraging data to inform decision-making and drive operational excellence across the firm. Design and deliver presentations and reports that communicate data-driven insights in a clear, concise, and compelling manner to facilitate understanding and decision-making at all levels of the organization. Serve as a subject matter expert on data-related topics, providing training, coaching, and resources to equip leadership with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively leverage data in their roles. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including our Financial Intelligence Unit, IT, and Marketing, to integrate data insights into broader business strategies and initiatives.

Job functions included are not exhaustive and may be supplemented as necessary. Reed Smith reserves the right to revise or modify job functions at any time.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Administration, Management, or a related field.

Experience: Minimum of 10 years of experience in strategic planning, management consulting, or a similar role within the legal industry or professional services sector. Advanced knowledge of large law firm legal services and market competitive forces. Proven track record of translating complex data insights into actionable strategies and initiatives that drive business results.

Skills

Depth in understanding strategies and metrics regarding matter value, legal department operations, and law firm operational financials. Advanced knowledge of large law firm legal services and market competitive forces. Proven track record of translating complex data insights into actionable strategies and initiatives that drive business results. Strong business acumen and understanding of organizational dynamics, with the ability to effectively engage and influence senior leadership. Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to distill and communicate complex concepts and findings to diverse audiences. Strategic mindset, with a focus on innovation, continuous improvement, and driving positive change within the organization. Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities effectively.

Other

Supervisory Responsibilities: Various business and data insight analysts.

Equipment To Be Used: Personal computer and other office equipment such as telephone, calculator, fax, machine, copier, scanner, etc.

Typical Physical Demands: Manual dexterity sufficient to operate standard office equipment.

Typical Mental Demands: Able to work effectively in a fast paced environment. Make judgment decisions and adapt to changing work situations. Grasp and apply new ideas. Communicate with various personalities at all levels.

Working Conditions: You will be required to work in the office at minimum 3 days per week. The details of your weekly schedule will be discussed further with your direct supervisor. Occasionally called upon to work hours in excess of your normal daily schedule.

Reed Smith offers a challenging work environment, business casual dress code and a total compensation package that includes a competitive salary, flexible benefits program, tuition assistance, and generous 401 (k) plan.

Reed Smith is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Reed Smith's success depends heavily on the effective utilization of qualified people, regardless of their race, ancestry, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, disability, veteran's status, or any characteristic protected by law. As a firm, we adhere to and promote equal employment opportunity for all.

Reed Smith provides reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, including in the application and interview process.

Qualified candidates only. No search firms.