Project Manager, OD Labs

Ogletree Deakins is hiring a Project Manager for OD Labs to deliver technology initiatives, including custom software development, platform deployments, AI adoption, and workflow design. The role manages project scope, schedules, budgets, risks, and vendor relationships while aligning practice groups, firm leadership, and vendors throughout delivery.

Responsibilities:

• Manage end-to-end delivery of OD Labs initiatives, including custom development, vendor platform deployments, AI adoption, and firm-wide rollouts, from initiation through active use
• Manage initiatives through the OD Labs delivery model of prototype, pilot, production, enhancements, and operational handoff, validating each phase before scaling, with a focus on the minimum viable product (MVP), the critical path, and no more than two active projects at a time
• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, budgets, and resource plans, coordinate internal and external resources, and track status against scope, schedule, and budget, recommending adjustments as needed
• Plan and lead project team meetings, including setting agendas, coordinating attendees, and following up on action items
• Maintain risk, issue, and dependency logs, and escalate items that may affect schedule, cost, or scope with a recommended resolution
• Manage relationships with outside technology vendors, including forward-deployed engineers, holding them accountable to deliverables, quality standards, and timelines and keeping vendor scope aligned with the current MVP objective
• Support process mapping by capturing current and future-state workflows, facilitating working sessions, and translating practice group needs into actionable requirements, in coordination with Business Analysts
• Prepare and deliver project status updates to multiple levels of firm leadership, including senior leadership, identifying upcoming decisions and their impact
• Plan and support change management and adoption, including rollout planning, training materials and user guides, tracking of adoption metrics and user feedback, and operational handoff
• Identify project stakeholders and communicate project direction and upcoming milestones so that practice groups and team members remain informed
• Maintain the confidentiality of sensitive firm and client information

Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience working inside a law firm in a role connected to the delivery of legal work, such as legal assistant, paralegal, practice group coordinator, legal operations, or recruiting
• 2+ years of experience managing technical projects, such as custom software development, systems rollouts, or technology adoption initiatives
• Experience owning project budgets, tracking project financials, and reporting status to stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to identify, track, and escalate risks and dependencies with proposed solutions
• Strong knowledge of project management practices, including scope, schedule, budget, risk, and change management
• Working understanding of how attorneys communicate and set priorities, and how decisions are made within a law firm
• Ability to drive work forward with incomplete requirements and changing priorities
• Ability to build alignment among attorneys, firm leadership, vendors, and technical team members
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present to senior leadership
• Bachelors' Degree
• Experience within or alongside practice groups
• Experience as a legal assistant, paralegal, practice group coordinator, or legal recruiting coordinator, particularly within a Labor & Employment practice, and familiarity with single plaintiff litigation or class action matter structures
• Experience in a legal innovation unit, legal technology function, or practice group technology initiative
• Experience in process mapping and business analysis, including capturing workflows, facilitating working sessions, and translating operational needs into requirements
• Familiarity with tools such as Visio or Lucidchart is helpful
• Experience supporting or managing the adoption of AI platforms or similar emerging technologies in a legal setting