Director of Legal Operations - 4591

Job Title: Director of Legal Operations
Salary: £71,000-£95,000 per annum
Location: Cambridge, Hybrid
Contract: Full time, permanent, 35 hours per week
We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.
We are looking for a Director of Legal Operations, a new and pivotal role within Legal & Business Affairs, entrusted with co-creating and executing the department's strategic vision to serve Cambridge more effectively.
Our enthusiasm for operational excellence helps us continually improve the way we support Cambridge, and you will guide us in achieving this.
We are a large yet close-knit team that supports each other, enjoys solving problems, and loves changing the way our colleagues think about Legal, Business Ethics and Compliance. We are seeking team members who share our passion and our values: collaborative, innovative, empowering and responsible.
Why would you join us?
Our mission is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Which is why every year, we give vital support to millions of people in more than 170 countries around the world. From teachers and learners to researchers and academics, we help to build confidence, unlock potential, and enable success.
The key to our work is our colleagues, whose shared commitment enables us to have an ever-greater impact. We are a united, vibrant, and respectful global community of people, and we ensure that every individual is recognised, listened to, and cared for. And because our impact is amplified when our people are empowered, we give everyone the opportunity to develop in their own way. Whether you want a career that is linear, or want to follow your own path, we'll support you, and help give you the resources and training you will need to be bold and take ownership of what you do.
We are particularly focused on inclusion and improving diversity at all levels in the organisation, including for this role. We know that diversity of thinking, backgrounds and approaches leads to innovation and creates an atmosphere where everyone's contribution is valued.
What can we offer you?
The role is a key part of the senior team in Legal & Business Affairs, and you would get to lead on complex and exciting projects supported by great colleagues. It operates within a dynamic context, both due to the changing nature of our business, particularly the shift from print to digital, and from products to services, and also the international reach of our work as part of a global organisation with offices in over 50 countries.
On top of this, working with Cambridge will also give you stability. We show our care for our people by supporting them to grow not just professionally but also personally. We promote work-life balance through flexible work schedules, hybrid work arrangements, and generous paid leave. In addition, you will be entitled to our health care benefits with coverage for dependents, group life insurance, and robust wellbeing programmes right from the first day of joining us.
We also care about the world around us. We're a founding catalyst member of General Counsel Sustainability Forum, and a member of LawWorks (a UK charity working to connect volunteer lawyers with people in need of legal advice, who are not eligible for legal funding), as well as supporting social mobility initiatives promoting wider access to our professions. We have our own Wellbeing and Green groups within the department and are key contributors to the organisation's sustainability strategy.
What will you do in this role?
In this role, you will report to the General Counsel, and be responsible for the implementation of Legal & Business Affairs' strategic plans. You will work with the team and colleagues across the organisation to align priorities and build seamless interaction between us and other business teams to support growth, and deliver innovation, excellence and efficiencies.
You will ensure that the technical experts have the right environment to do what they do best, and you will introduce new ideas and challenge to traditional ways of working. You will lead a dynamic team, providing strategic planning, financial management, project management, technology expertise and talent management support. You will be instrumental in managing a budget of £6m, in addition to overseeing external legal spend and providing a single authoritative and up-to-date source of reporting and insight. This enables us to focus on delivering high-quality legal and compliance advice, support, and guidance at the right time to the right stakeholders.
Who are you?
While we give an indication in the job description of desired experience in relevant roles as a guide, we're keen to hear about different experience which would make you a strong addition to our team.
You're curious to learn (we are an education and research publishing organisation after all), and a perfect mix of self-starter and team player. You are passionate about developing your team and identifying and nurturing talent. You have a strong network of like-minded legal/tech/operations professionals. Along with sound legal operations skills, you communicate effectively, at a time and in a way that enables business colleagues to achieve their objectives. Whatever you are working on, you are able to deliver your own initiatives and projects in a way that inspires confidence, as well as working collaboratively with others in the team and the wider organisation.
Your success will be underpinned by your ability to prioritise, with a practical and pragmatic approach, when handling a wide variety of day-to-day projects and activities. Given the breadth of the legal operations remit, you demonstrate a good understanding of your strengths and areas of expertise, and are thoughtful about how to fill any gaps, working with others in your team, the organisation or external providers.
Location
We like getting together in the office, and we also support hybrid working. The split of time between home and office will be a decision based on your and the team's needs, rather than rigid requirements, though we're generally aiming for an average of at least 2 days a week in the office. We'll give you the tools you need to do your job wherever that may be.
If you would like to know more about this opportunity and what will make you successful, please see the full job description attached to the bottom of this vacancy on our careers site.
Rewards and benefits
We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:
28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
Discretionary annual bonus
Group personal pension scheme
Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
Green travel schemes
We are a hybrid working organisation, and we offer a range of flexible working options from day one. We expect most hybrid-working colleagues to spend 40-60% of their time at their dedicated office or location. We will also consider other work arrangements if you wish to work more flexibly or require adjustments due to a disability.
Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.
We review applications on an ongoing basis, with a closing date for all applications being 12 May 2024 and interviews are scheduled to take place on a rolling basis. In the event we source a suitable applicant early, we reserve the right to close the advert early.
Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.
Why join us
Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You'll belong to a collaborative team that's exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it's safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.
#LI-IB1
#J-18808-Ljbffr