Head of Pricing & Legal Project Management (Europe)

Job description

King & Spalding is a leading global law firm with a commitment to excellence, innovation, and the seamless delivery of legal services. We harness innovative technology and exceptional talent to meet the complex needs of our clients in a fast-paced and dynamic legal landscape. The Head of Pricing & Legal Project Management (Europe) will lead the development and execution of pricing, matter budgeting, alternative fee arrangements, and legal project management strategies across the Firm’s European offices. This senior role will partner closely with European practice and office leadership, partners, Business Development, Finance, and the global Pricing & Legal Project Management team to deliver commercially sound, client-focused solutions that support profitable growth, improve matter economics, strengthen matter management discipline, and enhance the Firm’s competitive position in the European legal market. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: Serve as the senior pricing and legal project management lead for Europe, providing strategic commercial, budgeting, and matter management advice to partners and matter teams across practices, offices, and jurisdictions. Develop creative, commercially viable fee arrangements, including alternative fee arrangements, fixed and capped fees, blended rates, volume discounts, collars, success fees, phased budgets, and other value-based structures. Advise partners on pricing and legal project management strategy for RFPs, competitive pitches, rate negotiations, panel reviews, reverse auctions, and other client-driven procurement processes. Partner directly with clients, where appropriate, to understand business objectives, cost pressures, pricing preferences, staffing expectations, reporting requirements, and management needs. Prepare and review pricing models, matter budgets, profitability analyses, scenario models, staffing plans, work plans, and financial impact assessments using historical matter data, market insight, and professional judgment. Assist in the design and Implementation of Firm legal project management framework, including technology selection, data improvement initiatives, process design, project management methodology, matter planning, kickoff protocols, communication plans, task tracking, milestone reporting, post-matter reviews, and lessons-learned processes for significant matters and client programs. Lead the European approach to matter budgeting, budget monitoring, scope management, and matter lifecycle support, including processes to track performance against budgets, identify risks, manage changes in scope, and support timely partner and client communications. Support the implementation of regionally appropriate pricing and legal project management governance, approval processes, commercial policies, and matter management standards that reflect European market dynamics while aligning with global Pricing & Legal Project Management strategy. Work with Business Development, Finance, Rates, Billing, IT and Practice Leadership to streamline pricing and matter management workflows, improve handoffs, and increase responsiveness to partner and client needs. Build pricing and legal project management tools, templates, playbooks, dashboards, reporting, and knowledge resources that improve consistency, efficiency, transparency, and quality of advice across Europe. Monitor legal market pricing trends, client procurement expectations, competitor approaches, legal operations practices, and the impact of technology and artificial intelligence on legal service delivery, pricing models, and matter management. Provide training and coaching to partners, associates, and professional staff on pricing strategy, law firm economics, matter budgeting, profitability, scope management, and project planning. Manage, mentor, and develop European pricing and legal project management resources as the regional team grows, fostering a high-performing, collaborative, and client-service-oriented culture. QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, economics, accounting, or a related discipline required. MBA, legal qualification, project management certification, or other relevant advanced degree preferred. Significant law firm pricing, commercial finance, legal project management, or related professional services experience, preferably within a large international law firm. Deep understanding of law firm economics, profitability, billing structures, rate management, discounting, alternative fee arrangements, client procurement dynamics, matter scoping and staffing models. Strong commercial judgment and ability to balance client value, partner objectives, matter economics, and Firm financial performance. Demonstrated ability to advise senior partners and leadership with confidence, credibility, discretion, and sound professional judgment. Excellent financial modeling, analytical, project management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate complex data and matter information into practical, actionable advice. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft persuasive pricing narratives, RFP responses, client-facing materials, work plans, status reports, and internal recommendations. Proven ability to manage multiple high-priority work streams under tight deadlines while maintaining accuracy, responsiveness, attention to detail, and strong follow-through. Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively across practices, offices, functions, jurisdictions, and cultures. Experience leading, mentoring, or developing pricing analysts, legal project managers, and other professional staff preferred. High proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Power BI, and financial reporting tools; experience with law firm financial systems (Aderant), pricing and, matter management technologies, project management tools, SQL, and artificial intelligence technologies preferred. Knowledge of the European legal market, including client buying behavior, procurement processes, and regional pricing and matter management norms, strongly preferred. Ability to protect and maintain highly confidential and sensitive information. The Firm offers a generous total compensation package with annual bonus in recognition of individual merit-based performance. Eligible employees may participate in King & Spalding’s comprehensive benefit program, including private medical insurance with Bupa, life assurance (4x salary), critical illness insurance (2x salary) and income protection insurance, 7% firm pension contribution, gym membership/wellness allowance contribution, Employee Assistance Programme, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and 25 days annual holiday. King & Spalding LLP (K&S) is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees in full compliance with all state, federal, and local laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, genetic information, age, disability or any other status protected by applicable law. We are proud of our remarkably cohesive culture, which now encompasses more than 2,500 lawyers and business professionals worldwide. We seek to attract and develop the very best talent to work with us.