About Kirkland & Ellis
At Kirkland & Ellis, we are united in our ambition and drive to move forward. We share core values that help us achieve excellence: collaboration, talent empowerment, service, inclusion, respect and gratitude. Our people are our greatest asset, and we invest in the brightest talent and encourage a diversity of perspectives and strengths to create dynamic teams that operate at the pinnacle of their field. Our talented professionals show up every day knowing they will engage in meaningful work, continuous learning and professional development.
As one of the world's leading law firms, we serve a broad range of clients with market-leading practices in private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions; investment fund formation and alternative asset management; restructurings; high-stakes commercial and intellectual property litigation; and government, regulatory and internal investigations. We handle the most complicated and sophisticated legal matters because we don't just meet industry standards, we create them. We bring innovation and entrepreneurialism to every engagement and, as a result, have long-standing client relationships with leading global corporations and financial sponsors. With 6,500 employees (including more than 3,500 lawyers) operating from 21 offices across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, we are one of the largest law firms in the world and a top financial performer.
Essential Job Functions
The Product Owner Sr I (Practice Applications) will serve as a critical link between the firm's practice groups, attorneys, and IT teams, driving the creation of custom technology solutions tailored to meet the specific needs of our legal teams. This role will work closely with, and report to the Associate Director of Knowledge Management Product, attorney Partners, including mid - senior level management, general business users, and legal staff to elicit, document and translate specifications on applications for the department, Firm and the Firm's clients. This individual will translate the specifications into functional and technical requirements, utilizing the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and Agile methodologies, working between Product engineering, M365 team, Data Team and Business Intelligence team. This position will allow a person to further hone and maintain technology skills operating first and foremost as a business/practice IT driver in the Practice Apps space. This role will work with other legal product owners to leverage synergies and expand the impact of the team across the firm. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of attorney workflows, strong legal technology experience, be highly technical, and possess the ability to navigate evolving processes and diverse IT teams to deliver impactful, client-centric projects.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Effective at working with multiple clients on multiple projects simultaneously while providing "white glove" customer service.
- Flexible yet structured enough to effectively adjust as needed when/as business requirements and/or priorities change.
- Works closely with Practice Applications leadership, project sponsors, stakeholders, BAs, PMs and SMEs (subject matter experts) to identify business needs and processes through creation of use cases and wireframes, as warranted. Documenting workflows and business process current and future. Always working to understand, simplify and improve the user experience in meeting business objectives in all endeavors.
- Gathering requirements, confirming and getting sign off on requirements, managing BA(s) to enter the requirements (user stories) into VSTS, Service/Change Management Application when applicable. Managing relationship with QA team for creating and executing test scripts, evaluate test results and identify and tracks issues using Firm-approved tools, while working with respective team(s) to escalate for resolution. Working and coordinating with the business owners to ensure the UAT environment meets expectations.
- Adheres to Firm IT Product life cycle and associated artifacts to help ensure that project efforts are focused on the proper solution and level of functionality.
- Escalates issues to management as necessary when client expectations and functionality do not match and cannot be reconciled without additional time or cost or resources.
- May apply project management methodology on small/mid-sized efforts independent of an assigned PM.
- Document medium to large scale projects, including use cases, user stories, business and functional requirements, current and future state processes and workflow diagrams.
- Solicits input from internal and external sources, including the ability to investigate and utilize best practices from previous experience and sound judgement.
- Highly organized with structured use of systems and data. Individual should be able to maintain and easily access supporting notes and content to help ensure the right things are done at the right time in the right way.
- Has a "whatever it takes" approach to support the goals of the team, and practices of the Firm and is a team player.
- Understands multiple projects in order to integrate them into business solutions.
- Ability to interpret data trends, patterns, and outliers to guide the design of effective reports.
Qualifications & Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology or a related field.
- 7+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Business Analyst, or similar role within legal technology.
- Proven ability to work directly with attorneys and legal professionals, with a deep understanding of law firm operations.
- Highly technical with experience in guiding IT teams, managing complex technology projects, and navigating evolving processes.
- Strong relationship management skills, with the ability to influence and drive multiple IT teams toward common goals.
- Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to clearly articulate technical requirements to non-technical stakeholders.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
- This job currently operates remotely. A high-speed internet connection is required to connect to our systems. At an undetermined point in the future, we may once again be required to work in a professional office environment.
How to Apply
Thank you for your interest in Kirkland & Ellis LLP. To complete an application and submit your resume, please click "Apply Now."
Compensation:
The base salary range below represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. This range may differ based on your experience and skill set, geographic location, and cost of living considerations. At Kirkland & Ellis, we consider compensation more than just a base salary. We also offer an exceptional range of flexible benefits, personal support and tailored learning and development opportunities all designed to help you realize your full potential both in life and at work.
- New York City - $145,000 -$175,000
- Washington D.C. - $145,000 -$170,000
- Bay Area: $145,000 -$185,000
- Los Angeles: $145,000 -$170,000
Equal Employment Opportunity
All employment decisions, including the recruiting, hiring, placement, training availability, promotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination of employment (if necessary) are made without regard to the employee's race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
The Firm will consider employment for qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records and criminal histories consistent with local laws.
Closing Statement
The www.kirkland.com job postings and recruiting mailbox are for candidates only. If you are a recruiter, search firm or employment agency, and do not have a signed contract with Kirkland & Ellis LLP ("K&E") and have not been asked specifically to submit candidates, you will not be compensated in any way for your referral of a candidate even if K&E hires the candidate. Direct contact with K&E employees in an attempt to present candidates is inappropriate and will be a factor in determining any future professional relationship with the Firm.
