Job description

To be considered for this role you must have prior experience in office management in a professional services firm (ideally a law firm).

Purpose

Lead the operations team on global and local operational standard related processes and activities. The role covers development and implementation of solutions based on business priorities. It involves liaison and communication across other functions’ advisors and managers, both regionally and globally. 

Key Dimensions

Identify opportunities and contribute to managing change.

Complexity – truly generalist multi-functional role.

Key responsibilities and challenges

Office Management

• Lead the delivery of operational services across the UAE offices, ensuring a professional, efficient and client-focused working environment.
• Ensure the smooth day-to-day operation of the Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices, maintaining high service standards and operational excellence. Liaise closely with the Riyadh office manager to ensure consistency of operations between the Middle East offices.
• Review, develop and implement office procedures, policies and operational processes to improve efficiency, consistency and service delivery.
• Monitor office expenditure and supplier performance, identifying opportunities for cost control and process improvement.
• Oversee facilities management activities, including office maintenance, workplace services, space utilisation and office infrastructure requirements.
• Lead relationships with landlords, service providers and external suppliers, including the negotiation, review and administration of contracts and service agreements.
• Ensure office distribution lists, contact databases and operational records are maintained accurately and in accordance with firm standards.
• Lead office-related projects and initiatives, ensuring effective planning, stakeholder engagement and successful implementation.
• Collaborate with regional and global Operations teams to drive consistency, share best practice and implement firmwide initiatives.
• Review procedures that impact the offices and make recommendations to increase efficiencies, including monitoring costs.
• Assist with co-coordinating group functions.
• Document Archiving follow the Firm’s risk guidelines in relation to storage of client documents.
• Lead and support environmental sustainability initiatives across the Middle East offices, promoting responsible business practices and compliance with firm objectives. Prepare for and lead environmental audit with external auditors.
• Participate actively in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities and office engagement initiatives.
• Ensure travel service arrangements remain aligned with firm policies and risk management requirements
• Hotel Accommodation: Liaise with preferred suppliers to negotiate corporate rates and maintain relationships – carry out an annual review of hotels for our corporate rates.

Regulatory

Business Continuity and Risk

• Maintain the UAE Business Continuity framework, ensuring plans remain current, tested and aligned with firm standards.
• Act as the local incident lead during business continuity events, coordinating response activities and stakeholder communications.
• Ensure all local regulatory, licensing and statutory requirements are met across the UAE offices and that renewals are completed within required timeframes.
• Manage the renewal of the Dubai Legal Affairs Department (DLAD) licence and other office licences as required.
• Oversee the relationship with the DLAD and ensure mandatory training is booked in line with CLPD requirements, working with Learning & Development and Knowledge teams to ensure regulatory obligations are met.
• Input on the internal training calendar to ensure annual regulatory compliance in conjunction with our Knowledge Counsel.
• Coordinate the annual review and renewal of local insurance policies, working closely with brokers, insurers and Risk teams.
• Lead regional security reviews and reporting processes, ensuring appropriate controls and mitigation measures are in place. Gather relevant data for premises reporting.
• Ensure Health & Safety requirements, emergency procedures and workplace compliance obligations are maintained and communicated effectively.
• Nominate local Fire Marshals and First Aiders and liaise with relevant teams to ensure appropriate training is kept up to date.

People Management

Team Management

• Provide leadership, direction and support to the Operations team across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
• Clearly identify strategic objectives for specific areas where required.
• Provide direction, guidance and feedback to team members in order to ensure a high quality service is delivered to the client groups and to develop the individuals.
• Create a high-performance culture through effective objective setting, regular performance conversations and ongoing coaching and development.
• Identify development opportunities and succession planning requirements to ensure organisational capability and business continuity.
• Monitor workload allocation and resource requirements to ensure effective support across offices and business functions.
• Promote collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement within the team.
• Act as a mentor and trusted advisor to members of the Operations team, supporting professional growth and career development.
• Partner with HR Advisory to support recruitment activities, including candidate assessment, interviews and selection decisions.
• Partner with HR on the onboarding process for new joiners across the UAE, ensuring a positive and seamless employee experience.
• Ensure employee data, office directories and corporate profile information remain accurate and up to date.

Communication

• Represent the group’s operations population at firm level, taking responsibility for capturing the views of the operations team.
• Ensure UAE/firm-wide policies are circulated, understood and are consistently applied.
• Represent local Operations within regional and global forums, contributing to strategic discussions and operational initiatives.
• Coordinate communication and change management activities relating to operational projects, policy updates and organisational developments.
• Maintain relationship between office landlord and cascade information to office staff. Attend quarterly Iandlord meetings.

Projects

• Lead and contribute to local, regional and global operational projects.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, service quality and employee experience through innovation and process optimisation.
• Lead change initiatives effectively, ensuring successful implementation and stakeholder adoption.
• Monitor the effectiveness of operational processes and introduce improvements where required.

Technical Skills:

This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive.  It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.