Job Description

Technology Lead

Ashurst Advance Team, Glasgow / London

About Ashurst

Ashurst is a leading progressive global law firm with a rich history spanning more than 200 years. Taking pride in our history, we are now future-focused, having expanded into new technologies and ways of working through our NewLaw division, Ashurst Advance, and our consulting arm. Our in-depth understanding of our clients and commitment to providing excellent standards of service have seen us become a trusted adviser to local and global corporates, financial institutions and governments in all areas of commercial law. To find out more please visit .

Team overview

Ashurst Advance partners with Ashurst's legal and consulting experts to deliver innovative, holistic and commercial solutions to our clients, enhanced by our capabilities across advanced delivery, legal managed services, digital solutions, legal operations and flexible resourcing. Our market leading offering has been globally recognised including:


Band 1 ranking for Law Firm LPO, Alternative Legal Service Providers (Chambers Global, 2021, 2022 and 2023) Most Innovative Law Firm - APAC & Europe (Financial Times Innovative Law Awards, 2022) Innovation in Multidisciplinary Teams (Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Awards 2022) Best Client Service Innovation (The Lawyer Awards 2021)


To find out more please visit https:///en/what-we-do/services/ashurst-advance/.

Job overview

Ashurst Advance Digital is the firm's technology and experience powerhouse. We work with our New Law business to develop differentiated services for our clients, whilst embedding digital as a competency for the whole firm through developing and enabling future-fit tools, capabilities and mindsets. Ashurst Labs is the community within AAD responsible for the firm's experimentation environment, designing, developing and managing digital platforms, products and solutions, together with the curation, ownership and governance of platforms used by AA. It does this through the three disciplines of software development, product management, and data science. Recent work has included creating a digital front door, subscription management and authentication portal for our clients, developing an award-winning cross-border advice tool, and consultancy for the firm and clients on GenAI strategy, implementation and governance.



We believe the role offers the right candidate a chance to join a team at an exciting stage of expansion, to see initiatives through from idea to implementation and to shape and drive transformation in a firm committed to outpacing change.

Main Tasks

What will you be doing?

You will be the Technology Lead for Ashurst Labs, setting our development direction and governance whilst also being hands on in terms of engineering and coaching. You'll work across our cross-functional agile teams, and alongside the AAD leadership in setting our tech roadmaps and strategy. Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited, to:

Leadership

Lead a small development team, providing technical guidance and mentorship.


Working with Ashurst Labs leadership team to develop and iterate our ways of working to suit our rapidly changing market context. Coaching and managing staff performance through embedding a culture with high levels of psychological safety, openness, and emotional inclusivity. Oversight of third-party projects, consultants and contractors as appropriate. Inputting into Labs and AAD strategy through monitoring the external environment to gather intelligence on emerging technologies, helping maintain and influence our technology roadmap.

Architecture Design

Assess, review and develop our development processes and pipelines to enable rapid deployment of solutions and services, leveraging MS low code tools as appropriate. Review, design and oversight of new and existing products and services either in-house or third party, including Azure and M365 tools. Manage trade-offs and balance functional, service quality, and systems management requirements for our client and internal facing tools. Identify and develop integrations within our existing tech stack to drive competitive advantage.

Software Engineering and Quality

Hands-on cloud engineering leveraging Azure services through design and build. Execute relevant frameworks and technologies including SecDevOps, containerization in cloud-native technologies, MS B2C, and continuous improvement/development. Creating and ensuring documentation standards. Coach junior team members in best practice processes.

Innovation

Develop and implement processes, tools, and infrastructures to support innovation including iterative and agile working. Adopt and promote flexibility in terms of the resourcing mix of internal/external development teams, the use of third party technologies and integrations and the assessment of build, buy or partner, as appropriate to an innovation team in a law firm.

Governance and security

Ensuring all software, tools and integrations and documentation are in-line with Ashurst's own SDLC and InfoSec posture as appropriate. Contributing into the ongoing development of our governance processes and SDLC. Answering inbound client queries as appropriate regarding security posture and internal processes.

Essential skills and experience

Technical Expertise

Deep expertise in MS Azure services and architecture, software develop and governance alongside a proven commitment to continuous learning.

Leadership skills

Ability to lead and inspire a team, fostering a collaborative and productive work environment with high levels of psychological safety.



Reflections on lessons learnt and implanting process improvements.



Act as a role model to promote and encourage new ways of working and challenge the status quo.

Communication

Demonstrates confidence in dealing with all levels of the firm, including executive management levels.



Delivers excellent client service - both internal and external - and displays consulting skills as appropriate.



Delivers strong communication in times of ambiguity and change.

Analytical thinking

Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues.

Collaboration

Human and team centred focused on creating and maintaining inclusive, safe, and inspiring spaces and places to work, share and co-create. Provides opportunities for team collaboration and delegates effectively.

Capabilities/ skills we look for:

Must have:

Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. Experience: Minimum of 5 years of experience in software development and architecture, with at least 2 years in a leadership role. Proven People management skills in a technology role. Technical Skills: Proficiency in Azure services, including Azure DevOps, Azure Functions, Azure SQL Database, MS B2C . MS AI Foundry, MS PowerApps Programming Languages: Expertise in programming languages such as C#, .Net, JavaScript, Python, or similar. Certifications: Azure certifications (e.g., Azure Solutions Architect Expert) are highly desirable. Tools: Experience with development tools and methodologies such as Agile, Scrum, and DevOps practices.

Should have:

Knowledge and interest in the evolution and transformation of the legal industry. Knowledge and interest in data science and analytics. Knowledge and interest in data science and analytics. Experience with sizing, performance and high availability Experience with data back-up, business continuity and disaster technologies and strategies. Ability to absorb large amounts of information and create sense and simplicity. Confidence and fluency in the language and tools of agile, lean and design Expertise and interest in generative AI and the risks and opportunities it presents in software tools and the development of those tools.

Could have:

Experience in a technology innovation role within a law firm. Experience in building RAG based GenAI applications within Microsoft Azure Experience handling highly confidential data within a regulated sector

Won't have

An aversion to getting hands dirty and training up others in your discipline!

Background checks and Accessibility

In order to comply with regulatory and client requirements, Ashurst will undertake appropriate vetting of staff. When applicants accept a job offer, Ashurst, alongside a specialist provider, will undertake professional verification and background checks. These checks are only undertaken with consent, and in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations.



We are committed to making all stages of our recruitment process accessible to candidates with disabilities or long-term health conditions. If you consider yourself to have a disability or a long-term health condition, please feel able to be open about this at any point during the recruitment process. If you are not sure what adjustments you require, we will work with you to establish the most suitable adjustments at each stage of the recruitment process. Please note that our online application form includes a section which allows you to advise us of any extenuating circumstances that are relevant for us to consider when reviewing your application form. Any information disclosed on your disability will remain strictly confidential and please contact us if you have any questions.

Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact at our heart

Each of us brings something unique to our world. At Ashurst, we know the power of combining unique perspectives and talent to drive extraordinary solutions and services for our clients. Fostering an environment that is welcoming, inclusive, and respectful of all backgrounds and perspectives is the cornerstone of our values and the foundation of our success. At Ashurst, Inclusion, Diversity, and Belonging (IDB) are at the heart of everything we do. We take diversity seriously, with an established IDB Strategy, representation targets, and six diversity areas with dedicated networks that are focused on actively taking steps to ensure all our people, across all spectrums of diversity, are supported and empowered. To find out more please visit our IDB page. We are also committed to delivering positive impacts to our communities through our Social Impact programme. To find out more please visit our responsible business page.



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