Product Owner

We are Eversheds Sutherland, a global law firm, with more than 5,000 people across over 30 countries. We’re full-service with deep niche and sector experience. Whatever challenge, wherever in the world, we’re equipped and ready to meet it. We live our values, we’re purposeful and purpose-led. So although the world is fast-moving and rapidly changing, we see it as a place where everyone can thrive. We’re ambitious for our clients, our communities – and for you. Whether you’re starting out on your career or well established, whether you’re a lawyer or in business services. If you’re looking for what’s next, we are too.

Role and key responsibilities

The Product Owner acts as a key member of the SES team supporting the delivery of the Platforms strategy across the firm. The Product Owner will use their expertise, knowledge and hands on experience to raise and support awareness and adoption of relevant solutions whilst focussing on delivering an excellent client service.

The Product Owner will take ownership and responsibility for how we drive the adoption and embed our key technology solutions across the firm. This includes but is not limited to our bespoke client portals, instruction and matter management solutions, extranet solutions and document automation solutions. They will be working closely with our Practice Group Legal Technologists to understand business needs, help to define roadmaps and identify new uses to support our Legal Teams. This may also involve working with and managing our Suppliers to help ensure the solutions meet our needs. They will also be involved in helping with awareness campaigns, understanding our current technology usage and how we could improve this, as well as helping to define good processes and governance to improve our centre of excellence across our solutions.

Stakeholder management, at all levels of seniority, and communication will be integral in helping to succeed in this role. You will be expected to engage with various stakeholders such as our Legal Teams, Legal Technologists, BRMs, and Suppliers, to understand how we can make better use of our technology solutions and drive value.

Skills and experience

Primary accountabilities of the Role;

• Reporting to the Solutions Manager the Product Owner will support the delivery of our Platforms strategy in line with the SES firm-wide strategy.
• Leads and supports on projects within the Platforms workstream to both raise the profile of the team’s objectives firm-wide as well as ensuring it becomes embedded in day to day practice in line with the firm-wide strategy.
• Have a specific focus of internally driving the awareness and adoption of legal tech solutions and ensuring that they are embedded in day-to-day practice whilst enhancing the overall offering for existing and new clients. This may involve an operational involvement in pitches to enhance the likelihood of the firm winning future work.
• Manages a high, and sometimes complex, workload day to day with the ability to prioritise work and achieve time sensitive deadlines whilst keeping a focus on the long term wider strategic goals of the team.
• Takes a proactive role in upskilling stakeholders in tech solutions across the practice groups in line with the SES strategy.  To achieve this, the Product Owner will be required to work collaboratively with multiple senior stakeholders within the practice groups and international operations teams.
• Uses analytical skills to report on the team’s tech solutions usage to relevant stakeholders to better understand adoption, gaps as well as barriers to adoption. To achieve this the Product Owner would need to break this down and look at internal awareness of solutions, adoption of solutions and how the solutions are used to influence and support the winning of new business.
• Builds excellent relationships within the practice groups, with international operations teams and with the firm’s clients working collaboratively with them to understand their requirements alongside any challenges in order to deliver a legal technology solution that is fit for purpose.
• Assists with the introduction and embedding of new legal tech solutions to ensure a seamless integration and use for lawyers and fee earners.
• Deploys agile project management methodologies as well as IT best practice to provide an excellent and efficient service to all stakeholders
• Assists with any upgrades, integrations or configurations of existing tech solutions ensuring that all relevant stakeholders are communicated with in advance to minimise disruption and maximise usage.
• Has an expert knowledge of their product suite to help define, design, test and implement new solutions that allow lawyers and fee earners to work more efficiently and to deliver excellent client experiences.
• Works collaboratively with the practice group Partners, IT Business Relationship Managers, Knowledge, Marketing and the wider IT team to drive returns on investments in legal tech supporting overall business and IT objectives factoring in budget, time and resource requirements.
• Collaborates with practice group legal technology teams, legal project managers and the IT team to share best practice, experiences, opportunities and threats as well as to develop solutions that work firm-wide across all practice groups.
• Collaborates with the Risk, Cyber Security, and IT teams to ensure that relevant IT, security and risk policies are adhered to and that any legal technology matters are compliant with quality and procurement policies.
• Acts as a point of escalation for any issues identified that cannot be resolved by the Support Teams and responds to them within a timely fashion, managing communications to those impacted accordingly.
• Acts as a subject matter expert horizon scanning the market for new and innovative tools whilst collaborating with the service design team to ensure that we remain best in class.
• Supports overall firm-wide external communication strategy relating to legal technology

Key Capabilities and Behaviours

Experience of the following:

• HighQ and/or Contract Express knowledge and experience would be beneficial but not mandatory.
• Strong day to day self-management with a focus on service excellence and delivery whilst role modelling exemplary behaviours in line with the firm’s purpose and values.
• Ability to deliver an outstanding client experience with the skill to generate future work through technical excellence and client understanding.
• Has a strong technical ability and proficiency with the ability to translate this in to an understandable manner for a variety of audiences to understand.
• Excellent communication skills in a variety of situations and when dealing with a variety of challenging stakeholders.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to produce engaging, concise and timely management information and data.
• Confident and credible in dealing with internal and external stakeholders with the ability to build lasting and strong relationships.
• Innovative and solution oriented with a positive outlook.
• Pragmatic, robust and resourceful, with the ability to adapt quickly to different situations and personalities.
• A high level of  commercial acumen to ensure a focus on increasing the profitability of legal technology with clients.
• Follows and adheres to compliance with best practice and firmwide policies.
• Has a comprehensive knowledge of the external environment including relevant trends and opportunities which could be fed in to the wider team to for discussion.

What’s in it for you?

At Eversheds Sutherland, we provide benefits focused on looking after you: your development, your performance, your financial future and your health, as well as providing the opportunity to make a contribution to the world.

We’re fair, transparent and equitable

We share in the success of the firm, reward alignment to our values, going above and beyond and your individual performance

We support flexible ways of working through our remote working policy and commitment to flexible, agile and hybrid ways of working

We support your health and performance through our dental, healthcare and wellness support

We support everything you are and all you bring through our powerful commitment to diversity and inclusion

We provide a platform for your career, whatever your ambitions through our structured professional and personal training, mentoring and development programs

We provide experience and opportunity through international and cross-function exposure

We provide an opportunity to give back through our pro bono work and community engagement

We help you plan ahead through retirement planning, insurance and assurance.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Eversheds Sutherland, “Inclusive” is a core business value. We bring together different skillsets, global mindsets and approaches. We foster diversity of thought and the freedom to put ideas into action. We have an inherent respect for the individual. We have a strong belief in collaboration and teamwork. Sharing ideas, asking questions, solving challenges and meeting our clients’ goals: together.

We want all our people to thrive at work and reach their full potential and we work hard to continue to build a diverse and inclusive culture, monitor and report on our progress and impact, and develop our approach. This is reflected in our policies, systems and processes, and in our work with diversity membership organisations.

Many of our people work flexibly in some way and we are open to considering how we can accommodate flexible working arrangements alongside role requirements. If this is important to you, please talk to us about it during the recruitment process.

We want you to perform at your best during our recruitment process. If there is any adjustment or support you need, please contact us so we can discuss how we can best assist you.

For you,

For your success.

And what's next.