Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is hiring an Office Manager to lead their Singapore office. The Singapore office will advise clients on the full spectrum of the firm's transactional, disputes, regulatory and enforcement needs. The Office Manager will work with the office's Partner(s) and the Director of Administration, Asia on the opening and growth of the Singapore office, including hiring and onboarding both legal talent and professional services staff. Acting as a business partner to lawyers and key stakeholders across the Professional Staff. The Office Manager is responsible for creating an efficient and effective operating model for the Singapore office, ensuring delivery of exemplary client service from all functions, and managing a team of professional staff sitting in the Singapore office.
Responsibilities
Office Management and Strategy
- Lead all areas of business operations in the Singapore office; drive and implement strategic and operational planning in collaboration with or support of the Firm's Professional Staff Departments. The expectation is this role will lead the office infrastructure and operational setup
- Develop a deep understanding of the office's practices, market, and competitive positioning; providing guidance on the future needs of the office, particularly staffing With the Director of Admin, Asia, manage and administer leasing, space planning, construction projects, and other aspects of real estate strategy and operations for the office
- Serve as the primary point of contact for all local regulatory matters.
- Manage the firm's registration and ongoing compliance with the Law Society and other relevant bodies.
- Work with the Asia Finance Manager and Director of Admin Asia to establish payroll, banking and reconciliation processes, work with the external Corporate Secretary Vistra with business administration matters
- Direct internal and, with the Firm's Business Development team, client event planning and coordination, partnering on concept and itinerary development and requirements, managing associated vendors, coordinating event activities
- Responsible for risk management, business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management strategic planning
- Partner with Asia HR team to facilitate local recruitment, onboarding and offboarding.
- Act as an on-the-ground resource for employee queries.
- Adapt and implement global firm policies to ensure compliance with local law and practices. Monitor current trends and best practices in legal and professional services strategies and management
- Communicate the impact of new innovations, developments, and regulations, and make appropriate recommendations for action
People Management
- Manage other administrative staff – secretaries
- Cultivate and foster a high-performance culture and environment that is team-oriented, committed to professional excellence, and the highest levels of client service
- Ensure all functional areas are in alignment with the Firm's near- and long-term plans and business objectives
- Perform other responsibilities as needed.
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration or related field required
Preferred Skills
- Minimum 10 years of experience serving in business operations leadership roles at a major law firm, or other sophisticated professional services/financial services firm environments
- Deep understanding of Singapore business practices, employment law and statutory requirements as well as familiarity with the rules and requirements of the Law Society of Singapore.
- Minimum 10 years of experience serving in business operations leadership roles
- Well-honed business acumen, financial and analytic skills, and the ability to develop short- and long- term strategic and operational plans from broadly stated objectives
- Strong ability to prioritize and manage multiple operational initiatives, simultaneously, including business transformation/service model shifts, and significant real estate/construction projects
- Outstanding interpersonal skills; the ability to lead through influence rather than control, champion new ideas and approaches, and to build consensus-based support for business strategies and decisions
- Superior presentation, writing, and verbal communication skills; the ability to interact credibly and diplomatically with all levels in an organization and in the outside community – tailoring communications effectively for different groups and stakeholders
- Demonstrated success managing, mentoring, and developing a team of top-tier professionals, and leading all functional areas of business operations; extensive background driving continuous improvement, innovation, and optimization
- Internal and client event planning and coordination experience, leading all aspects of development and requirements, vendor management, and wrap-up/post-event feedback
