Director of Conflicts

About the role

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Director of Conflicts based in the United States. The Director of Conflicts provides strategic and operational leadership for firm-wide conflicts management and risk mitigation. You’ll partner closely with senior risk and legal leadership to establish consistent processes, policies, and controls across a multi-office environment. The role combines legal ethics expertise, operational oversight, technology, quality assurance, and people leadership. You’ll guide a specialized team while ensuring conflicts requests, ethical walls, employment checks, and related processes are handled accurately and efficiently. You’ll also identify opportunities to improve technology, workflows, service standards, reporting, and overall departmental effectiveness. Working across departments and jurisdictions, you’ll help balance regulatory requirements, client service, confidentiality, and business priorities. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for an experienced legal conflicts professional who enjoys building scalable processes and developing high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide firm-wide operational leadership and direction for conflicts checking, intake, and related risk management processes.
• Partner with Risk Management and the Office of the General Counsel to develop, implement, and enforce policies and procedures addressing conflicts, intake, and risk.
• Establish and continuously improve best practices, workflows, service standards, turnaround times, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness across the conflicts function.
• Stay current on developments in legal ethics, conflicts requirements, technology, and regulatory expectations across applicable jurisdictions.
• Oversee employment conflict checks and review and approve specialized new client matter forms, including those associated with complex practice areas.
• Establish and oversee processes related to Ethical Walls and other mechanisms designed to mitigate conflicts and risk.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for departmental quality assurance matters and complex conflicts issues.
• Monitor technology developments and recommend appropriate systems and process improvements to leadership.
• Ensure engagement information is captured and maintained accurately to support effective conflicts checking and risk management.
• Develop and deliver training for lawyers, staff, conflicts professionals, and other relevant teams on departmental policies, procedures, systems, and requirements.
• Oversee departmental budgets, including compensation, operational expenses, and project-related budgets, while ensuring initiatives remain aligned with strategic priorities.
• Manage departmental projects and requests from planning through execution, ensuring they remain on schedule, within budget, and aligned with established objectives.
• Maintain oversight of departmental resources and intranet content, including policies, procedures, forms, and contact information.
• Ensure systems and documentation remain accurate and audit-ready for internal and external reviews.
• Establish mechanisms to monitor productivity, service levels, quality, and performance across the conflicts