Director of Firm Operations

Polygon IP LLP is a fully remote, AI native patent prosecution boutique based in California and focusing on patent portfolio developments in a variety of technologies for clients ranging from small startups to Fortune 500 companies. We are deeply committed to providing best-in-class client service while maintaining a positive, open, collaborative environment for both practitioners and staff.

About the Role

Polygon IP is seeking a strategic leader for firm operational management. This position will be remote, and salary is DOE. The Director, Firm Operations leads Polygon IP’s business and administrative functions, helping the Management Committee make informed decisions and ensuring those decisions are executed. The role combines strategic responsibility for operating priorities, financial oversight, people practices, and infrastructure with hands-on ownership of projects and recurring administration.

The Director directly manages the firm’s support staff while attorneys continue to assign and substantively supervise legal work. The position is intended to reduce routine business-management demands on partners, strengthen accountability, and support established legal workflows—not take over the practice of law or redesign processes that already work.

Core Responsibilities

Management Committee Operating Partner

Strategic / Executive Responsibilities

• Firm priorities and decision support
• • Develop annual and quarterly priorities with the Management Committee.
  • Identify issues requiring Committee decisions and present options, risks, implications, and recommendations.

Operational Execution

• Committee meetings and follow-through
• • Build agendas, prepare decision materials, and attend meetings.
  • Record decisions, owners, and deadlines; follow up on commitments and surface delays or unresolved issues.

Business Operations

Strategic / Executive Responsibilities

• Operating model and adviser recommendations
• • Recommend whether business needs are best addressed internally, through outsourcing, or through automation.
  • Translate recommendations from How to Manage a Small Law Firm (HTM) into practical, firm-specific proposals and plans.
• Recurring compliance oversight
• • Maintain the framework for recurring firm obligations, including State Bar registrations and malpractice insurance.
  • Ensure responsibilities, renewal requirements, and necessary partner or adviser involvement are clear.

Operational Execution

• Projects and vendor selection
• • Build and run project plans for approved operating changes, coordinating work across attorneys, staff, and outside providers.
  • Research vendors, compare proposals or run requests for proposals, and coordinate selection and implementation.
• Compliance administration
• • Maintain the compliance calendar and coordinate filings, registrations, and insurance renewals.
  • Delegate defined administrative tasks with clear instructions and review completed work.

Financial Operations

Strategic / Executive Responsibilities

• Financial planning and controls
• • Lead budgeting and forecasting with outside finance providers and the Management Committee.
  • Develop financial controls and approval thresholds for Committee approval.
  • Oversee financial controls for staff payroll and partner owner’s draws; processing is assigned to People Operations below.
• Finance providers and revenue operations
• • Oversee the outsourced finance model, including HTM bookkeeping and fractional Controller support planned for January 2027.
  • Define billing and collections standards and expectations for finance-provider deliverables.

Operational Execution

• Financial reporting and annual processes
• • Coordinate monthly close, review financial statements, and resolve discrepancies with outside providers.
  • Maintain budgets and forecasts, prepare Committee reporting, and coordinate tax and other annual financial processes.
• Billing and collections
• • Review Billing Coordinator outputs against established procedures and standards.
  • Monitor accounts receivable and collections, follow up on exceptions, and involve the responsible partner in sensitive billing matters.

People Operations

Strategic / Executive Responsibilities

• Organization and workforce planning
• • Recommend organizational structure and staffing based on capacity, succession, and anticipated business needs.
  • Evaluate whether those needs require hiring, outsourcing, or redistribution of responsibilities.
• Compensation, benefits, and employment practices
• • Develop compensation philosophy and benefits strategy for Management Committee approval.
  • Establish the firm’s employment and performance-management framework.

Operational Execution

• Full-cycle recruiting
• • Draft job descriptions, align hiring criteria with the hiring manager, and manage recruiting channels and candidate screening.
  • Design and manage interviews, feedback, and candidate communication; prepare offers and employment documentation.
• Onboarding
• • Build onboarding roadmaps and 30/60/90-day plans.
  • Coordinate training and expectations with managers, attorneys, and other team members.
• Benefits and employment administration
• • Administer benefits enrollment, annual open enrollment, and the 401(k) plan with providers.
  • Maintain employee records and HR policies, and coordinate employee questions and changes.
• Payroll processing
• • Process biweekly staff payroll and partner owner’s draw payments using approved amounts and schedules.
  • Review inputs, implement authorized changes, and resolve processing issues with payroll and finance providers.

Paralegal & Administrative Staff Leadership

Strategic / Executive Responsibilities

• Role standards and accountability
• • Translate partner-established standards into clear role expectations and performance measures, including required time tracking, templates, and client-reporting practices.
  • Set management and accountability expectations appropriate to each role and employee’s level of independence.
• Succession and coverage
• • Identify succession, capacity, and coverage risks within the team.
  • Bring staffing or support needs to the Management Committee before they disrupt work.

Operational Execution

• Direct people management
• • Hold regular one-on-ones and conduct performance reviews.
  • Gather partner and attorney feedback, coach employees, and address performance concerns.
• Workload and coverage
• • Monitor workloads and help resolve competing priorities with the responsible attorneys.
  • Coordinate work allocation and absence coverage.

Qualifications

• Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience in startup business operations, law-firm administration, professional-services operations, or a comparable environment, including hands-on responsibility in a smaller organization.
• Direct people-management experience and practical experience across financial oversight, recruiting, compensation, benefits, payroll, and employment administration.
• Experience working with partners or owners, managing outside providers, and delivering operational or technology projects.

Core Strengths

The Director combines sound judgment, financial fluency, people-management skills, and reliable follow-through. This person must be comfortable advising partners, managing employees and providers, and personally completing operational work. Clear communication and discretion are essential, as is knowing when to act independently, seek approval, or defer to attorney judgment. The Director should add structure where it improves execution without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

What Success Looks Like

• Management effectiveness: Committee decisions are well prepared, clearly recorded, and followed through.
• Operating reliability: Approved projects are completed, and recurring registrations and insurance obligations stay on schedule.
• Financial discipline: Partners receive useful reporting, and billing, collections, payroll, and partner payments operate with consistent controls.
• Effective people operations: Hiring and onboarding meet staffing needs; benefits and employment administration are dependable.
• Staff accountability: Employees understand partner-established expectations, receive useful feedback, and have appropriate workload and coverage.
• Reliable technology: Employees have functioning tools and support, and approved system and website changes are implemented successfully.