Legal Operations Resource Manager

As part of DLA Piper’s continued evolution of its resource management framework, we are seeking an experienced Resource Manager to act as the dedicated point of contact for our Real Estate and IPT practice groups.

In this role, you will oversee day‑to‑day resourcing activity and play a central part in delivering a seamless operational resourcing service. You will work closely with partners, lawyers, and wider business teams to ensure work is allocated appropriately, balancing capability, capacity, career development, and commercial priorities. The role is integral to ensuring that the right people are working on the right matters at the right time.

While your primary focus will be on embedding robust business‑as‑usual resourcing processes within the practice groups, you will also contribute to the ongoing development of a cohesive, firm‑wide resource management approach. As the function continues to grow and mature, you will have strong opportunities to further develop your skills, take on broader responsibilities, and help shape the future direction of resource management within the firm.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Be accountable for the successful delivery of resourcing requests in a timely and efficient manner.
• Monitor current and anticipated activity levels, capacity and matter staffing; and help smooth utilisation levels where required.
• Work with lawyers to help ensure work is aligned to individual associate development needs and interests where possible.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders within the practice group, at all levels including Partners and Business Services leads, acting as a trusted advisor.
• Manage resourcing data, generate insights and assist with resourcing decisions.
• Provide forecast and actual utilisation and availability reports and other management information, as required.
• Oversee analysis of business forecasting e.g., chargeable hours, utilisation, and proactively drive resourcing decisions.
• Understand and maintain knowledge of individual skills, development needs, experiences and personal / professional aspirations and apply this knowledge in resourcing decisions.
• Support the ongoing development of the resourcing framework and implementation of the concept across the firm as part of the overall Resourcing strategy.
• Collaborate with other areas of the business and promote Service Delivery offerings, such as Legal Delivery Centre.
• Proactively seek opportunities to further promote and enhance the resourcing framework.
• Contribute to conversations surrounding innovations to the framework including new solutions being discussed with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Input into the strategic development of resource management firmwide, meeting RM specific KPIs.

About you

• Strong experience of dealing with resource allocation, ideally within a professional services environment.
• Able to handle multiple priorities, working to sometimes conflicting timescales in a fast-paced and challenging environment.
• Take a proactive approach to improving the RM function and independently drive forward new, innovative initiatives.
• Ability to respond to change and bring others along the change journey.
• Able to build trust and rapport to develop effective relationships.
• Able to learn the language of the business and apply this to resourcing conversations.
• Resilient and pragmatic with strong commercial acumen.
• Experience of working with financial systems.
• Ability to influence and promote change in line with strategy.
• Ability to commercially articulate the impact of resource management.

About DLA Piper

We’re a global law firm helping our clients achieve their goals wherever they do business. Our pursuit of innovation has transformed our delivery of legal services. With offices in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, we deliver exceptional outcomes on cross-border projects, critical transactions and high-stakes disputes.

Agile Working

We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.