Senior Innovation Project Manager

About the Role

As a Senior Innovation Project Manager at Kirkland & Ellis, you’ll help advance the Firm’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovation project portfolio, supporting initiatives from early concepts through enterprise deployment and adoption. Based in Chicago, IL, this role reports to the Director of Strategic Projects and Programs and sits within the Innovation function, partnering closely with attorneys, leadership, technical teams, Information Technology (IT), Risk, Security, and external technology vendors to deliver practical, high-impact solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead innovation delivery: Drive strategic initiatives that support the Firm’s AI and innovation roadmap, including internal platforms, client-facing solutions, and vendor-enabled capabilities.
• Shape product direction: Partner with Innovation leadership, attorneys, and technical teams to define product vision, roadmaps, use cases, and priorities that align with business needs.
• Own the full lifecycle: Guide projects and products from ideation, requirements, development, testing, and launch through continuous improvement, with a focus on scalable and repeatable solutions.
• Manage complex builds: Lead multi-phase technology initiatives and integrations, aligning engineering, data, risk, and business stakeholders around scope, timelines, dependencies, and outcomes.
• Partner with technical teams: Work directly with engineering and development teams on custom software builds, including Palantir Foundry and Palantir Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) application development where applicable, while managing sprint cadences, technical dependencies, release readiness, and product scope.
• Use insights to improve adoption: Incorporate user feedback, adoption metrics, and business outcomes to refine products after launch and strengthen long-term impact.
• Track progress and communicate clearly: Maintain real-time project data and trackers, prepare actionable updates, and present materials for project status meetings, stakeholder reviews, and steering committees.
• Build alignment across teams: Collaborate with Innovation, leadership, IT, Risk, Security, attorneys, administrative stakeholders, and third-party vendors to translate strategic goals into clear action plans and measurable results.
• Manage risks and governance: Identify, track, and mitigate risks, issues, dependencies, and governance considerations, escalating matters when timing, cost, resources, policy, or compliance may affect outcomes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and/or project management certification, such as Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), or Agile Project Management (AgilePM), strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience in project management, product management, or a similar operational role involving cross-team coordination within a global professional services organization or law firm.
• Experience managing technology transformation, change initiatives, product or service launches, or other tech-enabled strategic priorities that enhance client service offerings.
• Experience managing or delivering custom software development projects, application builds, data platform implementations, or enterprise low-code/no-code platforms, with confidence discussing sprint cycles, technical scope, and release processes.
• Experience working with technology vendors and strategic partnerships strongly preferred; direct experience managing Palantir Foundry or AIP development projects is a strong plus.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate with and influence leadership, attorneys, technologists, and business teams.
• High professionalism, autonomy, accuracy, accountability, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and stakeholder needs independently.
• Familiarity with data governance, information security, and responsible AI frameworks preferred, along with enthusiasm for using emerging technologies to transform the business and practice of law.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, with experience in data analysis, Excel, Power BI or similar tools, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), business intelligence tools, or legal technology solutions preferred.

Pay

The base salary range for this position in Chicago is $176,000 - $220,000. This range may differ based on your geographic location and cost of living considerations.

Benefits

Kirkland & Ellis offers an exceptional range of flexible benefits including:

• Comprehensive healthcare
• Paid time off
• Retirement benefits
• Personal support and tailored learning and development opportunities