Legal Operations Lead

About the role

Column is building a modern, AI‑native legal function within a regulated financial institution. As the first Legal Operations hire, you will partner directly with the General Counsel to design and execute a fast, data‑driven operating model that scales with the business.

Key responsibilities

• Define and implement the Legal Operating Model, including intake SLAs, approval gates, and cross‑functional handoffs.
• Develop KPIs, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms to give leadership actionable insight into team performance and cycle times.
• Identify bottlenecks and create scalable process improvements to reduce task duration from days to minutes.
• Own the legal technology roadmap, audit existing tools, and design AI‑assisted workflows, dashboards, and redlining tools.
• Manage contract lifecycle and knowledge management, ensuring templates, repositories, and playbooks are current and searchable.
• Oversee outside‑counsel operations, budgeting, forecasting, and cost‑rigor across external legal relationships.

Required profile

• 7+ years of legal operations experience in a high‑growth tech company or financial institution.
• Builder mindset with a first‑principles, AI‑native approach to tools and systems.
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills across Legal, Risk, Compliance, Finance, Engineering, and Growth.
• Hyper‑organized project manager comfortable juggling multiple workstreams and driving accountability.

Required skills

• Hands‑on experience with Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems.
• Knowledge management platforms and e‑billing tools.
• Data analytics tools for dashboard and metric creation.
• AI‑assisted workflow and automation tools.

What we offer

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans fully covered for employee and dependents.
• Family planning and fertility benefits up to $20,000 in qualified expenses.
• Up to $2,000 monthly rent subsidy for employees living within 2 miles of the office.
• 401k plan with self‑directed brokerage options.
• Flexible time‑off policy and 100% paid parental leave.
• Catered meals, commuter benefits, and regular team‑building events.