Senior Project Manager

Location: Auckland, New Zealand · Hybrid

Aderant is a global industry leading software company providing comprehensive business management solutions for law firms and other professional services organizations with a mission to help them run a better business. We are motivated by a collective desire to drive the legal industry to the forefront of innovation. With over 2,500 clients around the world, including 95 of the top AmLaw 100 firms, we are changing the outside perception of the legal sphere; where there was once resistance to modernization, we are creating a culture that embraces new ideas and technology.

At Aderant, the “A” is more than just a letter. It is a representation of how we fulfill our foundational purpose, serving our clients. It embodies our core values and reminds us that to achieve success, every day must start with the “A”. We bring the “A” to life by fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and personal growth. We encourage our diverse teams to bring their whole selves to work – ideas, experience, and passion – to drive our mission forward.

Our people are our strength.

Contract type: 12-month fixed-term, full-time
Location: Auckland

Reports to: Director of Professional Services Asia Pacific.

Role Summary

The Senior Project Manager is accountable for the successful and commercially effective end-to-end delivery of complex Aderant implementations for mid-to-large law firms. This role acts as the single point of ownership for delivery outcomes across business consulting, technical delivery, data migration, and integrations.

Operating at programme level (typically multi-workstream, high-value engagements), the Senior Project Manager leads execution to ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to agreed scope—while protecting margin, driving commercial outcomes, and maintaining strong client relationships.

The role requires confident executive-level engagement, strong delivery discipline, and the ability to operate hands-on while leading cross-functional teams in complex, high-stakes environments.

Key Responsibilities

Project & Programme Delivery

• Own end-to-end delivery of Aderant solutions (including Expert, Sierra, iTimekeep, and integrations) across the full project lifecycle
• Be accountable for overall delivery outcomes, including scope, schedule, budget, quality, and client acceptance
• Establish and maintain robust, auditable project plans, governance structures, and delivery artefacts
• Own RAID management, proactively driving risk mitigation, issue resolution, and decision-making
• Enforce disciplined change control to ensure all scope variation is clearly defined, approved, and commercially captured

Client Leadership

• Act as the primary client delivery lead and escalation owner across assigned programmes
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, including Partners, Finance, IT, and PMO
• Lead executive-level governance, including steering committees and status reporting, with clear, outcome-focused communication
• Manage escalations with professionalism and control, protecting both delivery outcomes and commercial position

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Lead and direct cross-functional delivery teams across Consulting, Technical, Cloud Ops, Data, and Product
• Drive alignment across internal and client stakeholders, resolving conflicts and removing delivery blockers
• Own resource planning, ramp-up, and workload balancing to ensure effective and efficient delivery
• Ensure delivery execution aligns with contractual commitments and agreed Statements of Work

Financial & Commercial Management

• Own financial performance of projects, including budget management, forecast accuracy, and margin protection
• Track actuals vs forecast, including fixed-fee burn and effort consumption, taking corrective action as required
• Drive change control and variation management to ensure all additional scope is commercially captured
• Identify and proactively manage financial, contractual, and resourcing risks

Quality & Methodology

• Apply and adapt Aderant delivery methodology (hybrid Agile / waterfall) to suit programme complexity and client context
• Enforce quality gates across design, build, test, migration, and cutover
• Ensure all key decisions, configurations, and approvals are documented, traceable, and auditable
• Drive readiness for go-live, ensuring minimal disruption and high-quality outcomes

Leadership & Contribution

• Provide guidance and mentorship to junior Project Managers and consultants, supporting capability development
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of delivery standards, tools, and methodologies
• Share lessons learned and best practices to improve consistency, scalability, and delivery performance across the organisation

Experience & Skills

Essential Skills

• 5+ years’ experience delivering complex enterprise software implementations, including multi-workstream or programme-level delivery
• Proven track record of owning delivery outcomes in client-facing environments, including budget, scope, and stakeholder management
• Strong understanding of legal finance processes (GL, AR, Billing, Time) and professional services operations
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior and executive stakeholders
• Strong commercial awareness, including experience managing project financials and change control
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, fast-moving environments with competing priorities
• Comfortable and proactive in adopting AI-enabled tools and workflows to enhance productivity and decision-making across the project lifecycle
• Full working rights in Australia required (or, for the Auckland-based role, full working rights in New Zealand)

Desirable Skills

• Hands-on experience with Aderant Expert, Sierra, or related platforms
• Relevant certifications — PMP preferred;
• Experience delivering multi-region or international rollouts

Measures of Success

• ≥90% of projects delivered within agreed scope, schedule, and ±10% of budget
• Strong client satisfaction and referenceability, evidenced through feedback and repeat business
• Effective commercial management, including accurate forecasting and minimal unapproved scope variance
• Minimal late-stage delivery risk through proactive RAID management and early issue resolution
• Consistent, high-quality governance, documentation, and auditability across all programmes
• Successful go-lives with minimal critical defects and strong client adoption