Senior Director – Legal Operations & Innovation Lead

About the position The Senior Director – Legal Operations & Innovation leads the Legal Division’s operational backbone, driving strategic transformation, digital enablement, and process excellence. Reporting to the VP – Risk Assessment, Monitoring, Governance and Legal Operations , this role is responsible for designing and executing a unified legal operations strategy, fostering a culture of integrity, innovation, and continuous improvement, and enabling the business to deliver with speed and efficiency across global markets. This is a senior leadership role that directly interfaces with the Legal Division Executive Leadership Team (LDET) in support of all the Legal Division Practice Areas. The Legal Operations & Innovation Lead will partner with senior leadership and cross-functional teams to advance operational priorities, technology adoption, and scalable solutions that reduce costs, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and support the evolving needs of the Legal Division. Responsibilities • Legal Operations Strategy & Execution Develop and execute long-term legal operations strategies to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and align with divisional and enterprise objectives. • Oversee vendor management partnering with key stakeholders on operational efficiencies and cost transparency for the Legal Division. • Support end-to-end vendor management processes (intake, POs, matter coding, invoicing, reporting). • Partner with senior Legal Division leadership on optimizing outside counsel engagement and budget. • Lead analytics on outside counsel and vendor spend; streamline and scale Legal Ops reporting. • Process Optimization & Change Management Identify and implement process optimization opportunities using data-driven and risk-based approaches. • Lead cross-functional teams on long-term projects, from inception to implementation, supporting measurable outcomes. • Automate manual processes and reporting to improve efficiency and accuracy. • Support evolving support models, including delivery of client self-service solutions. • Technology, Digital Strategy & Innovation Manage the Legal Division technology stack governance, and related budget – Technology stack includes TeamConnect, Legal Data Management (LDM), Legal Data Warehouse (LDW), Legal on Demand (LoD), and Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM). • Drive adoption of AI, Copilot, and automation opportunities to gain efficiencies in ways of working. • Oversee annual tech budgeting process and monitor project spend; assess emerging technologies and implement best-in-class solutions. • Lead digital strategy and governance, centralizing intake and accelerating scale of reusable solutions. • Work closely with Legal Digital partners to support division-wide and practice group-specific technology solutions. • Knowledge Management & Service Delivery Oversee Administrative Center of Excellence (ACOE) to ensure focus on highest-impact requests while continuing to build skills and experience that identify complex operational tasks and processes that might be centralized into Legal Ops. • Curate Legal Division-wide information and resources; manage knowledge/document management strategy and communications. • Support training and development, upskilling programs, and adoption of digital tools by working with practice groups to expand legal professional support and/or self-service models to meet client needs. • Champion best practice sharing and continuous improvement across the Division including benchmarking exercises with peer companies. • Data Analytics & Reporting Lead strategy and development of analytics and reporting to support Division goals and data-driven decisions. • Deliver automated, fit-for-purpose solutions for improved efficiency and visibility. • Culture & Colleague Engagement Maintain a diverse, high-performing, change-agile team; foster a culture anchored in integrity, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement. • Support colleague development, engagement, and recognition programs. • Role model Pfizer’s values and actionable attitudes, influencing enterprise culture to align with business strategy. Requirements • Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (JD, CPA, MBA, or equivalent) preferred. • 12+ years of senior experience in operations, legal, compliance, finance, or related functions within a complex global organization. • Previous people manager experience. • Demonstrated leadership of cross-functional teams and Centers of Excellence, with proven ability to influence senior stakeholders in a matrix environment. • Experience in finance, budgeting, and vendor management. • Proven track record of operational expertise, delivering synergies, and driving innovative solutions with emerging technologies. • Experience leading digital transformation, technology adoption, and knowledge management initiatives. • Superior project management skills, with the ability to effectively manage time, prioritize work, and multi-task across many competing high priorities. • Experience across multiple geographies and functions, with a strong culture of engagement, quality, and continuous improvement • Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact. • This position requires permanent work authorization in the United States. Benefits • participation in Pfizer’s Global Performance Plan with a bonus target of 25.0% of the base salary and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program • a 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution • paid vacation, holiday and personal days • paid caregiver/parental and medical leave • health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage Apply tot his job Apply To this Job