Team Support Manager

Responsibilities

• People Leadership & Team Management (Primary Focus)
• Directly manage and develop professional support staff, with a strong emphasis on performance management, engagement, and accountability.
• Address and resolve complex people issues, including role recalibration, resistance to change, and inconsistent engagement.
• Build a culture of accountability, professionalism, trust, and psychological safety while setting and enforcing clear expectations.
• Serve as a steady, credible leader during periods of organizational change, role evolution, and talent transformation.
• Conduct regular one-on-ones, team meetings, and coaching conversations; deliver direct, timely and candid feedback.
• Partner closely with HR on recruiting, onboarding, performance counseling, and employee relations matters.
• Develop and retain talent through intentional coaching, skill development, and succession planning.
• Act as a visible, hands-on leader—willing to step in alongside the team when needed to model standards and unblock work.
• Operational Execution & Service Delivery
• Own day-to-day operational execution for assigned teams, ensuring work is appropriately staffed, prioritized, and delivered with high quality.
• Monitor workload distribution, capacity, utilization, and overtime; make real-time adjustments to ensure sustainability and service consistency.
• Oversee workflow tools and systems (including ServiceNow or equivalent), ensuring effective delegation, escalation, and use of technology.
• Serve as an escalation point for service issues raised by attorneys; address concerns quickly, professionally, and constructively.
• Staff and oversee special projects, ensuring clarity of scope, deadlines, and accountability.
• Change Management & Process Improvement
• Lead teams through ongoing changes to roles, workflows, tools, and expectations.
• Translate broader Team Support and firm initiatives into clear, actionable expectations for the team.
• Identify operational friction, inefficiencies, or risk areas and implement pragmatic improvements that balance efficiency with people impact.
• Train and support staff on new processes, systems, and ways of working.
• Collaborate cross-functionally (IT, Finance, HR, Practice Management, Innovation) to ensure smooth handoffs and aligned execution.
• Data, Metrics & Business Judgment
• Establish and monitor performance metrics related to service delivery, workload, skill development, and team health.
• Use data to assess pace, intensity, performance trends, and capability gaps—and take action accordingly.
• Prepare clear, actionable updates for senior leadership that translate data into decisions.
• Apply sound financial and operational judgment, including expense and overtime management.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) or equivalent professional experience.
• 3+ years of direct experience managing teams in a complex, high-expectation environment.
• Demonstrated success handling difficult people issues, performance management, and organizational change.
• Strong operational background and ability to run day-to-day execution.
• Experience in legal or financial services, professional services, or similarly demanding client-facing environments strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to lead through ambiguity, earn credibility with senior stakeholders, and make independent decisions.
• Excellent judgment, emotional intelligence, and communication skills; able to be direct, fair, and steady under pressure.
• Comfort using data, metrics, and systems to manage performance and capacity.
• Familiarity with process improvement, automation, or AI-enabled tools is helpful but secondary to people leadership strength.