Senior Professional Development Specialist

The Senior Professional Development Specialist supports the professional staffing and development of associates and counsel within the Energy & Infrastructure practice, including, but not limited to, staffing, talent engagement initiatives, and mentoring. The Senior Professional Development Specialist serves as a key resource in advancing attorney staffing coordination and assignments, development initiatives, mentoring programs, talent engagement efforts, performance management processes and helping ensure a positive and consistent attorney experience across the practice.

• Partner closely with staffing partners and Professional Development Managers to monitor, assess and help maintain an equitable level of attorney utilization across the group.
• Evaluate staffing requests and make recommendations regarding resource allocation, matching staffing needs with the appropriate attorney resources based on availability, experience, skills, utilization, and desired exposure to various matters/teams.
• Build rapport with mid-senior associates by means of in-person meetings, telephone calls and Zoom meetings.
• Provide associates with the opportunity to work on a variety of matters while balancing growth opportunities with client needs.
• Strive to maintain consistency of experiences and equitable distribution of assignments across the practice area.
• Maintain and analyze staffing databases, utilization reports, charts, and related metrics.
• Monitor associate availability and utilization trends and prepare reports and recommendations to support staffing decisions and resource planning.
• Coordinate with staffing partners and Legal Talent colleagues regarding cross-office staffing, secondments, and other staffing initiatives, as appropriate.

• Coordinate and facilitate staffing introductions, welcome meetings, lunches, internal communications, integration and onboarding activities for new associates, counsel, and lateral hires.
• Update applicable group lists and onboarding resources.

• Monitor and track absence time and maintain vacation calendars.
• Coordinate necessary matter team coverage during attorney absences.
• Track vacation carryover.

• Develop trusted professional relationships with staff attorneys, associates, and counsel through regular check-in meetings; gain an understanding of professional experiences, development objectives, availability, engagement, and overall well-being.
• Identify engagement, retention, staffing, or professional development opportunities or concerns and recommend appropriate actions, escalating matters to Legal Talent management when necessary.
• Mentoring/Advisor Program
• Work closely with the Legal Talent team to pair associates/counsel with mentors and partner advisors.
• Ensure associates/counsel are connecting with their respective mentors and advisors and engaged in dialogue about ongoing professional development goals.
• Provide an active feedback loop between associates/counsel, Legal Talent, and the partners in the group.
• Collaborate with the Director of Practice Management to plan and facilitate a variety of team-building events to foster connectivity.
• Assist in monitoring and maintaining associate compliance with firm and professional policies (e.g., CLE, bar exam, etc.)

• Performance Reviews
• Ensure that each associate/counsel has thorough evaluations and developmental objectives.
• Assist with verbal intake of feedback from partners.
• Update VI feedback tracking system.
• Participate in talent review discussions and assist in preparing materials, reports, and analyses related to attorney performance and development.
• Coordinate regularly with other professional service team members (e.g., Director of Practice Management, Knowledge Management Lawyer, Training and Development Manager, etc.) to further practice group initiatives.
• Analyze and maintain accurate data and reporting within staffing and talent management systems.
• Work on ad hoc projects as needed.

Required

• Bachelor's degree preferred; will consider advanced experience in lieu of a degree.

• 4 to 5 years of relevant experience, including prior experience in a law firm and/or staffing experience.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Must have superior judgment and the ability to deal discreetly with confidential information.
• Ability to interact well and build professional relationships with a…