Senior Manager of Professional Development – Legal Training & CLE

A&O Shearman is a new global-leading law firm, with nearly 48 offices in 28 countries worldwide. Our fluency in English law, US law, and the laws of the world’s most dynamic markets, enables us to provide unmatched insight and seamless delivery to clients. We work on challenging and important deals and disputes that have the potential to shape the future.

We offer exceptional opportunities for our people; opportunities to work for the world’s leading businesses; to transform the status quo, and to deliver your best work, helping you and your career to thrive, while delivering unparalleled outcomes for our clients.

Whether you’re helping clients solve complex challenges, transforming the ways we manage our business, or ensuring the smooth running of our operations, this is an environment where you can belong and excel. We provide first-rate training and development, we are committed to an inclusive environment, and we provide support and ways of working that help you optimize your wellbeing.

What truly defines a career with us? We recruit the best and ask for the best of you. And together, we will redefine success.

Department Purpose and Structure:

The Senior Manager, Legal Training & CLE is a strategic leader within the firm’s Professional Development function, responsible for the design, accreditation, delivery, and continuous improvement of attorney learning and development programs with a primary emphasis on CLE compliance and legal skills training. This role oversees a comprehensive CLE program across U.S. jurisdictions, partners closely with practice leadership to build high-impact substantive skills curricula and ensures the firm’s training portfolio aligns with attorney development milestones, client expectations, and regulatory requirements. The ideal candidate combines strong knowledge of multistate CLE rules with sophisticated program design, stakeholder management, and data-driven program governance.

Key Relationships:

• Director of Professional Development
• Professional Development team
• HR Head and HR team (Americas)
• US Associates/Counsel and Partners
• US Business Professionals
• External vendors and coaches
• Global Talent, Inclusion, and Knowledge teams

Role and Responsibilities

• Design and execute firmwide legal knowledge and practice group training strategies aligned to competencies and practice priorities in the Americas.
• Lead team and supervise manager of multistate CLE program and compliance across jurisdictions; which includes:
• Setting policies and controls, managing provider accreditation and program applications; liaising with state bars on approvals, calculating credits and issuing certificates; ensuring accurate formats and timely distribution.
• Tracking attorney credits; maintain audit-ready records and reporting in LMS/CLE systems.
• Advising on jurisdiction-specific CLE requirements and deadlines; resolving complex eligibility questions.
• Delivering client-facing CLEs with BD/Marketing, coordinate approvals and attendance tracking.
• Leveraging LMS/tech for registration and credit tracking; automate rosters, reminders, and surveys.
• Analyzing engagement and outcomes, report on ROI, compliance status, and program improvements.
• Plan and deliver live, virtual, and on-demand legal talent training programs with consistent quality standards.
• Build practice-specific curricula and skills universities, sequence learning pathways by seniority.
• Source and prepare faculty; optimize CLE credit through agendas, materials, and evaluations.
• Run anchor programs (first-year, litigation/transactional skills, ethics) with measurable outcomes.
• Partner with Practice Group Leaders, OGC, Inclusion, Recruiting, Law School Recruiting, and HR/PD to align content and timing.
• Manage vendor proposals and relationships and budget; standardize processes and service levels, including running regular reports, utilization, KPIs and measuring ROI.
• Coordinate cross-office and global talent development, well-being and experiential learning programs.
• Support onboarding and performance initiatives tied to training.
• Oversee mentoring, coaching, and bar-readiness resources as needed.
• Assist with the PD budget and submit invoices and expenses for PD/HR team work.
• Participate in other HR/PD functions, as needed.

Key Requirements

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in Professional Development in a law firm setting.
• Extensive experience in and understanding of CLE requirements, compliance, and legal training initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience managing others in a team.
• Collaborative, resilient, high energy team player with the ability to work in a fast paced, intellectually rigorous environment.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.