Sr Manager, Legal Operations

15000 Valmont Plaza Omaha Nebraska 68154

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A Brief Summary of This Position:

The Senior Manager, Legal Operations builds and runs the business of Valmont's global legal function. The role owns legal spend and budgeting, outside counsel management, legal technology and AI, data and reporting, and the processes that let lawyers focus on high-value work.

Valmont is early in its legal operations journey, so this is a builder role. Near-term priorities include implementing the legal e-billing and spend management platform, standing up contract lifecycle management integrated with Valmont's IFS ERP, delivering the department's first metrics dashboard, and leading the responsible adoption of AI across Legal.

The role reports directly to the CLO and serves as a member of the legal leadership team.

• Key partners: legal department leaders and attorneys, Finance and FP&A, Accounts Payable, IT and cybersecurity, Procurement, HR, Internal Audit, and Risk Management.
• Direct reports: [to be confirmed — e.g., legal operations analyst, contract administrators, or paralegal support for matter and entity management].
• Scope: global legal department, including support for business segment counsel and international legal teams.
• Vendors: outside counsel panel, legal technology providers, and alternative legal service providers.

Essential Functions:

Financial management and outside counsel

• Own the legal department budget, including annual planning, monthly forecasting, accruals and variance reporting with Finance.
• Lead outside counsel management: panel design, engagement letters, billing guidelines, rate negotiations and alternative fee arrangements.
• Run invoice review and approval workflows end to end, from receipt through payment, in partnership with Accounts Payable.
• Track outside counsel performance and run periodic law firm reviews.
• Manage legal vendor relationships and contracts, including ALSPs and other legal service providers.
• Identify and deliver cost savings while protecting quality of legal support.

Legal technology and data

• Lead implementation, administration and adoption of the legal e-billing and spend management platform.
• Define the legal technology roadmap, including contract lifecycle management, matter management, intake and triage, and entity management.
• Ensure legal systems integrate with IFS and other enterprise systems, and meet IT security and data privacy requirements.
• Build legal department metrics and dashboards covering spend, matter volume, cycle times and service levels.
• Deliver regular reporting to the CLO and periodic reporting for senior leadership and the Board.

AI strategy and adoption

• Lead Legal's AI strategy and roadmap, aligned with Valmont's enterprise AI policy and IT governance.
• Identify high-value use cases, such as contract review and drafting, intake triage, legal research, invoice review, knowledge search, and board and governance document preparation.
• Run AI vendor evaluations and pilots, measure results (time saved, cycle time, quality, cost), and scale what works.
• Partner with IT, cybersecurity and privacy on technical due diligence and data security for AI tools, and implement the confidentiality and privilege safeguards set by Legal's attorneys.
• Operationalize the AI guardrails and outside counsel AI billing guidelines approved by the CLO, including training, workflow controls, invoice review and compliance reporting.
• Train lawyers and staff on AI tools, effective use and limitations, and build AI fluency across the department.
• Track legal-industry AI practice and tools, and bring emerging opportunities and risks to the CLO.

Process and department operations

• Map current-state legal processes and design scalable, standardized workflows.
• Lead knowledge management, including templates, playbooks, clause libraries and the legal intranet.
• Partner with IT and Privacy on records retention and information governance for Legal.
• Coordinate department planning, goals, onboarding, training and team communications.
• Lead change management so new tools and processes are adopted across Legal and its business partners.

Strategy, intake and communications

• Develop Legal's annual operating plan, anchored in a baseline maturity assessment and a prioritized roadmap.
• Design and run legal intake: a single front door for requests, triage rules and service levels.
• Track workload and capacity to inform staffing and headcount planning.
• Own Legal's communications, including the intranet, department updates and an annual report on Legal's value to the business

Location and travel: based at Valmont's Omaha headquarters. Travel of approximately 10% to segment and international legal team locations.

Required Qualifications of Every Candidate (Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities):

• Bachelor's degree in business, finance, information systems or a related field with 6+ years of experience.
• 4+ years of experience in legal operations, legal department management, or a closely related function, including significant in-house experience.
• Hands-on experience implementing and administering e-billing or matter management platforms, including requirements gathering, integration and user adoption.
• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, forecasting, accruals and spend analytics.
• Proven record managing outside counsel and legal vendor relationships, and building strong working relationships with Finance and IT.
• Advanced skills in Excel and data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau, and working knowledge of generative AI capabilities, limitations and risks.

Highly Qualified Candidates Will Also Possess These Qualifications:

• Experience at a global public company, ideally in manufacturing or industrial sectors.
• CLM implementation experience, including ERP integration.
• Familiarity with the CLOC Core 12 and ACC Legal Operations Maturity Model; process mapping and improvement skills; PMP or Lean Six Sigma certification.
• JD, LLM, legal or paralegal background.
• Experience building a legal operations function from the ground up.
• Track record piloting and scaling generative AI tools in a legal department, with measurable results.

Working Environment and Physical Efforts:

Work is typically performed in an office setting. The incumbent is regularly required to sit for extended periods of time, as well as talk and listen on the phone and in personal conversations or meetings. Environment is fast paced and demanding most of the time. No travel requirements for this position. The employee frequently is required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms while working in the office with various files and forms and while working on the computer. The employee is occasionally required to move about the office. Incumbent must utilize proper ergonomic safeguards such as monitor height and positions, keyboard location and height and proper wrists rests. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds in working with large files, binders, and computer equipment. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception.

Benefits

Valmont offers employees and their families a comprehensive Total Wellbeing benefit package to ensure their individual and family’s overall wellness needs are met. Some offerings are dependent upon the role, work schedule, or location and can include the following:

• Healthcare (medical, prescription drugs, dental and vision)

• 401k retirement plan with company match

• Paid time off

• Employer paid life insurance

• Employer paid short-term and long-term disability including maternity leave

• Work Life Support

• Tuition Reimbursement up to $5,250 per year

• Voluntary programs like tobacco cessation, Type 2 diabetes reversal, one-on-one health coaching, mortgage services and more

Valmont does not discriminate against any employee or applicant in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, genetic information, veteran status, disability or any other characteristic protected by law. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

If you have a disability and require any assistance in filling out the application for employment email EEOCompliance@Valmont.com.