Senior Business Relationship Manager

Summary:

The Senior Business Relationship Manager (BRM) serves as a trusted advisor and principal liaison between IT and stakeholder groups across the Firm (e.g., practice areas, administrative departments). The Senior BRM leads IT demand management in close partnership with IT and cross-functional leadership, and is responsible for proactively identifying, shaping, and prioritizing the Firms strategic technology requirements. This individual engages across the lifecycle of IT solution delivery - actively participating in Firm / IT strategic planning activities, informing IT solution design and build activities to preserve alignment with Firm needs, and supporting organizational change management / readiness efforts to drive adoption of new technology solutions.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Leads the strategic buildout of the BRM function for IT in partnership with Firm leadership.
• Represents the BRM function as needed for strategic decisioning.
• Maintains deep understanding of the strategic objectives, processes, and unique needs / requirements of the functional areas that the BRM supports.
• Advises Firm stakeholders on the IT vision, strategy, and roadmap to establish awareness, drive technology acumen, and help shape desired technology solutions.
• Collaborates with other BRMs to spot Firm-wide trends and identify opportunities to work across departments / practice areas to break down business silos.
• Partners closely with IT leadership and functional teams to share Firm requirements / insights, inform priorities / budget / resourcing, align solution design, and establish forward-looking roadmaps.
• Leads the intake, justification, business case development, and scoping of new project / technology requests.
• Preserves interactions between IT and functional groups across the Firm to maintain a continuing relationship and a shared vision.
• Proactively engages Firm stakeholders to establish forward-looking, strategic IT planning.
• Leads the design of the BRM function, including process design, role definition, and reporting.
• Formalizes the intake of Firm / stakeholder technology needs and actively engages in IT demand management evaluation and planning.
• Escalates items not receiving appropriate attention, including approvals, projects, and issues.
• Participates in IT governance processes to support and balance prioritization across other Firm and IT needs.
• Informs and supports the development of standards and templates for project scoping and justification, requirements definition, functional and technical designs, process flow diagrams, system / user acceptance test scripts, and other materials as needed.
• Leads business / functional requirements definition with Firm stakeholders for critical projects and initiatives.
• Informs and supports overall IT change management and communication strategies, actively leading execution for the areas of the Firm that the BRM supports.
• Supports the definition of service level agreements (SLAs) for new or changed services to preserve an optimal experience for the Firm and its clients.
• Uphold high standards of confidentiality, discretion, and integrity, particularly with respect to all sensitive and/or confidential firm and client information to which this position will have access.

Qualifications:

• College degree is strongly preferred, ideally in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field. Masters degree is preferred.
• Appropriate technical certification(s) are preferred.
• 7+ years of relevant experience, ideally in a large Law Firm setting, a comparable professional services organization, or a legal information services provider.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic technology planning.
• Demonstrated experience in leading the prioritization of multiple strategic objectives.
• Demonstrated experience with organizational change management.
• Strong familiarity with BRM models and associated leading practices for process design, role definition, and reporting.
• Strong familiarity with project and program management disciplines, methodologies, and processes.
• Familiarity with the functioning of a program management office and governance frameworks.
• Law Firm experience a plus.
• Proven ability to build and maintain strong working relationships with the C-suite and represent the voice of the customer.
• Ability to develop and motivate technology teams, inclusive of staff, and 3rd party vendors / consultants.
• Ability to establish rapport and elicit cooperation from personnel across all levels, including executive management, and cross-functional leadership.
• Responsible for staying abreast of business issues and industry trends to anticipate impacts of technology changes on the workforce and business.
• Strong customer service orientation in combination with persuasive skills and diplomacy to lead change and guide decisions.
• Proven analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to appropriately prioritize and execute tasks in a fast-paced, service-intensive environment.
• Effective written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to conduct research into project and portfolio management issues and products as required.
• Highly self-motivated and directed.
• Team oriented and skilled in working within a collaborative environment.

Status: Exempt

Workplace Type: Hybrid (candidate will need to be within reasonable commuting distance to Washington, D.C. office)

Salary Range: $148,000 $209,000 (salary is calculated based on years of experience and location)

Position requires access to equipment, software, or technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. To be granted access pursuant to US Export Control laws, candidate must be either (a) a United States citizen or national; (b) a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence of the United States (i.e., Green Card holder); or (c) an INS-approved refugee or asylum holder who has applied for naturalization within six months of the date the individual first became eligible; and if not yet naturalized, is still actively pursuing naturalization if 2 years have passed since the date of application to be granted access pursuant to US Export Control laws. Candidates will be required to submit appropriate documentation to determine whether access can be granted before proceeding further through the application process.

Covington & Burling LLP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in any aspect of employment, including hiring, salary, promotion, discipline, termination, and benefits, on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, sexual orientation, family responsibility, disability (including physical handicap), or any other improper criterion.