Director, Legal Operations

About Us

Ameren is a leader in the energy industry, and our transformation toward more clean, renewable energy is also  transforming other industries and infrastructure in our communities.  As a regional company serving local customers, we not only serve our communities, we're a part of them. This isn't just a job. At Ameren, we invest in you, so you can power the quality of life you want.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is one of the core values that guides us in everything we do. We are committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that brings diverse perspectives to every area of our business.

Our benefits include:

• Medical coverage on date of hire

• 100% employer paid cash balance pension plan

• 401(k) with company match fully vested on date of hire

• Long Term Incentive Plan

• Option to enroll in Deferred Compensation

• Minimum of 15 days paid vacation and 12 paid holidays

• Paid parental leave and family caregiver leave

Visit our Benefits & Perks Page for more information on benefits provided to regular full-time employees. ​

About Ameren Services (B&CS)

Ameren Services provides administrative support and services to Ameren Corporation and its operating companies, subsidiaries and affiliates. Ameren Services includes a wide range of skill sets and roles, from finance and legal experts to digital and cyber specialists, plus those charged with ensuring environmental compliance and operational safety. Together, we help execute a strategy that enables Ameren to deliver superior long-term value to customers, shareholders and the environment.

About The Position

The Director, Legal Operations role will work closely with the Legal Department leadership team to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of legal services to the organization in alignment with the Department's strategies, goals, and objectives. The role will support the Department through rigorous planning processes, budget planning and management, technology strategy and delivery, diversity strategy and planning, communications, team development, strategic outside counsel planning, data analytics, development of performance and productivity metrics and tools, and general Department coordination, planning and support. The role is responsible for strategic and tactical aspects of the Department's relationships with and engagement of law firms. This role will provide broad exposure to some of the most important operations, performance excellence and workforce issues facing the Department and the Company and is a great opportunity to be an innovative leader and make a meaningful impact.  This position is also responsible for managing a team of paralegals, legal assistants, and a legal operations specialist.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the paralegal team and manage their efforts to provide paralegal services effectively and efficiently across all legal and regulatory specialty areas in support of various business needs.  Lead the legal assistants team to effectively support attorneys and paralegals in providing best in class legal services.  Lead a legal operations specialist to help achieve the operational goals and objectives for a successful Legal Department.

• Design and manage strategic law firm relationship plan to develop and maintain effective partnerships between internal and external counsel, increase innovation, implement measures to improve service levels and control outside counsel spend, oversee budget management, deploy technology solutions, lead diversity initiatives, enhance communications, develop appropriate performance and productivity measures, and facilitate other law firm partnership objectives.

• Manage and guide Ameren's strategic law firm relationship plan, with a focus on controlling outside counsel spend through internal-external staffing strategy, pricing negotiations, alternative fee arrangements, requests for proposals, budget management, Law Firm selection and streamlining, staffing measures and behavior changes including designing appropriate tools, metrics and processes, and policies and procedures regarding the same.

• Develop and lead the implementation of a technology roadmap aligned with Department strategies and objectives and designed to facilitate delivery of technology solutions (e.g., Matter Management Systems and/or Document Management Systems) that will enable the provision of cost-efficient, innovative, data-informed, excellent legal services.    

• Design and manage with relevant partners in Data Analytics, Digital and Information Technology, Operations, Claims, and Finance, the collection, processing, maintenance, analysis and use of relevant data to assist internal attorneys in their law firm selection and engagement process, and in their proactive feedback to business operations; and to assist Department leadership in resource allocation and work prioritization.

• Lead Department diversity strategies to increase internal Department co-worker diversity, and to increase the use of diverse outside counsel and other suppliers. Partner with Department Diversity Committee, Department leadership, Supplier Diversity and Diversity and Inclusion to design and execute on Department diversity initiatives.

• Support the engagement and development of the Legal team to build a strong pipeline of flexible, engaged, and high-performing Legal talent.

• Support Department leadership in development of Strategic Plans, development of measurable goals to align with same, and development of Department processes and tools to track and communicate Department performance compared to goals and key metrics.  Identify insights and provide actionable recommendations to improve effectiveness. 

• Maintain current knowledge of Legal operations trends/developments, assess the impact, and ensure that new trends/developments are incorporated in current and future strategies, as appropriate, to advance Department and Company objectives.

• Support communications within the Department, as a liaison to other Company stakeholders, and to Law Firms, industry groups and other external stakeholders.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Legal/Paralegal Studies, etc. required.

• Master's Degree or Juris Doctorate preferred. 

• Ten (10) or more years of experience in a relevant discipline (e.g., Legal, Legal Operations, Continuous Improvement, Office and Budget Management, etc.). required.

• Direct Legal Operations experience preferred.

• Experience practicing law preferred.

• Five (5) or more years of supervisory experience required.

In addition to the above qualifications, the successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong business acumen with proven ability to align people strategies with business goals. 

• Ability to see the big picture while managing the details. 

• Advanced interpersonal skills (verbal and written) and a comfort working with all levels in the organization. 

• Proven ability to work in a highly ambiguous, rapidly changing organization.

• Demonstrated ability to analyze, identify and solve problems while using sound judgment. 

• Ability to effectively organize, plan, control and prioritize work/projects, while regularly communicating progress to appropriate stake holders. 

• Model and promote high standards of ethical conduct and behaviors consistent with organizational standards. 

• Anticipate, understand, and manage customer expectations. 

• Demonstrate a high degree of professionalism, maturity, and confidentiality.  Strong people and team leadership skills.

• Strong communication skills (interpersonal, written and verbal).

Additional Information:

The Director, Legal Operations works a hybrid schedule between home and office environment.

Ameren’s selection process includes a series of interviews and may include a leadership assessment process.  Specific details will be provided to qualified candidates.

#LI-Hybrid

Compensation Range:

$135,500.00 - $210,000.00

At Ameren, base salary is one component of a competitive compensation package for employees. Our pay ranges are broad to allow for movement within our organization and to accommodate different skill sets and levels of expertise. We take into consideration a variety of factors including, but not limited to, skills, abilities, experience, education, credentials, and internal equity when determining the base salary offered. Roles are eligible for additional rewards including annual incentive payments based on individual and company performance. Director and above positions also include a Long-Term Incentive Plan and the option to enroll in a Deferred Compensation Plan.

If end date is listed, the posting will come down at 12:00 am on that date:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, genetic information, military service or status, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other class, trait, or status protected by law.