Manager of Business Process Excellence

About Latham & Watkins

Latham & Watkins is a global law firm consistently ranked among the top firms in the world. The success of our firm is largely determined by our commitment to hire and develop the very best and brightest, creating a team that provides our clients with the highest quality of work and service. We are driven by our core values: respect, innovation, and collaboration.

The Manager of Business Process Excellence is an integral part of Latham’s Audit & Advisory team. This role will be responsible for mapping and diagnosing end-to-end workflows across business teams, identifying root causes of friction, rework, and risk, and redesigning processes for simplicity, scalability, and measurable performance improvement, while leading end-to-end business process excellence engagements, including discovery, current-state mapping, root cause analysis, future-state design, and implementation support.

This role will be located in either our New York, Washington D.C., Orange County, or Global Services Office (Downtown Los Angeles). Please note that this role may be eligible for a flexible working schedule that allows for a hybrid and in-office presence.

Other key responsibilities include:

• Identifying inefficiencies, rework, bottlenecks, and control gaps, then defining practical recommendations aligned to firm culture and operating realities
• Developing a deep understanding of workflows by synthesizing stakeholder input, documentation, system touchpoints, and data
• Applying structured methodologies (for example Lean, Six Sigma, and standard process and control design concepts) to improve quality, consistency, scalability, and cycle times
• Using data and performance measures to quantify pain points, validate hypotheses, prioritize opportunities, and track results
• Identifying opportunities for process digitization, automation, and AI enablement, developing business cases and requirements, and partnering with AI and technology teams for delivery
• Protecting and maintaining any highly sensitive, confidential, privileged, financial, and/or proprietary information that Latham & Watkins retains

We’d love to hear from you if you:

• Demonstrate a proven ability to lead and manage cross-functional process excellence engagements, including planning, structuring work, driving decisions, and delivering outcomes
• Display a strong command of process mapping and analysis techniques (current-state, future-state, swim lanes, SIPOC/value stream, root cause analysis), and demonstrated implementation experience
• Possess fluency in structured improvement methodologies (for example, Lean, Six Sigma, and standard process and control design concepts), with sound judgment on what is practical in a professional services environment

And have:

• A bachelor’s degree in any field of science or business
• An MBA or equivalent advanced degree, preferably
• A minimum of three (3) years’ consulting experience within a Big Four or comparable consulting firm, including a minimum of two (2) years' experience in the area of business process redesig n

• Healthcare, life and disability insurance
• A generous 401k plan
• At least 11 paid holidays per year, and a PTO program that accrues 23 days during the first year of employment and grows with tenure
• Well-being programs (e.g. mental health services, mindfulness and resiliency, medical resources, well-being events, and more)
• Professional development programs
• Employee discounts
• Affinity groups, networks, and coalitions for lawyers and staff

Latham & Watkins is an equal opportunity employer. The Firm prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race (including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status (including veterans of the Vietnam era), gender expression, marital status, or any other characteristic or condition protected by applicable statute.

Please  to view the full job description for this role.

Latham & Watkins LLP will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance (FCIHO). Please click the link below to review the Ordinance.

Please  to review your rights under U.S. employment laws.

USD $ - USD $ /Yr.