Senior Coordinator, Professional Development & Corporate Staff Attorneys

Overview

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is one of the world’s leading international law firms. The Firm was established in 1884 and has approximately 2,000 lawyers. Headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Palo Alto, San Francisco, São Paulo, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C., the Firm provides coordinated legal advice and transactional capability to clients around the globe.

Simpson Thacher’s Legal Talent Department is committed to supporting its attorneys at each step of their professional development and to engaging, developing and promoting talent at all levels of the Firm. The Legal Talent Department partners with firm leadership, staffing partners and practice group heads on onboarding, staffing, mentoring, performance reviews, training and talent engagement. Within Legal Talent, Professional Development team members are dedicated to specific practice groups. They work directly with attorneys to support their development, staffing and day-to-day experience, and help ensure a positive and consistent attorney experience.

Job Summary & Objectives

The Senior Coordinator, Professional Development & Corporate Staff Attorneys (“Senior Coordinator”) has two broad responsibilities.  First, the Senior Coordinator is responsible for managing a range of associate development activities for a practice group including staffing, mentoring efforts and initiatives and overall talent engagement.  Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to, coordination of assigning, mentoring, integration and development initiatives. 

Second, the Senior Coordinator will support Legal Talent operations for Corporate Staff Attorneys by managing all aspects of the employment cycle for our corporate staff attorneys, including recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluation, and retention.

The Senior Coordinator will work closely with the Associate Director, Professional Development, as well as relevant Staffing Partner(s) and Practice Group Leader(s) and the broader Professional Development team in Legal Talent. 

This role will require at least 3 days a week in the New York office.

Essential Job Duties & Responsibilities

Staff Attorneys

• Manage staff attorney annual and interim evaluation process, including:
  • Ensuring that each staff attorney has thorough evaluations and developmental objectives.
  • Assist with verbal intake of feedback from attorneys.
  • Update VI feedback tracking system.
• Assist with hiring processes, including:
  • Scheduling candidate interviews and preparing hiring approval requests and offer letters
  • Facilitate and schedule orientation and welcome lunches for new staff attorneys
  • Update applicable group lists
• Develop and facilitate mentor program for staff attorneys
  • Work closely with Practice Development Leads to pair staff attorneys with mentors
  • Track mentor meetings and ensure staff attorneys are connecting with their respective mentors and engage in dialogue about ongoing professional development goals
• Assist with the departing staff attorney process, including exit interviews and transition of work
• Act as a resource for staff attorneys; guide and mentor staff attorneys, and connect them to Firm or other resources
• Organize and facilitate training programs and group lunch presentations
• Manage initiatives and group events to create a cohesive team and meaningful connections within the group
• Facilitate communication within the staff attorney cohorts, including proactively developing and managing various communications to the cohorts
• Serve as point person for problem-solving and resolution
• Connect regularly with staff attorneys to monitor morale and address any concerns
• Assist with annual budget preparation, operational costs and related reporting

Professional Development

Staffing

• Partner with the staffing partners, through regular meetings, to allocate assignments and structure teams based on associate availability, experience, skills and utilization
• Track and analyze associate metrics, including hours and availability
• Conduct regular check-ins with associates to assess workload, morale and engagement
• Coordinate cross-departmental staffing and secondments with the staffing partners and the Legal Talent team
• Track associate vacation schedules, leaves of absence and related coverage
  

Performance Reviews

• Support the Legal Talent team in ensuring associates receive timely, robust feedback, including intake of verbal evaluations as needed

Mentoring & Engagement

• Support practice group leaders and staffing partners in fostering strong mentoring connections and team-based interactions
• Work with the Legal Talent team to pair associates with mentors and partner advisors, and ensure ongoing dialogue about professional development goals
• Plan team-building and mentoring events that foster connectivity
• Serve as a point of contact and feedback loop among associates, Firm leadership and practice partners

Departmental Meals & Training Programs

• Support the Training Partners in arranging regular departmental lunches/breakfasts
• Support the Training Partners, Legal Training and Knowledge Management with practice-specific training programs, including:
  • Serving as point of contact for presenters and managing scheduling, registration, facilities, food service and technology
  • Preparing and distributing training materials and program communications, including maintaining email lists
  • Providing on-site support to ensure programs run smoothly, including practice-specific sessions during STBReady and STBAdvance
• Liaise with Recruiting to support the integration of summer and lateral associates
• Coordinate with other professional service teams (e.g., Knowledge Management, Inclusion and Training) to advance practice initiatives
• Work on ad hoc projects and perform other duties as assigned

Education

Required

• Bachelor’s degree

Skills and Experience

Required

• Minimum of 3-4 years of comparable experience.
• Strong oral and written communication skills and the ability to interact well and build professional relationships while maintaining confidentiality; collaborative approach to working with others of all seniority levels.
• Strong interest and experience in professional development.
• Ability to self-direct, manage multiple priorities, analyze needs and implement solutions.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail for both long- and short-term projects and responsibilities.
• Must be team oriented, contributing as needed to unexpected projects or requests.
• Proficient in Word, Excel and PowerPoint and comfortable working in web-based databases/software, e.g., viDesktop
• Must be flexible to adjust hours to meet departmental needs.
• Excellent judgment and problem-solving skills with the ability to assess competing priorities and make sound, timely decisions.
• Ability to exercise tact, discretion and strong judgment to maintain the highest level of confidentiality regarding employee information.

Preferred

• Prior experience in a law firm setting.
• Demonstrated experience in managing staffing, resource allocation, utilization and workflow coordination.
• Knowledge of legal principles and practices.

Salary Information

NY Only: The estimated base salary range for this position is $100,000 to $115,000 at the time of posting.

The actual salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job. This role is non-exempt meaning it is overtime pay eligible.

Simpson Thacher will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.

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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is committed to a collegial work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. The Firm prohibits discrimination or harassment based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, citizenship status, disability, marital or partnership status, sexual orientation, veteran’s status or any other legally protected status. This Policy pertains to every aspect of an individual’s relationship with the Firm, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, benefits, training and development, promotion, transfer, discipline, termination, and all other privileges, terms and conditions of employment.

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