Senior Director of Innovation

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Faegre Drinker is a firm designed for clients and designed for you. We understand that our people are critical to our success and we are committed to investing in our paraprofessional, administrative and operations professionals. We are always looking for talented, service-focused individuals to join our flexible and high-performing culture. With technology tools and resources that support our hybrid work environment, our colleagues enjoy a culture of learning, support for work and personal goals, opportunities to give back to our communities, and competitive benefits and rewards programs. At Faegre Drinker, you will have the opportunity to share your expertise within and across teams and contribute to our success. Job Description Summary: Faegre Drinker has an opportunity for a Senior Director of Innovation to work within our Technology & Innovation department in our New York City, Philadelphia, or Washington D.C. office. You will be part of a dynamic team dedicated to defining (in collaboration with the CTIO) and executing the firm's innovation, AI, and data products roadmap aligned to business priorities, practice needs, client expectations, and the firm's overall technology strategy. This position will work with other talented individuals who share a passion for doing great work in the best interest of our clients. Job Description: What you would do: Establish the operating model for intake, prioritization, delivery, adoption, and support of innovation initiatives, with clear governance, ownership, metrics, and risk controls. Evaluate and manage strategic software and service vendors, balancing speed, capability, economics, and long-term platform fit. Partner with firm wide operational department and practice groups and IT leaders to identify and deliver high impact use cases across legal and business workflows. Oversee the buildout of scalable data and AI foundations, including data integration, warehouse capabilities, reporting products, workflow automation, experimentation environments, and vendor-supported engineering models. Lead the buildout and operationalization of the firm's enterprise data lake, applying a Bronze/Silver/Gold medallion architecture for data ingestion, transformation, and consumption. Oversee and actively contribute to data engineering, data pipeline development, and analytics delivery using platform-native tooling and cloud data integration services. Lead the technical design, deployment, and continuous refinement of the firm's AI platform, anchored by the PLIL (Proprietary Legal Intelligence Layer) architecture: a commercial AI platform base, a proprietary integration and workflow layer, and practice-specific AI agents. Ownership of the design and delivery of the firm's automation program, with UiPath as the primary platform. Support the CTIO regarding the management of the Illuminate program (Digital Literacy Program), a micro-module, mobile-first training initiative designed to onboard all firm employees onto AI and automation tools. Lead and develop a high-performing multidisciplinary team spanning data services, enterprise architecture, process automation, analytics, AI engineering, legal workflow innovation, and AI/data governance. Provide day-to-day oversight of direct reports and hold managers accountable for the performance, development, and engagement of their teams. Other duties as assigned What is expected: Strong analytical, problem-solving and diplomacy skills. Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively in a virtual environment (e.g., via phone, web/videoconference) Ability to concentrate on tasks, make decisions and work calmly and effectively in a high-pressure, deadline-oriented environment Demonstrated ability to use good judgment in taking initiative while asking for direction or clarification and consulting others, as appropriate Willingness to be flexible with time and adjust to a changing work environment Ability to build and maintain positive relationships, both internally and externally, while maintaining a client service orientation in a collaborative environment Ability to use sound judgment and discretion in dealing with highly confidential information Demonstrated ability to work independently, organize and accurately prioritize work, be detail-oriented, understand when urgency is required and use good judgment in varied situations

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