Associate Director of Innovation Delivery

About Kirkland & Ellis

At Kirkland & Ellis, we don't just meet the standard for legal excellence - we set it. Our culture is built on teamwork, ingenuity and an unwavering commitment to continuous growth. We tackle the most sophisticated legal challenges with bold ideas and innovative solutions, powered by the exceptional experience and ambition of our 7,000+ people, including 4,000+ attorneys, across 22 offices worldwide. Our dedicated professionals share our lawyers' commitment to excellence and show up each day to do meaningful work that helps drive global business, investment and innovation forward.

What You'll Do

Are you driven to turn bold innovation ideas into real-world solutions that scale? As the Innovation Delivery Lead, you'll sit at the intersection of Innovation and Information Technology (IT), translating forward-looking concepts into actionable delivery plans that move seamlessly from prototype to production.

In this role, you'll partner closely with Innovation leadership and key IT support teams to define delivery strategies, support rapid prototyping and agile development, and ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, compliance requirements, and long-term technology strategy. You'll also lead and develop a team of Innovation Product Managers, setting clear standards for execution, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring measurable outcomes across pilot initiatives and product portfolios.

• Innovation Strategy Alignment - Partner with Innovation leadership to define long-term delivery goals, prioritize initiatives, and align execution plans with the firm's broader innovation roadmap.
• End-to-End Solution Delivery - Translate innovation concepts into structured delivery plans and coordinate execution across IT towers, practice teams, and external vendors.
• Emerging Technology Enablement - Oversee delivery of solutions leveraging Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), legal Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms (such as Harvey and Legora), agentic workflows, AI integrated development platforms (such as NewCode.AI), and custom-built legal technology products.
• Pilot to Production Transition - Support pilots for emerging technologies (including Microsoft Azure AI services and on-premises Artificial Intelligence / Graphics Processing Unit (AI/GPU) environments) and guide their transition into scalable, supported production environments.
• Architecture & Integration - Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, application programming interfaces (APIs), infrastructure standards, and future-state capabilities.
• Governance & Compliance Partnership - Collaborate with Responsible Artificial Intelligence (RAI), Risk, and Security teams to ensure adherence to AI governance frameworks and security standards.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration - Build strong working relationships across Innovation, IT, Risk, Security, and Practice teams to promote transparency, shared ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Delivery Reporting & Risk Management - Track milestones, communicate progress to stakeholders, and proactively identify and mitigate risks impacting timelines, quality, or scalability.
• Team Leadership & Execution Discipline - Lead, mentor, and hold accountable a team of Innovation Product Managers, removing obstacles and reinforcing strong agile and delivery practices.

What You'll Bring

• Education - Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience - Demonstrated experience coordinating technology solution delivery within legal or professional services environments.
• Delivery & Agile Expertise - Strong ability to structure sprint plans, manage backlogs, coordinate cross-functional execution, and ensure readiness activities (testing, quality assurance (QA), user acceptance testing (UAT), and documentation) are completed prior to release.
• Technology Operations Knowledge - Experience coordinating application upgrades, patching cycles, environment refreshes, and dependency management across IT, Infrastructure, Security, and vendor teams.
• Vendor & Support Model Familiarity - Working knowledge of service-level agreements (SLAs), escalation paths, managed services workflows, and ticketing platforms such as ServiceNow and Jira.
• AI & Automation Exposure - Familiarity with GenAI, agentic technologies, automation platforms, and leading legal AI SaaS tools (e.g., Harvey, Legora, Centari, Relativity aiR).
• Cloud & Integration Understanding - Exposure to Microsoft Azure AI and Machine Learning (AI/ML) services, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, APIs, and enterprise integration patterns.
• Governance Awareness - Understanding of data governance, security, and compliance frameworks in enterprise environments.
• Communication & Leadership Skills - Ability to translate technical concepts into clear business language, manage multiple priorities, and lead with an empathetic, collaborative approach.
• Mobility - Willingness to travel as needed.

If you're excited to lead the delivery of cutting-edge innovation, guide teams from idea to impact, and help shape the future of legal technology, we'd love to hear from you.

How to Apply

Thank you for your interest in Kirkland & Ellis LLP. To complete an application and submit your resume, please click "Apply Now."

Don't meet every job requirement? That's okay! If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't perfectly fit every qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right person for this role or others at Kirkland.

Equal Employment Opportunity

All employment decisions, including the recruiting, hiring, placement, training availability, promotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplinary actions, and termination of employment (if necessary) are made without regard to the employee's race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy or childbirth, personal appearance, family responsibilities, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, political affiliation, source of income, place of residence, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, marital status, military veteran status, unfavorable discharge from military service, physical or mental disability, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law. #LI-Hybrid #LI-LC1