Divisional COO - LAI, Director

Linklaters is a global law firm, providing legal services in 20 countries and through 30 offices.

Linklaters is a people business. Being best in class in the eyes of our clients means that our people must be exceptional.

We look not only for brilliant minds, but for people who will thrive in our environment: people who love working collaboratively and demonstrate the innovative, efficient, agile, entrepreneurial, and responsible mind-set we aim to bring to every interaction.

Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere.

We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.

The role:

This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future direction of one of the firm's most significant global practice areas.

As Divisional COO, you'll partner directly with senior practice leadership to drive strategy, performance and growth across a complex international business. Acting as a trusted adviser to the Divisional Practice Head and wider partnership, you'll provide the insight, challenge and commercial guidance needed to make better decisions and deliver lasting impact.

Key areas of focus include:

• Shaping and delivering the division's strategic priorities
• Leading business planning and driving commercial performance
• Advising senior partners on growth, profitability, investment and people decisions
• Using data and market insight to identify opportunities and influence decision-making
• Driving major business transformation and change initiatives
• Building alignment across a global, matrixed organisation
• Ensuring the division is positioned for sustainable, profitable growth
• Leading and developing a high-performing Business Management team that enables success across the practice

This is a highly visible role that offers the opportunity to influence at the most senior levels of the firm while helping to deliver a significant programme of change and transformation.

What we're looking for:

We're looking for a commercially-minded business leader who is equally comfortable advising senior stakeholders, shaping strategy and driving execution.

You'll bring:

• Experience operating as a trusted adviser to senior leaders, partners or executives
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to translate data into action
• A track record of developing and executing business strategy
• Experience leading complex change, transformation or business improvement programmes
• Outstanding stakeholder management, influencing and communication skills
• The confidence to challenge constructively and navigate ambiguity
• Experience leading and developing high-performing teams
• A collaborative, pragmatic and resilient approach
• The ability to build credibility quickly within a partnership or stakeholder-led environment

We are open to candidates from across professional services and other complex advisory environments. Legal sector experience is not essential. What matters most is your ability to operate credibly at senior level, drive change, and help leaders make better business decisions.

What's on offer:

This role will be based in our London office, with a hybrid working model available.

Joining Team Linklaters will see you qualify for a range of benefits designed to reward the vital contribution you'll be making to our success. These include:

Health & Wellbeing

• Private Medical Insurance
• Free in-house fitness centre and subsidised health club memberships
• Free onsite GP service and periodic health assessments

Finance

• Pension and flexible savings options
• Income protection and life assurance
• Mortgage advice and will-writing services.

Family & Lifestyle

• Electric car and cycle to work schemes.
• Emergency family care
• Additional holiday/birthday leave.
• Maternity/paternity/shared parental leave.
• Travel insurance and season ticket loan
• Option to join sports and social clubs, as well as our employee networks groups (such as our Gender Equality, With Pride, or Social Mobility Networks)

If you're looking for a role where you can combine strategic thinking, trusted advisory and transformational change leadership, we'd love to hear from you. Join us and play a key role in shaping the future of one of the world's leading professional services organisations.

Technical Skills

Business Operation Management, Business Partner Support, Business Risk Management, Financial Analysis, Financial Modeling, KPI Analytics, KPI Design, Policy Design, Policy Development, Process Design, Process Improvements, Project Management, Strategic Business Planning, Sustainability Management

This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive.  It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.

Application Policy

Applications and CVs (direct or via agency) are only accepted online via the portal. Queries related to our roles must be directed to the relevant recruitment team and not the partners, practices or stakeholders ([email protected] for legal roles or [email protected] for business team roles).