Senior Legal Operations Manager

About the Department 

The Legal department is comprised of our Legal and Patents functions. We depend on our legal team to help drive growth and maintain the highest level of standards and practices across all of our legal efforts. It’s a tall order, which is why we only hire those who thrive on protecting the interests of our patients, employees and business, all while creating and implementing efficient and innovative solutions. As part of the team, you’ll work with employees across the organization to oversee legal matters and provide guidance on strategies that drive business and policy priorities and shape the reputation of Novo Nordisk Inc. (NNI). At Novo Nordisk, your skills, dedication and ambition will help us change lives for the better. In exchange, we’ll offer you an opportunity to work with extraordinary talent and benefit from a range of possibilities for professional and personal development. Are you ready to realize your potential?

The Position

Responsible for leading the Legal department’s overall budget planning and prioritization, outside counsel management approach, and legal spend optimization efforts. Responsible for department’s financial planning and analysis, and shaping how the Legal department engages, manages, and derives value from outside counsel and other legal service providers. This role leads panel strategy, engagement negotiations, performance management, managing relationships with external resources, and ensuring cost-effective and high-quality legal support for the department.

Relationships

Reports to Associate Director, eDiscovery & Operations. Partners and collaborates with internal teams including Legal, Finance, and Procurement to achieve operational objectives in support of legal strategy. Interacts with individuals in other USO departments, global headquarters, and affiliate companies. Also interacts with external law firms and service providers, including eDiscovery and alternative legal service providers, and other business entities.

Essential Functions

• Budgeting Strategy and Oversight:
  • Manage and lead the strategic oversight of the Legal department’s overall budget, with a particular focus on analysing outside counsel and external legal spend, working closely with finance and legal teams
  • Lead the annual and quarterly budget development, forecasting, and ongoing spend management
  • Monitor department-wide spend trends, risks, and opportunities, and provide recommendations to improve budget discipline, predictability, and resource allocation
  • Ensure accurate and transparent financial management of external legal service providers
  • Partner with in-house counsel and matter owners to identify cost optimization
  • Support Legal leadership in making informed decisions about departmental spending priorities and trade-offs
• Resource Engagement and Contract Negotiation:
  • Develop and lead the Legal Department’s outside counsel strategy across practice areas, jurisdictions, and matter types
  • Advise on external resourcing strategy, how to align staffing and fee structures with the needs of the matter
  • Design and manage preferred-firm and panel strategies, include law firm segmentation, consolidation opportunities, competitive sourcing, and governance framework
  • Support selection process of outside counsel based on expertise, service model, cost, overall value, and appropriateness for a specific matter
  • Lead the engagement process with external resources, including legal process outsourcing companies, managed review, and other service vendors, including negotiations of global engagement agreements with law firms
  • Develop consistent approaches to rate reviews, rate increase requests, and fee negotiations
  • Monitor matters for changes in scope, budget, or staffing and recommend proactive interventions to improve efficiency and predictability
  • Evaluate opportunities to improve matter economics through staffing changes, phased budgets, alternative fee arrangements, portfolio approaches, or use of lower-cost providers, where appropriate
  • Ensure compliance with company goals, and legal and regulatory requirements with all external engagements
  • Create templates, playbooks, and negotiation standards to drive consistency and leverage outside counsel relationships
  • Provide support for presentation materials for key steering and strategy group meetings (e.g. EVP Steering Group, Litigation Strategy Group)

• Relationship Management and Performance Evaluation:
  • Develop and manage a framework for measuring law firm performance to assess overall value
  • Lead regular business reviews with key law firms and make recommendations regarding continued use, expanded use, corrective action, or panel changes
  • Serve as the primary liaison and relationship manager for external legal resources and provide feedback to law firms/providers to drive continuous improvement in service delivery
  • Identify trends in law firm performance and legal spend to support stronger sourcing and matter-management decisions
  • Collaborate with legal teams to ensure that external providers meet quality and efficiency standards
• Process Improvement and Best Practices:
  • Continuously assess and enhance processes related to budget strategy, external resource selection, engagement management, and performance evaluation
  • Stay updated on industry best practices, market trends, and emerging technologies to drive innovation and efficiency in external resource engagement
  • Handles highly confidential matters with discretion and judgment

Physical Requirements

0-10% overnight travel required.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor 's Degree required; relevant experience may be substituted for degree where appropriate. JD or MBA is a plus, but not required
• A minimum of 10 years of legal operations, outside counsel management, and/or spend management experience
• Demonstrated ability to identify and drive cost optimization opportunities across a portfolio of legal matters and vendors
• Ability to work autonomously with minimal guidance
• At least 5 years of pharmaceutical or other regulated industry experience strongly preferred
• Experience supporting or owning a department-wide legal budget
• Experience negotiating commercial terms, engagement agreements, rates, and alternative fee arrangement
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to translate financial and matter data into clear recommendations
• Excellent analytical, research, and organizational skills required
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills required
• Must be a self-starter; flexible, customer-focused, and have a professional demeanour
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Office, Excel
• Proficiency in eBilling and/or other matter/spend management and tracking tools (i.e. LegalTracker, SAP, COUPA) required

The base compensation range for this position is $[120K] to $[222K]. Base compensation is determined based on a number of factors. This position is also eligible for a company bonus based on individual and company performance. Novo Nordisk offers long-term incentive compensation and or company vehicles depending on the position's level or other company factors.

Employees are also eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs including medical, dental and vision coverage; life insurance; disability insurance; 401(k) savings plan; flexible spending accounts; employee assistance program; tuition reimbursement program; and voluntary benefits such as group legal, critical illness, identity theft protection, pet insurance and auto/home insurance. The Company also offers time off pursuant to its sick time policy, flex-able vacation policy, and parental leave policy.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and defeating diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.

If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.