Sr. Manager, Legal Transactions

Join Goodwin’s Global Operations Team, and make a real impact on a global scale. At Goodwin, we work with some of the world’s most successful and innovative investors, entrepreneurs and disruptors in the life sciences, private equity, real estate, technology and financial industries, and where they converge. As part of the Global Operations Team – all business professionals at the firm – you’ll collaborate with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and experiences, fostering an environment where cross-functional learning, networking, and collaboration are at the core of what we do.
Here, we’re not just supporting a law firm; we’re partnering with attorneys and clients to deliver cutting-edge solutions in high-stakes litigation and dispute resolution, world-class regulatory compliance and advisory services, and complex transactions. Our commitment to integrity, ingenuity, agility, and ambition drives us, and we’re proud to have been recognised as the “Best Business Team” by The American Lawyer.
This is your opportunity to grow professionally in a dynamic, global environment, surrounded by forward-thinking peers.

We are seeking a strategic and hands-on Sr. Manager, Legal Transactions to identify, streamline, and manage key transactional workflows within our legal services. This individual will work alongside our attorneys to pinpoint areas in recurring legal tasks that can be standardized, streamlined, and delegated to a team of Legal Transaction professionals, ensuring the highest quality and consistency in our deliverables. By focusing on workflow optimization, this role will empower our attorneys to concentrate on high-value, complex matters while reducing overall costs and enhancing operational efficiency. The Sr. Manager will be responsible for development of training, playbooks, and standard operating procedures to perform the work, proving the value of the role, and may eventually help build out a team that they will supervise. This role will play a pivotal part in transforming our approach to routine legal work, supporting cost-effective, high-quality, and scalable legal services.

What You Will Do:

The Sr. Manager will work independently with deal teams and cross-functional operations teams across offices, initially taking on a hands-on role to execute the work, demonstrate its value, and refine processes before potentially expanding the function into a managed team. Responsibilities include:

• Process Identification & Workflow Development: Analyze transactional legal matters and deal workflows to identify aspects that can be standardized and handled by a trained non-attorney team. Collaborate closely with the deal partner while personally handling these workflows to validate and refine the approach.

• Standardization & Quality Control: Develop, document, and implement best practices, procedures, and templates to ensure consistent quality. Apply these practices directly to deliver work.

• Collaboration Across Innovation and Client Value Teams: Partner closely with the Knowledge & Innovation and Client Value teams and Partner KM Committees to align on strategic right sourcing initiatives. Use insights from initial hands-on work to develop a streamlined legal service delivery model that maximizes quality, speed, and client value.

• Team Building & Training: After proving the model, assist in hiring, training, and managing a team of non-attorneys to carry out these tasks. Establish clear guidelines, training modules, and competency frameworks.

• Performance & Quality Management: Monitor performance metrics to ensure the team’s work meets or exceeds quality standards. Continuously refine processes based on feedback, results, and emerging best practices.

• Collaboration with Legal Team: Work closely with attorneys to understand legal nuances in workflow tasks and maintain effective oversight and feedback mechanisms. Begin by providing direct support to build trust and align on expectations.

• Cost & Efficiency Optimization: Personally drive the impact on lowering costs, improving response times, and delivering high-quality legal service. Demonstrate the value of this approach through hands-on contributions before scaling the team.

Who You Are:

• Bachelor’s degree required.

• ​Advanced degree preferred.

• At least 8 years of experience in legal operations, transactional law, or a related field, including hands-on involvement in managing or standardizing workflows.

• Familiarity with corporate legal work, deal processes, or legal project management.

• Proven ability to analyze, optimize, and implement scalable processes in legal or transactional contexts.

• Experience developing and documenting SOPs, playbooks, and workflows.

• Possesses extensive experience in team building and management, encompassing hiring, training, and performance oversight, with a proven track record of leading impactful initiatives.

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including legal, knowledge management, client value, and talent.

• Experience in setting performance metrics, tracking team workflows, and adapting processes based on data and feedback.

• Understanding of transactional legal work, with expertise in delegating and managing complex legal tasks.

• Skilled in project management methods and tools. PMP or Lean Six Sigma certification is a plus.

• Ability to identify workflow improvement opportunities and implement strategic plans to address them.

• Effective interpersonal and communication skills, enabling effective collaboration with attorneys and stakeholders across all organizational levels.

• Knowledge of legal tech, contract management systems, and AI tools to boost efficiency and effectiveness.

• Expertise in leading and managing change, standardizing, and implementing new processes within teams and organizations.

• Proficient in standard MSOffice Suite and demonstrate ability to learn and adopt new technologies 

• Travel to other Goodwin offices and key events is required.

• #LI- MS1

  #LI- Hybrid

Benefits and More

At Goodwin, you will discover your next career opportunity with a rewarding compensation package and comprehensive benefits, including:

• Flexible work arrangements and hybrid work schedule

• Health, dental, and vision insurance

• Life and disability insurance

• Retirement & Savings Plan

• Emergency back-up child and adult care

• Paid vacation, sick time off, and holidays

• Professional development and career advancement opportunities

• Employee recognition and reward programs

• Employee wellness and assistance programs

• Employee discounts and perks

​Consistent with the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance an arrest and conviction record will not automatically disqualify a qualified applicant from consideration.

Consistent with the SF Fair Chance Ordinance, an arrest and conviction record will not automatically disqualify a qualified applicant from consideration.

Goodwin Procter LLP is an equal opportunity employer. This means that Goodwin Procter LLP considers applicants for employment, and makes employment decisions without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or other legally protected status.

Please note: Various agencies of the United States government require employers to collect information on applicants and employees. The National Association of Law Placement (NALP) and certain clients request us to keep track of certain aggregate information regarding lawyers. EEO information requested on this application is for purposes of compliance with these recordkeeping and reporting requirements and to determine recruiting and employment patterns. Submission of this information is voluntary and refusal to provide it will not subject you to any adverse treatment.

This position is eligible for overtime: No

Target Salary Range: Boston $155,000 - $200,000| Los Angeles $155,000 - $200,000 | New York $160,000 - $210,000 | Philadelphia $155,000 - $200,000 | San Francisco $175,000 - $225,000 | Santa Monica $155,000 - $200,000 | Silicon Valley $175,000 - $225,000 | Washington Dc $155,000 - $200,000