Senior Manager of Career Counseling

Overview

Senior Manager of Career Counseling — Cooley is seeking a Senior Manager of Career Counseling to join the Professional Development team.

Hybrid

Schedule:

As part of the Cooley culture, we recognize and appreciate the value of being together, in person, to build camaraderie with others in the office and to be a contributing member of the Cooley office. However, we also appreciate the benefits and flexibility that come from remote working. As such, the default assumption for employees and partners is a hybrid schedule: some in-office presence and some work from home days absent certain essential in-office roles that require five (5) days/week in-office.

The Senior Manager of Career Counseling will build and lead the Cooley Career Counseling Office, a resource hub designed to support attorneys who are exploring or preparing for career paths beyond Cooley. This role will serve as a trusted resource for career navigation, providing personalized job search support and tools, connection to external opportunities, and curated programming to help attorneys identify and pursue fulfilling next steps.

The ideal candidate is a thoughtful advisor with deep knowledge of legal and adjacent career paths, legal recruiting, strong communication skills, and a passion for supporting lawyers through meaningful professional transitions. This role offers the opportunity to shape and lead a new high-impact resource within the firm and work with attorneys at pivotal moments in their careers. Specific duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

Oneon One Career Counseling:

• Provide confidential advising to attorneys exploring roles outside of the firm, including inhouse, public sector, nonprofit, and alternative legal or business paths

• Guide attorneys through career exploration, decision making, and transition planning

• Offer tailored feedback on resumes, Linked In profiles, personal narratives, and jobsearch strategy

• Provide mock interview practice, preparing attorneys for each stage of the hiring process, from screening interviews to senior level negotiations

Job Board Management:

• Manage and expand a curated job board featuring inhouse roles, government positions, secondments, and alumnisubmitted opportunities.

• Develop relationships with legal recruiters, inhouse counsel, and alumni to source new postings.

• Facilitate introductions and connections when appropriate.

Panels, Programs & Workshops:

• Create careerfocused programs such as:

  • Panels featuring alumni and clients in various industries

  • Webinars on transition strategy (e.g., inhouse expectations, business acumen)

Secondment Program Support:

• Maintain a secondment interest list

• Work with the Associate Director of Legal Talent who manages the secondment program to facilitate the identification, deployment, and reintegration of secondees

Alumni & Client Relationship Integration:

• Partner with the Marketing team to connect departing attorneys to the firm's alumni support team.

• Collaborate with the Business Development team to identify opportunities where the Career Counseling Office can enhance client engagement, for instance, by helping clients source talent from among attorneys already known to be exploring external opportunities

• Make career support services available to Cooley alumni

Market Intelligence & Reporting:

• Track evolving hiring trends in inhouse departments and legal markets

• Share insights with Legal Talent and firm leadership to shape strategic planning

• Maintain metrics on counseling volume, outcomes, and placements

Other:

• Serve as supervisor and mentor to direct reports

• Provide day-to-day supervision of direct reports, ensure compliance with assigned work hours and monitor for compliance with all firm and department policies. Manage staffing coverage, review and process time logs/time off requests

• Support business professional development and continued educational opportunities

• In collaboration with Director of Associate Development and HR, participate in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination and other employee lifecycle events for those reporting to this role.

• All other duties as assigned or…