Business Operations Manager

Birmingham, Bristol or Leeds | Hybrid 1 day a month in the office

A leading national law firm is seeking a highly organised, proactive Business Operations Manager to support one of its major legal departments and play a central role in driving operational excellence, consistency and performance across the business.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a forward‑thinking, award‑winning law firm recognised for its work across commercial, corporate, regulatory, employment, litigation and advisory services. With a strong national footprint and a reputation for excellence, the firm continues to grow year on year and is investing heavily in its people, infrastructure and future strategy.

The Role

As a Business Operations Manager (BOM), you will provide essential operational management support to Department Heads and partners, ensuring the smooth running of a busy national legal department. You’ll act as a trusted adviser, project manager and connector, helping to drive improvements, embed best practice and support the delivery of departmental objectives.

You will support either the Litigation, Advisory & Regulatory department or the Employment, Pensions & Immigration department.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinating partner and fee earner meetings, including agendas, papers, minutes and action tracking
• Running bi‑monthly operational meetings with other Business Operations Managers
• Maintaining annual departmental management trackers and key deadlines
• Project managing departmental initiatives and maintaining action registers
• Supporting updates to departmental business plans and coordinating partner actions
• Planning and delivering departmental away days
• Managing IT kit approval processes
• Maintaining central filing of financial information for Department Heads
• Assisting with budgeting, data collation and spreadsheet preparation
• Reviewing utilisation data and providing weekly summaries
• Monitoring KPIs and liaising with Finance on aged lock‑up
• Streamlining write‑off processes and monitoring leakage
• Supporting the Best Practice Partner and Department Head on risk and compliance
• Tracking performance against risk and best practice objectives
• Liaising with the Risk & Best Practice team and coordinating audit requirements
• Working with BD & Marketing on assessments, reports and team plans
• Coordinating directory submissions and ensuring CVs and profiles are up to date
• Maintaining departmental marketing databases for tenders
• Scheduling internal training and managing external training requests and budgets
• Providing administrative support for recruitment processes
• Coordinating appraisals, objectives, promotions and pay review cycles
• Managing the departmental holiday approval process
• Identifying transformation opportunities and supporting project work
• Managing departmental HighQ sites

What You’ll Bring

• Significant experience in a similar operational role, or as a senior PA/management assistant at board level.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to handle confidential information with discretion.
• Strong influencing skills and confidence in challenging conversations.
• Solid understanding of financial processes and reporting.
• Project management experience.
• High attention to detail, strong organisational skills and a proactive mindset.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with peers across multiple offices.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Willingness to travel occasionally to other UK offices.