Position Summary

The Practice Innovation team at Ogletree Deakins delivers some of the firm's most strategic technology initiatives, including our artificial intelligence and data science projects. This position combines Scrum Master facilitation, program management discipline, and strategic roadmap ownership to ensure the team executes against an ambitious portfolio of work. The Practice Innovation team is advancing the firm's capabilities in generative AI, agentic frameworks, and modern data infrastructure to transform how legal services are delivered. We are looking for someone who is energized by that challenge and ready to help shape how the firm responds to it.

Essential Functions

• Serve as Scrum Master for the Practice Innovation team, facilitating all Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, daily standups, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and retrospectives
• Own the team roadmap end-to-end: planning, sequencing, milestone tracking, and course-correcting as priorities evolve
• Act as the engine keeping the team running on time and budget, sustaining momentum, surfacing blockers early, and driving them to resolution before they impact delivery
• Lead cross-functional collaboration across data engineers, data scientists, data analysts, and innovation analysts, driving alignment across competing workstreams
• Manage senior stakeholders with executive presence, including firm leadership, partners, and practice group leaders, holding them accountable to commitments while preserving relationships
• Translate fluently between legal, business, and technical audiences, converting ambiguous needs into clear requirements and articulating technical tradeoffs in accessible terms
• Anticipate downstream dependencies, risks, and second-order effects across complex, multi-phase initiatives
• Produce clear, concise written communication, including executive summaries, decision documents, status reports, and meeting notes
• Enthusiasm for generative AI, agentic systems, and applied machine learning, with a strong point of view on how these technologies can transform legal practice
• Passion for leveraging data as a strategic asset to inform business decisions and drive measurable outcomes

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; advanced degree a plus
• 7+ years of program or project management experience, including at least 3 years managing technical teams in a software, data, or AI/ML environment
• Scrum certification (CSM, PSM, or equivalent)
• Proven track record managing complex, cross-functional initiatives with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Experience as a Technical Program Manager (TPM) or Agile Delivery Lead at a technology, data, or AI-focused organization
• Experience with tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, Confluence, or equivalent
• Background working in legal, financial services, consulting, or other professional services environments is preferred
• Familiarity with data and AI/ML concepts (cloud platforms, RAG systems, data pipelines, ML workflows)
• Executive presence and polish in working with senior stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience running full Agile/Scrum ceremonies for a delivery team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Technical fluency sufficient to engage credibly with engineers and data scientists, read tickets, and follow architecture and data flow diagrams
• PMP certification is a plus

Benefits

In accordance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the expected salary range for this Colorado position is between $ 117,218 and $ 151,694. In accordance with New York State's Wage Transparency Law, the expected salary range for this New York State position is between $129,329 and $167,367. In accordance with California's amended labor code as stated in Senate Bill 1162, the expected salary range for this California position is between $110,765 and $167,367. In accordance with the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities act, the expected salary range for this Washington position is between $123,141 and $159,359. In accordance with the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act, the expected salary range for this DC position is between $123,141 and $159,359. In accordance with Maryland's Equal Pay for Equal Work-Wage Range Transparency Law, the expected salary range for this Baltimore position is between $110,765 and $143,343. In accordance with Illinois Equal Pay Act Transparency Notice, the expected salary range for this Illinois position is between $123,141 and $159,359. In accordance with Massachusetts Frances Perkins Workplace Equity Act, the expected salary range for this Massachusetts position is between $129,329 and $167,367. In accordance with Minnesota Pay Transparency Law, the expected salary range for this Minnesota position is between $110,765 and $143,343. In accordance with New Jersey Senate Bill 2310, the expected salary range for this New Jersey position is between $129,329 and $167,367. In accordance with applicable laws and regulations, as of the date of this posting, a good faith estimate of the current scale range for this position in Cleveland, OH is $107,229 and $138,767 annually. Actual pay will be adjusted based on experience, geographic location, and other job-related factors as permitted by law. This position qualifies for the benefits below. The application deadline for this position is December 31, 2026.

Ogletree Deakins offers a robust suite of benefits for our Staff including: Paid Time Off, Paid Sick Leave, a 401(k) matching program, Profit Sharing, Paid Holidays, Paid Parental Leave, affordable Health and Life Insurance including Dental & Vision coverage, Health Savings Account /Flexible Spending Accounts to help offset the cost of dependent care and/or health care expenses, Tuition Reimbursement and an Employee Assistance Program.

Contact Information

If you have questions, please e-mail Libby Naikelis at [email protected] with "Practice Innovation Sr. Project Manager" in the subject line. Please note, applications submitted via e-mail will not be considered.