Director of Data

Cooley is seeking a Director of Data to join the Innovation team.

Position summary: As a leading technology law firm, Cooley is determined to become a leader in the digital practice of law. Cooley takes a comprehensive and modern approach to data. The Director of Data is responsible for developing, leading and implementing Cooley’s data strategy, including collecting, managing, analyzing, presenting, and deploying data assets enterprise wide.  Cooley Innovation embraces a culture of customer service excellence, and all members of the department are expected to embody this attitude.  Specific duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Position responsibilities:

Data science leadership and strategy:

• Help define the vision and roadmap for the firm’s data initiatives in conjunction with the innovation leadership team
• Lead problem definition, agile problem solving and integrated data solutioning including both technical and organizational data transformation
• Establish and lead a high-performing data team to support business goals
• Develop and drive a modern, collaborative and solution-oriented data culture in the entire organization

Data management and organization:

• Ensure that data management is driven from problems and needs of end-users and customers
• Oversee the development of a modern enterprise data management system and process, including legal specific data products
• Coordinate cross functional collaboration on data cleanup and migration
• Identify, acquire, and integrate data sources (internal and external) to support analytics and other firm use-cases

Data science and engineering:

• Oversee the development of the firm’s data infrastructure into a modern, flexible, best-in-industry capability that connects data management with infrastructure, data science and AI capabilities, and the ultimate end-user demands
• Implement  data systems with robust data pipelines and workflows for efficient data collection, storage, and analysis end to end
• Oversee the integration of data modeling, data science and AI solutions development and software engineering
• Collaborate with other enterprise technology, information governance and security teams to ensure proper data governance, security and privacy protocols in the data platform

Data delivery and automation:

• Oversee the integration of service delivery to internal and external customers of data driven products, including AI solutions with the management and development of data capabilities 
• Collaborate with business owners to streamline and automate routine data delivery capabilities while expanding service footprint with increased coverage and new opportunity identification
• Create systems and processes to integrate data delivery with other crucial firm functions such as business analysis, financial analysis, as well as business development and legal service delivery

Collaboration and stakeholder engagement:

• Collaborate with the other  firm functions to ensure a highly integrated data operation that both supports business needs and drives innovation
• Serve as the primary liaison between business units and other technical teams to ensure the data strategy aligns with enterprise goals across the entire enterprise
• Communicate complex data science concepts and insights to non-technical stakeholders in a clear and actionable manner

Legal and compliance awareness:

• Familiarity with legal industry-specific data requirements, such as E-Discovery processes, and compliance with regulatory standards (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.)
• International operational experience across geographic and regulatory environments for data

Team building and mentorship:

• Define team roles and responsibilities, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives
• Recruit, train, and mentor a diverse data team, including data managers, data scientist, data engineers, data analysts, and other roles as deemed appropriate
• Serve as direct supervisor and mentor to direct reports
• Provide day-to-day supervision of direct reports, ensure compliance with assigned work hours and monitor for compliance with all firm and department policies. Manage staffing coverage, review and process time logs/time off requests
• Support business professional development and continued educational opportunities
• In collaboration with immediate supervisor and CN HR, participate in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination and other employee lifecycle events
• All other duties as assigned or required
• Foster a collaborative, innovative, and results-driven team culture
• All other duties as assigned or required

Skills and experience:

Required:

• After orientation at Cooley LLP, exhibit proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, iManage and other firm applications
• Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours, as required
• Ability to travel, as required
• Bachelor’s degree
• 10+ years of experience in a directly applicable data-related role (e.g., data research, data delivery, data operations, etc.) along with 5+ years of management experience in relevant roles and with proven track record of effective leadership
• Experience in leading large-scale data initiatives, preferably within technology or highly regulated industry (e.g., finance, healthcare)

Preferred:

• Domain Knowledge

• Strong understanding of the legal industry, particularly around legal tech systems, analytics, and legal operations
• Strong understanding of the modern data operations, including data lakes, data pipelines, and experience with complex data migrations
• Experience in managing cross-functional projects involving engineering, data engineering, and operational business units
• Knowledge and experience with distributed systems and organizations

Competencies:

• Strong leadership experience in building, managing, and mentoring data science teams
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts to legal professionals and senior executives
• Ability to influence and collaborate with multiple stakeholders across various departments (legal, IS, etc.)

Cooley offers a competitive compensation and excellent benefits package and is committed to fair and equitable employment practices.

EOE.

The expected annual pay range for this position with a full-time schedule is $300,000 - $400,000. Please note that final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience and skillset of the candidate.

We offer a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, long-term care coverage, backup care for children and/or adults and other parental support benefits. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive firm-paid life insurance, AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as 25 days of Paid Time Off (“PTO”) and 10 paid holidays each year. We provide generous parental leave and fertility benefits. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources.