IT Director

ASCENDING$150K — $180K *
Legal & Accounting
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Proven experience in IT leadership, preferably in a law firm or professional services.
  • Strong background in IT infrastructure and application management.
  • Demonstrated ability to select and manage diverse external IT partners and vendors.
  • Expertise in business analysis and legal workflow automation.
  • Solid knowledge of cybersecurity practices and collaboration with MSSPs.
  • Exceptional communication skills to translate technical concepts for varied audiences.
  • Hands-on experience with cloud systems, notably Microsoft 365 and legal management platforms.

Responsibilities

  • Lead daily management and improvement of legal technology systems across multiple offices.
  • Act as a business analyst to define application needs and set priorities.
  • Oversee software engineering partners for legal API workflows and automation solutions.
  • Collaborate with MSSPs to maintain cybersecurity standards and regulatory compliance.
  • Develop technology standards and user documentation in partnership with vendors.
  • Evaluate and implement low-code and AI tools to enhance legal workflows.
  • Manage internal and external teams for efficient tech support and user satisfaction.

Benefits

  • Direct hire position with potential for long-term career growth.
  • Opportunity to influence modernization and innovation in legal technology.
  • Collaborative environment with multiple offices ensuring diverse team interactions.
  • Engagement in strategic partner management for diverse technology vendors.
  • Focus on work-life balance with onsite work structure fostering team interaction.
Full Job Description
IT Director
Onsite, New York City
Direct Hire


About the Role
We are seeking a practical, business-aligned technology leader to manage, modernize, and secure a multi-office technology environment, including New York headquarters and coordination with a branch in Irvine, California. This role combines hands-on legal workflow automation, vendor oversight, strategic partner management, and clear communication, all with a service-oriented mindset. The ideal candidate will operate with an agile, approachable, high-touch, and cost-conscious approach, bringing technology innovation and efficiency to the firm.

Key Responsibilities
  • Technology Leadership & Operations
    • Lead and support the day-to-day management and continuous improvement of core legal technology systems, including cloud document management, practice management platforms, Microsoft 365, endpoints, and collaboration tools.
    • Act as a business analyst to define requirements, set priorities, and identify effective application solutions.
  • Vendor & Partner Management
    • Oversee external software engineering and integration partners to build, refine, and maintain legal API workflows and client-facing automations.
    • Collaborate with Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) to uphold stringent cybersecurity standards and ensure regulatory compliance.
    • Develop and maintain technology standards, user documentation, runbooks, and onboarding/offboarding processes in partnership with external vendors.
    • Oversee IT contracts, vendor billing, software licensing, and technology spend to ensure efficiency and budget adherence.
  • Innovation & Modernization
    • Evaluate, implement, and support practical low-code and AI-driven tools to streamline administrative processes, document generation, and legal workflows.
    • Identify inefficiencies, outdated systems, and opportunities for modernization, driving improvement projects from conception through completion.
  • Team & Stakeholder Management
    • Manage and hold accountable both internal and external technical teams to facilitate quick ticket resolution and maintain high user satisfaction across multiple offices.
    • Clearly communicate with both technical vendors and non-technical stakeholders, translating complex technical concepts into accessible language for all user groups.
Qualifications

Required
  • Proven experience in IT leadership or application management, ideally within a law firm or professional services setting.
  • Past experience with IT Infrastructure as well as Application experience required.
  • Demonstrated success in selecting, managing, and holding accountable diverse external IT delivery partners, cloud hosts, and third-party vendors.
  • Strong business analysis and workflow automation experience, particularly with legal or professional applications.
  • Solid understanding of cybersecurity practices and experience working with MSSPs.
  • Excellent communication skills with demonstrated ability to bridge technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Experience with Intune and associated tools
  • Hands-on experience with modern cloud-based systems (e.g., Microsoft 365), legal or document management platforms, and collaboration/endpoint solutions.
Preferred
  • Experience driving low-code, AI, or workflow automation projects.
  • Comfortable working across organizational boundaries and time zones.
  • Experience managing technology budgets and cost optimization initiatives.

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