Search Platform Owner

Job description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Search Platform Owner to join our Information Technology team, based in A&O Shearman's Belfast office.

Information Technology team - Belfast

The core of the global technology department’s mission is to provide stable, reliable, and secure platforms and services to our partners, staff and clients and fulfil our regulatory obligations across 30+ countries. To ensure that a consistent and standardised IT service is delivered to all offices, IT is managed and led as a global function, enabling all offices to benefit from complete systems integration and economies of scale. We have around 400 technologists based predominantly in the UK, Singapore and increasingly in the US.

Enterprise Architecture and Technology Platforms

To develop and maintain the firm’s technology strategy and enterprise architecture. In parallel, own, improve and simplify the firm’s key technology ‘building blocks’ by designing, building and managing the core technology platforms which are fundamental to delivering strategic business goals.

What you will do

Reporting to the Head of Knowledge Technology Platforms, the Search Platform Owner is responsible for the strategic vision, roadmap, and delivery of our firm’s Search Platform. This individual will work closely with lawyers, knowledge management professionals, business and IT teams to understand their needs and translate them into a product that provides a seamless, intuitive, and highly effective search experience.

The role is accountable for the delivery of unified, secure, and scalable search solutions that integrate with core systems (e.g. DMS, SharePoint, M365, CRM) and supports AI-driven capabilities such as natural language queries, semantic search, and summarization.

The role is accountable for day-to-day operational management, performance monitoring, and the continuous improvement of the search platform to maintain reliability, security, and user satisfaction.

The role is responsible for managing and motivating a matrix team of skilled IT professionals and directing external third-party service providers.

• Define and maintain the strategic vision and roadmap for Search at A&O Shearman, aligning it with overall business objectives and the needs of lawyers.
• Lead the technology selection, design, and implementation of Search technologies for A&O Shearman.
• Act as a liaison between business units, technical teams (engineering, data science), external vendors and other stakeholders to gather requirements, understand pain points, and communicate platform plans and updates effectively.
• Support the Enterprise Architecture & Technology Platforms leadership team to collectively define, implement and operate the firm’s the search platform.
• Drive change management and adoption across the business— communications, training, enablement, and search best-practice playbooks for lawyers and business teams.
• Manage and motivate a team of skilled IT professionals and third-party service providers, ensuring delivery excellence and continuous improvement. This includes providing regular feedback, conducting performance check-in meetings in alignment with the firm’s performance management tool, Compass, and collaborating with HR on recruitment and performance management if needed.
• Integrate search across key systems (e.g., iManage, SharePoint/Teams, Legal Knowledge libraries, intranet, expertise and matter databases, CRM, and External Content Providers).
• Deliver secure-by-design search, enforcing ethical walls, need-to-know, information barriers, and granular permissions across regions and entities.
• Advance AI-powered discovery using vector search, embeddings, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) while applying responsible AI, privacy, and risk controls.
• Evaluate and implement generative AI features such as natural language query understanding, summarization, and conversational search to enhance lawyer productivity
• Improve search relevance and quality through relevance tuning, signal-based ranking, synonym/boost strategies, and evaluation frameworks.
• Oversee delivery across design, engineering, data, and QA; manage agile ceremonies, release planning, and user acceptance testing.
• Champion accessibility, performance, and user experience across devices and bandwidth profiles; enable personalization and role-based experiences.
• Ensure compliance with data protection and retention (e.g., GDPR), client outside counsel guidelines, and audit requirements; partner with InfoSec, and Risk teams to ensure controls are optimised.
• Identify and pursue opportunities for continuous improvement in the search platform.
• Act as the focal point for matters related to the search platform, providing expert guidance to other teams when required.
• Support service provider reviews to assess performance against service targets, drive innovation and ensure any remediation activities are being delivered.
• Contribute to the management of the search platform budget and benefits delivery, developing estimates and tracking performance against plans. Manage project budgets and benefits realization, demonstrating ROI with clear outcomes and case studies

What you will have

Experience:

• Proven experience (5+ years) as a Product Manager in enterprise search, AI/ML, Legal Tech or knowledge platforms, preferably within the legal, professional services or regulated industry sector.
• Familiarity with tools such as ElasticSearch, Azure Cognitive Search, OpenSearch, or similar.
• Literacy in AI technologies (LLMs, embeddings, RAG, vector databases, etc.).
• Demonstrable experience in vendor management for SaaS-based application vendors.
• Agile product development experience.
• Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Law, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Knowledge of IT strategic planning, design, and operations processes.
• Security & compliance mindset—RBAC/ABAC, PII handling, data residency, retention, and audit readiness.
• Proven project management capabilities.
• Knowledge of current IT and data market trends and technology innovations.
• Proven track record of managing teams

Personal:

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills. High level of personal credibility, impact and influence with proven ability to work effectively and persuasively at all levels. e
• Delivery leadership in agile/hybrid environments; backlog management, prioritization frameworks, and vendor management.
• Proficient in agile methodologies and tools, with the ability to adapt to a dynamic project environment.
• Proven business acumen and ability to understand how they add value to the function, firm or clients.
• Promotes the firm's values at all times, and is comfortable working within a large and complex, matrixed environment with multiple stakeholders and interest groups. 

​​​What we can offer you

We recognise that our people are our most valuable asset, which is reflected in the wide range of benefits that are available to our employees. Some of these benefits include: our occupational pension scheme, group income protection cover, private medical insurance, mental health resources and free apps, health and wellbeing services encompassing GP service, emergency back-up care support, parental and special leave, holiday entitlement increasing with length of service, holiday trading, online discounts and lifestyle management services.​

We recognise the value of flexible working and embrace hybrid working, allowing our people to work from home up to 40% of their working time. We do, however, remain committed to working together in person for the remaining 60% of time so that we can learn, grow and succeed together.

Should you require additional support at any stage of the recruitment process due to a disability or a health condition, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our recruitment team who will work with you to provide any adjustments as required.

We are an equal opportunities recruiter and do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or any other protected characteristic.

About A&O Shearman


A&O Shearman is a new global industry-leading law firm, with nearly 50 offices in 29 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 optimise 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.