Director, Legal Operations

This position is eligible for telework, which is currently one day per week. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective date of hire.

Opening:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America's largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. MTA strives to provide a safe and reliable commute, excellent customer service, and rewarding opportunities.

Job Summary:

The Director, Legal Operations leads the strategy, infrastructure, and optimization of the legal function to ensure the efficient, scalable, and high‑quality delivery of legal services across the organization. This role oversees the development and governance of legal workflows, strengthens operational performance through technology and process innovation, and drives data‑informed decision‑making across resource allocation, budget management, and matter lifecycle management.

Partnering closely with legal and business leadership, the Director, Legal Operations manages the legal department's technology ecosystem, vendor and outside counsel programs, performance and reporting frameworks, and administrative operations. The role also provides leadership and direction to legal support staff to promote operational excellence, enhance collaboration, and ensure alignment with organizational priorities. This position plays a critical role in transforming the legal department into a proactive, metrics-driven, and strategically integrated business partner.

Responsibilities:

• Lead legal operations strategy, governance, and continuous improvement initiatives to align and optimize legal services delivery, processes, staffing models, and policies with organizational objectives and risk management frameworks
• Lead vendor and outside counsel management, including panel selection, engagement terms, performance evaluation, and cost-control initiatives
• Design, implement, and administer legal technology, knowledge management, and matter management systems to standardize workflows, improve data quality, and enhance transparency into legal workload and outcomes
• Develop and oversee legal department budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting practices, including spend analytics, outside counsel management, and fee arrangement optimization
• Direct day-to-day administrative oversight of legal support staff, including legal secretaries and paralegals, encompassing workload allocation, performance management, coaching, and staffing decisions to ensure consistent and high-quality support
• Establish and monitor operational performance metrics, dashboards, and reporting to evaluate efficiency, service levels, and resource allocation across legal activities and support teams
• Develop and implement policies, playbooks, templates, and self-service tools to support consistent, compliant, and scalable legal support across the organization
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration with finance, procurement, information technology, and risk teams to align legal operations processes, data, and systems
• Oversee change management, training, and communication related to new legal operations processes, systems, and standards to support adoption and sustainable use

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Familiarity with legal operations best practices
• Excellent quantitative reasoning and analytical judgment
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent organizational and presentation skills
• Demonstrated ability to work in a high-profile, high-pressure environment effectively
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with key internal and/or external stakeholders
• Contract and vendor management skills
• Demonstrated ability to understand processes and make improvements
• Technology management and adoption
• Data analysis
• Budgeting and financial management
• Change management
• Knowledge management

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS) in business, legal studies, or related field
• Minimum 8 years of progressive experience in legal operations, law firm administration, or corporate legal department management
• Minimum 4 years of experience in strategic planning, budgeting, and performance management within professional services or a legal environment
• Minimum 2 years of experience working within and enhancing an outside counsel management program
• Minimum 2 years of experience leading cross-functional projects and/or implementing legal technology solutions

The Following is/are preferred:

• Master’s degree in Arts/Sciences (MA/MS) in business administration, operations, or related discipline
• Minimum 6 years in a department head and/or managerial and/or leadership role in a large, multi-faceted, fast-paced organization or governmental body
• Minimum 2 years of experience leading paralegals and legal support staff
• Project Management Professional or similar operations-focused certification is preferred

Other Information

May need to work outside of normal work hours (i.e., evenings and weekends)

Travel may be required to other MTA locations or other external sites.

According to the New York State Public Officers Law & the MTA Code of Ethics, all employees who hold a policymaking position must file an Annual Statement of Financial Disclosure (FDS) with the NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (the “Commission”).

Equal Employment Opportunity

MTA and its subsidiary and affiliated agencies are Equal Opportunity Employers, including those concerning veteran status and individuals with disabilities.

The MTA encourages qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, including military service members, to apply.