Legal Operations Specialist Jobs in California

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Position Summary:

We are seeking an organized, influential and pragmatic Staff Project Manager to run the portfolio of initiatives for Illumina's new Legal Operations team within the Legal, Regulatory & Public Policy department.

In this role, you will plan, sequence and deliver the Global Legal Operations and Legal Operations Center of Excellence's projects day-to-day, including matter intake, outside counsel billing guidelines and rate governance, contracting workflow redesign with the Commercial CLM and Icertis teams, knowledge management and AI enablement. You will bring structure and cadence to a fast-moving program, keep work already in flight moving, and partner with Legal leaders, IT, the Global Operations PMO, Procurement, Finance, and the Enterprise AI team so the Legal Department has the processes, tools, data and governance it needs to move at the speed of the business.

The ideal candidate is a delivery leader who can turn stakeholder ideas into prioritized, measurable outcomes, leads cross-functional work without direct authority, and brings strong project-governance, process-improvement and change-management skills.

Key Responsibilities:

• Portfolio & Roadmap: Own the Legal Ops COE project portfolio and roadmap. Build and maintain integrated plans, milestones, dependencies, logs, and resource views across all workstreams.

• Governance: Run the COE governance rhythm: steering-committee materials, monthly portfolio reviews, red/yellow/green status and decision logs that support Legal leadership's prioritization and resource decisions.

• Intake & Prioritization: Facilitate intake and prioritization of new Legal Ops requests. Maintain the ideas register and business cases, and recommend sequencing based on value, risk and effort.

• Cross-Functional Delivery: Support delivery with IT, the Global Operations PMO, Procurement (Ariba), Finance/AP (CounselLink and accruals), Privacy (TrustArc) and Enterprise AI. Ensure handoffs and stakeholder alignment.

• Implementation: Manage or oversee the implementation projects for legal systems and process changes (for example matter intake, CLM workflows, e-billing rules and templates), including requirements gathering, user acceptance testing, cut-over and hyper care.

• Change Management: Apply change-management practices: stakeholder mapping, communications, training plans, a champions network and adoption tracking. Develop job aids, SOPs and process documentation.

• Process Excellence: Document and maintain a catalog of Legal business processes with named process owners. Lead process-improvement work using Lean or continuous-improvement methods.

• Monitor and Measure Success: Work with the Data Analytics Analyst to define, track and report KPIs and KRIs, such as cycle time, throughput, spend versus budget and adoption. Manage project budgets and vendor or consultant deliverables, and track benefits/ROI realization against the business case.

• Executive Communication: Prepare clear executive updates for the Chief Legal Officer and the Legal Leadership Team.
  

Qualifications:

• Project Management: 8+ years of project or program management experience, including 4+ years in legal operations, compliance operations, or another corporate function supporting a legal department.

• Collaboration: Demonstrated success leading multiple concurrent cross-functional initiatives in a matrixed, global organization, without direct authority.

• Governance & Reporting: Experience establishing project governance, operating cadences, status reporting and performance metrics for senior leaders.

• Process & Change: Experience with process mapping and improvement (Lean, Six Sigma or similar) and with change-management methods.

• Domain Knowledge: Working knowledge of legal-department systems such as e-billing/spend management, CLM, matter management and document management, and of how they connect to procurement and finance processes.

• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication, facilitation and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to influence attorneys and executives.
  

Experience and Education:

Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent experience.

PMP, PgMP, Prosci or Lean/Six Sigma certification (or willingness to obtain) is preferred. Experience in a life science, biotech, diagnostics, medical device or other regulated industry is a plus.

Additional Skills:

• Proficiency with project tools such as Smartsheet, Jira, Planner or MS Project, and with Microsoft 365 (Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint) is required.

• Experience effectively and ethically using AI tools, such as Microsoft 365 Copilot, in day-to-day work is required.

• Experience with CounselLink, Icertis, Ariba, TrustArc or comparable platforms is a plus.

• Experience supporting AI-enablement or digital-transformation programs, including AI governance and review processes, is a plus.

Familiarity with CLOC's Core Competencies or other legal-operations maturity frameworks is a plus.

Why Join Us:

• Opportunity to work on innovative products that make a real difference in healthcare and research.

• Collaborative and supportive work environment.

• Competitive salary and benefits package.

• Professional growth and development opportunities.

The estimated base salary range for the Staff Project Manager, Legal Operations role based in the United States of America is: $118,200 - $177,200. Should the level or location of the role change during the hiring process, the applicable base pay range may be updated accordingly. The range reflects long‑term growth in the role; therefore, most candidates are hired between the minimum and middle of the range. Placement depends on experience, skills, location, and internal equity. Additionally, all employees are eligible for one of our variable cash programs (bonus or commission) and eligible roles may receive equity as part of the compensation package. We offer a wide range of benefits as innovative as our work, including access to genomics sequencing, family planning, health/dental/vision, retirement benefits, and paid time off.

We are a company deeply rooted in belonging, promoting an inclusive environment where employees feel valued and empowered to contribute to our mission. Built on a strong foundation, Illumina has always prioritized openness, collaboration, and seeking alternative perspectives to propel innovation in genomics. We are proud to confirm a zero-net gap in pay, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or race. We also have several Employee Resource Groups (ERG) that deliver career development experiences, increase cultural awareness, and offer opportunities to engage in social responsibility. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, creed, color, gender, religion, marital status, domestic partner status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, pregnancy, military or veteran status, citizenship status, and genetic information. Illumina conducts background checks on applicants for whom a conditional offer of employment has been made. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws. Background check results may potentially result in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment. The background check process and any decisions made as a result shall be made in accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws. Illumina prohibits the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the application and interview process. If you require accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact accommodations@illumina.com. To learn more, visit: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf. The position will be posted until a final candidate is selected or the requisition has a sufficient number of qualified applicants.