Director, Legal Operations

Position: Director, Legal Operations Location: US (Remote) Reports to: VP, Legal About Us HighLevel is an AI powered, all-in-one white-label sales & marketing platform that empowers agencies, entrepreneurs, and businesses to elevate their digital presence and drive growth. We are proud to support a global and growing community of over 1 million businesses, comprised of agencies, consultants, and businesses of all sizes and industries. HighLevel empowers users  with all the tools needed to capture, nurture, and close new leads into repeat customers. As of mid 2025, HighLevel processes over 4 billion API hits and handles more than 2.5 billion message events every day. Our platform manages over 470 terabytes of data distributed across five databases, operates with a network of over 250 microservices, and supports over 1 million hostnames. Our People With over 1,500 team members across 15+ countries, we operate in a global, remote-first environment. We are building more than software; we are building a global community rooted in creativity, collaboration, and impact. We take pride in cultivating a culture where innovation thrives, ideas are celebrated, and people come first, no matter where they call home. Our Impact As of mid 2025, our platform powers over 1.5 billion messages, helps generate over 200 million leads, and facilitates over 20 million conversations for the more than 2 million businesses we serve each month. Behind those numbers are real people growing their companies, connecting with customers, and making their mark - and we get to help make that happen. Who You Are:  HighLevel isn’t a typical SaaS company, and this isn’t a typical legal ops role. We move fast, stay lean, and reject process for process’s sake. We’re looking for a Director of Legal Operations to design and run a scalable Legal operating model that makes the team faster not heavier. You will be the VP of Legal’s strategic and operational partner, translating company growth into systems, tools, and workflows that scale. This is a hands-on leadership role. You’ll design the system and build it — configuring tools, writing play books, partnering with engineering, and removing friction. You’ll lead a small team of legal operations specialists and be accountable for execution. You are equal parts strategist and builder. What You’ll Be Doing:  Legal Operations Strategy & Execution -Help develop, own, and continuously refine the legal department's operational strategy, ensuring alignment with HighLevel's business trajectory and proactively identifying gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities to scale -Assist with organizational design and capacity planning across the Legal team, assessing structure, workload distribution, and capability gaps to ensure the department scales appropriately without unnecessary headcount expansion, and that work is happening at the right levels -Design processes that are frictionless by default: the goal is to remove obstacles and accelerate the team, not to add layers of approval or documentation -Define and drive the legal department's AI and technology roadmap; evaluate, implement, and optimize tools (including Ironclad CLM) using a disciplined build-vs.-buy framework -Partner with engineering to build bespoke solutions for legal analytics, contract intelligence, and operational reporting; translate legal needs into technical requirements without needing an intermediary -Develop dashboards and metrics that give the VP of Legal clear visibility into workload, cycle times, spend, and team performance -Build and maintain operational playbooks, SOPs, and the legal team's internal knowledge base OKRs & Legal Value Story -Partner with the VP of Legal to own the executive reporting framework, including dashboards and strategic updates that articulate Legal's impact, risk posture, and contribution to HighLevel's objectives -Build and maintain OKR tracking systems and reporting cadences that keep the team accountable and give leadership clear visibility into progress -Monitor OKR progress, flag risks and blockers, and recommend course corrections before deadlines slip -Translate legal activity and operational data into strategic narratives that demonstrate Legal's value across the organization Process Optimization & Cross-Functional Enablement -Identify work that should transfer to other departments and build the training, tooling, and self-service resources to make those transitions successful -Establish scalable intake processes, AI-powered self-service tools, and clear escalation paths that reduce unnecessary legal involvement in routine matters -Lead change management efforts across Legal, ensuring new tools and processes are adopted effectively and sustainably; proactively manage resistance and align stakeholders around new initiatives Discovery & Third-Party Subpoena Management -Serve as HighLevel's primary point of contact for third-party subpoenas and information requests, managing the end-to-end response process independently -Review subpoenas for scope, relevance, and legal sufficiency; negotiate with requesting parties to prevent over-disclosure of customer information -Coordinate collection and review of responsive information and draft responses for lawyer approval -Develop and maintain standardized workflows, templates, and tracking systems for subpoena response IP Portfolio Operations -Own the administrative infrastructure for HighLevel's IP portfolio, including document management, filing systems, and record-keeping for patents, trademarks, and related assets -Manage the invention disclosure process: intake of submissions, tracking through evaluation, and follow-up with submitters and decision-makers -Build and maintain a document taxonomy that ensures IP records are accurately labeled and retrievable -Coordinate announcements for new patent issuances and partner with outside IP counsel on administrative matters and deadline tracking Team Leadership -Serve as a core member of the Legal leadership team, with the authority to hold legal team members accountable to defined goals, timelines, and operational standards -Manage a team of legal operations specialists, setting priorities, providing feedback, and fostering accountability -Mentor and develop team members, building the skills needed for the team to take on increasing responsibility -Serve as a force multiplier for the VP of Legal, anticipating needs and solving problems before they become bottlenecks What You’ll Bring: -12+ years in legal operations with a track record of building or scaling legal ops functions in high-growth environments -Experience leading AI, automation, or data-driven transformation initiatives within a legal department -Experience managing discovery processes, including third-party subpoenas, litigation holds, and production workflows -Deep experience with legal technology platforms (CLM, e-billing, matter management, eDiscovery), including hands-on implementation -Strong technical fluency: able to collaborate directly with engineers on tool development without an intermediary -Experience owning or significantly contributing to legal department budgeting, forecasting, and outside counsel management -Philosophy of building lean, frictionless processes, with examples of systems you've built that made teams faster -Experience managing and developing a legal operations team Preferred Qualifications -Experience in SaaS, technology, or marketing industries -Familiarity with Ironclad or similar CLM platforms -Hands-on experience with legal-specific AI tools (custom chatbots, GC AI, Harvey, Casetext, LexisNexis+ AI) for contract analysis, research, and workflow optimization -Experience with IP portfolio administration or working with patent/trademark filings -MBA or other advanced business degree -CLOC membership or other legal operations credentials What We're Looking For -Frictionless by instinct. You measure success by how little people notice your systems, because they just work. -Sharp on build vs. buy. You know when to build custom, when to buy off-the-shelf, and when to squeeze more out of what you have. -AI-curious. You stay current on legal tech AI developments and can articulate how AI solves specific legal ops challenges. -Self-starter. You don't need a roadmap; you build the roadmap. -Executor. You don't just identify what needs to happen, you make it happen, independently and reliably. -Technically curious. You enjoy engineering conversations and finding ways to make technology do the heavy lifting. -Protective of customer data. You understand the stakes of handling subpoenas and bring rigor to every response. Success Metrics -VP of Legal is freed from day-to-day operational decision-making and equipped with board-ready materials and data-driven insights -OKRs are clearly defined, tracked, and reported, with risks flagged before deadlines slip -Third-party subpoenas are managed end-to-end without VP-level oversight -Measurable efficiency improvements: reduced cycle times, better tool adoption, optimized outside counsel spend -AI and automation initiatives deliver demonstrable ROI in time savings and cost reductions -Cross-functional stakeholders handle routine legal-adjacent tasks independently via self-service resources -IP portfolio records are accurately maintained and easily retrievable