Wilson Sonsini is the premier legal advisor to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises worldwide. We represent companies at every stage of development, from entrepreneurial start-ups to multibillion-dollar global corporations, as well as the venture firms, private equity firms, and investment banks that finance and advise them. The firm has approximately 1,100 attorneys in 17 offices: 13 in the U.S., two in China, and two in Europe. Our broad spectrum of practices and entrepreneurial spirit allow exceptional opportunities for professional achievement and career growth.
The Applied AI and Innovations Legal Advisor leads the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the firm's AI development and feedback pipeline. This role drives a multidisciplinary team of AI Enablement professionals, serving as strategic advisors to practice groups across the firm, to identify, evaluate, and deploy AI solutions that elevate legal service delivery and operational performance. You will assist with driving the firm's AI adoption strategy, aligning high-impact initiatives with business objectives, transforming legal workflows, and sharpening the firm's competitive edge. This position calls for a visionary technologist and skilled communicator who can embed a culture of innovation and champion AI-driven change at every level of the firm.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Oversee a team of AI Enablement professionals, providing day-to-day supervision, coaching, and professional development. Responsibilities include work assignment, prioritization, and coordination to ensure timely delivery of team objectives, while setting clear performance expectations and holding the team accountable for identifying high-impact use cases, supporting pilot initiatives, and driving adoption of AI and automation technologies across the firm.
- Oversee the intake, evaluation, and prioritization of innovation requests and use cases from firm constituencies, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives, resource capacity, and anticipated impact and legal applicability.
- Design, manage, and govern the end-to-end lifecycle of innovation initiatives, including pilots, proof-of-concept efforts, product launches, and enterprise-wide rollouts, incorporating success metrics, adoption tracking, communications planning, and user feedback loops.
- Drive adoption of new tools and capabilities through structured change management and enablement programs, including training, digital learning resources, live demonstrations, office hours, and self-service support materials.
- Advise users on appropriate technology solutions, promoting consistent and effective use of available tools while ensuring alignment with evolving practice needs.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex cross-functional issues involving legal, technical, operational, or adoption-related challenges.
- Establishes and tracks team KPIs, adoption metrics, and value realization measures to guide investment, iteration, scaling, and inform Innovation department strategy.
- Develop and deliver communications, presentations, and training to legal professionals on AI strategy, tools, and adoption initiatives, ensuring clarity, engagement, and effective change management.
- Conduct performance management activities, and collaborates on recruiting, hiring, onboarding, development and coaching of team members.
Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:
- Juris Doctor (J.D.) required with approximately 5 years of experience including demonstrated progression into leadership or supervisory responsibilities.
- Demonstrated experience working with legal technology solutions (e.g., AI-enabled tools, document automation, matter management systems, or workflow platforms.)
- Prior experience in a leadership, team lead, or people management capacity, including oversight of professionals, work allocation, performance management, or mentoring in a professional services environment.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable guidance for legal audiences and executive stakeholders.
- Proven track record of managing multiple concurrent initiatives, including planning, prioritization, execution, and delivery in a fast-paced environment.
The primary location for this job posting is in Palo Alto. The actual base pay offered will depend upon a variety of factors, including but not limited to the selected candidate’s qualifications, years of relevant experience, level of education, professional certifications and licenses, and work location. The anticipated pay range for this position is as follows: $100.12 - $135.46 per hour.
The compensation for this position may include overtime and a discretionary year-end merit bonus based on performance. We offer a highly competitive salary and benefits package.
Benefits information can be found here. Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).
