Job Description:
The Senior Manager, Outside Counsel Management role is responsible for the strategy, governance, performance, and financial management of the company's global outside counsel and alternative legal services provider (ALSP) portfolio. This role serves as the primary steward of legal spend, law firm relationships, billing governance, panel management, and vendor performance across all practice areas and geographies.
Working closely with the General Counsel, Legal Leadership Team, Center of Legal Excellence (Mars Legal Operations), Finance, and Mars Managing Attorneys, this role drives the department's outside counsel strategy to ensure the company receives the highest quality legal services at the best overall value.
This individual combines legal industry expertise, financial acumen, data analytics, vendor management, and change leadership to optimize legal service delivery and continuously improve the legal department's operating model.
What are we looking for?
- 8–15+ years’ experience in one or more of the following:
- Legal operations
- Outside counsel management
- Legal procurement
- Law firm pricing
- Legal vendor management
- Large corporate legal department operations
- Experience working within a multinational corporate legal department
- Expert level experience with outside counsel management platforms
- Experience with AI-enabled legal operations solutions
What will be your key responsibilities?
Global Outside Counsel Strategy & Governance
- Develop and maintain the enterprise-wide outside counsel strategy.
- Design and manage law firm panel programs, preferred provider arrangements, and strategic partnership frameworks.
- Establish governance standards for engagement, selection, evaluation, and offboarding of law firms and legal service providers.
- Drive consistency in outside counsel management across business segments, regions, and legal practice areas.
- Serve as the primary advisor to legal leadership on outside counsel market trends, alternative service delivery models, and emerging legal industry developments.
Legal Spend & Financial Management
- Oversee global outside counsel spend across all legal matters.
- Develop annual budgets, forecasts, accruals, and spend projections.
- Monitor budget-versus-actual performance and identify opportunities for cost optimization.
Alternative Fee Arrangements & Commercial Negotiations
- Lead or support negotiations with law firms, especially in RFPs and AFAs
- Expand adoption of alternative fee arrangements where appropriate.
- Conduct benchmarking and market analysis to support pricing decisions.
Matter Management & Billing Governance
- Own outside counsel billing governance and compliance programs.
- Maintain and enforce outside counsel guidelines.
- Oversee eBilling and matter management platforms.
- Establish billing controls and invoice review processes.
- Monitor compliance with billing guidelines, budget requirements, etc.
- Drive continuous improvement in billing accuracy and spend transparency.
Legal Technology & Digital Transformation in eBilling
Expert usage of, and awareness of the evolving space, in the following categories:
- eBilling systems
- RFP tools
- Data and tools (e.g. PowerBI, Tableau, etc.)
- AI-enabled legal technologies
- Matter management platforms
What can you expect from Mars?
- Work with over 130,000 diverse and talented Associates, all guided by The Five Principles.
- Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today.
- Best-in-class learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University.
- An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.
#LI-KR2
#LI-Onsite
The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is between the range listed below, however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position will include variable pay, medical and dental benefits, participation in 401k plan, and paid time off benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an applicant receives an offer of employment.
The pay range shown is applicable to all US locations listed within the job posting:USD 169,840.00 - USD 233,530.00Skills Required
- 8-15+ years experience in legal operations, outside counsel management, legal procurement, law firm pricing, legal vendor management, or large corporate legal department operations
- Experience working within a multinational corporate legal department
- Expert-level experience with outside counsel management platforms
- Experience with AI-enabled legal operations solutions
- Expert usage or awareness of eBilling systems, RFP tools, PowerBI, Tableau, and matter management platforms
- Financial acumen including developing budgets, forecasts, accruals, and spend projections
- Experience leading commercial negotiations, RFPs, and adoption of alternative fee arrangements
- Experience designing and managing law firm panel programs, governance standards, and billing compliance programs
- Vendor performance management, data analytics, and change leadership experience
Mars Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Mars and has not been reviewed or approved by Mars.
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Healthcare Strength — The benefits package is positioned as comprehensive, with broad medical coverage and additional protections like life insurance and short- and long-term disability. Mental health support is emphasized, including free mental health services and wellbeing programming under initiatives such as Mars Be Well.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave is highlighted as market-leading in the U.S., with an example of 18 weeks fully paid for both parents. Additional family-related leave types such as sick time for caregiving and bereavement leave are also described as part of the overall package.
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Retirement Support — Retirement offerings are described as strong, including 401(k) matching (with a 6% match cited) and pension plans in some cases. The broader package also references retirement savings options and contributions aligned to local market practice, supporting long-term financial security.
Mars Insights
What We Do
For more than a century, Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. This idea is at the center of who we have always been as a global, family-owned business. Today, Mars is transforming, innovating and evolving in ways that affirm our commitment to making a positive impact on the world around us. Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services, we employ 133,000 dedicated Associates who are all moving in the same direction: forward. With $40 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world’s best-loved brands including DOVE®, EXTRA®, M&M’s®, MILKY WAY®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, ORBIT®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, SKITTLES®, WHISKAS®, COCOAVIA®, and 5™; and take care of half of the world’s pets through our pet health services AniCura, Banfield Pet Hospitals™, BluePearl®, Linnaeus, Pet Partners™, and VCA™. We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper as well. The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire our Associates to take action every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive.
