Office Manager

Kennedys, a growing global law firm, is seeking an experienced Office Manager to support its west coast offices in the United States. This Office Manager will be based out of our office in San Francisco, CA, and will also support offices in Los Angeles, CA and Seattle, WA. Some occasional travel to Los Angeles and Seattle will be required.

This is a hands-on, fast-paced role ideal for someone who thrives in a high-pressure legal environment, can manage competing priorities, and brings prior law firm experience. A general understanding of California litigation practice is strongly preferred. The successful candidate will be responsible for the smooth, efficient day-to-day operation of the office and will directly supervise legal assistants and office services employees, ensuring workloads are appropriately balanced and service levels remain high.

Key Responsibilities

• Supervise and manage legal assistants and office services employees, including oversight of staffing levels, performance, and professional development
• Actively manage and allocate workflow to ensure deadlines are met and workloads are balanced in a fast-paced litigation environment
• Partner with Business Services Managers to ensure smooth and efficient office operations
• In collaboration with the Operations Director, oversee facilities functions including reception, building maintenance, print and scanning services, mobile device procurement, office supplies, and mail services
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the office, responding effectively to urgent and competing priorities
• Coordinate with HR on recruitment, onboarding, training, attendance, payroll, and performance management for legal assistants and select office services personnel
• Oversee onboarding for all office personnel, including attorneys, ensuring a seamless experience from day one
• Identify and escalate performance or staffing challenges to HR as appropriate
• Plan and coordinate office events and socials that promote collaboration, engagement, and retention
• Oversee hospitality services and front-of-house experience
• Champion new technologies and process improvements to enhance productivity and operational efficiency

Required Skills & Experience

• Prior law firm experience required; California litigation environment exposure strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to supervise staff and manage workflow in a deadline-driven professional services environment
• Ability to perform effectively in a high-pressure, fast-moving legal setting
• Knowledge and understanding of California and Washington labor laws
• High level of IT literacy and comfort adopting new systems and tools
• Strong communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills
• Proven people management and supervisory experience
• Working knowledge of California and Washington court rules and procedures is a plus, but not required  
• Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and manage change with flexibility

The annualized salary range for this role is $115,000-$135,000. However, this is contingent upon level of experience, practice group, location and other job-related factors permitted by law.

FLSA Status: Exempt

Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to be made in order to submit your application to Kennedys. 

About Kennedys

Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 2,750 people worldwide across 48 offices in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and America we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.

Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services, for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.

We're a fresh-thinking firm, and we're not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.

What do we have to offer?

We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.

Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive and distinctive. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.

The Firm recognises the value of investing in our people's development and believes our culture and values contribute to the quality of our work and of our client relationships. With a culture of on-the-job and experiential learning, peer to peer learning, mentoring, resources and tools that enable you to drive your career, we can support your development in your current and future roles.  A variety of other opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices.

We strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work.  We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust, where diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority.  We recognise that many of our people want to work for an employer that is aligned to their values, which is why we are building an inclusive culture, decarbonising our operations and supporting our people to thrive at work.  Our people are the key to driving this change and helping us to make a difference to our clients, our people and the communities in which we live and work.

Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to Information Security, Data Protection and Quality Management, refer any breach promptly to Risk & Compliance and to complete all mandatory training when requested.