Chief Operations Officer Jobs in Raleigh, NC (NOW HIRING)

At Poulin | Willey, client experience is not a department — it is a commitment.

Our CXO will spend time learning how the firm works, understanding the realities of legal practice, appreciating the ethical obligations that shape our decisions, and building credibility across departments. From there, this leader will identify where friction exists, align teams around shared priorities, and develop scalable solutions that improve the client journey while strengthening employee experience.

You will serve as a strategic partner to the President and executive team, helping us connect operational realities, client needs, and long‑term business growth.

• Build trust‑based relationships with executive leaders, attorneys, department heads, and frontline teams.
• Develop a deep understanding of firm workflows, operational constraints, client expectations, and ethical responsibilities before recommending change.
• Assess how work moves across the firm and where breakdowns impact clients, teammates, or outcomes.

• Map the client experience from first contact through resolution and post‑case follow‑up.
• Identify key moments that shape trust, clarity, confidence, and perceived value.
• Partner with legal, operational, and client‑facing teams to improve experience within existing workflows — not by layering on unnecessary process.
• Surface pain points, bottlenecks, and service gaps, then build practical, scalable solutions.
• Improve communication and transparency during critical stages including treatment support, case progression, settlement, and disbursement.
• Lead client listening efforts including feedback sessions, surveys, and experience reviews.
• Develop and manage a referral partner advisory approach that strengthens relationships and improves referral quality.

• Break down silos across departments.
• Align leaders around shared experience goals, common communication standards, and client‑first decision‑making.
• Help teams solve cross‑functional issues that no single department can solve alone.

• Conduct a ground‑up assessment of employee workflow friction, communication gaps, and experience barriers.
• Partner with Talent and leadership to improve clarity, engagement, communication, and professional development.
• Build systems that help employees deliver exceptional client outcomes with less friction.

• Serve as a member of the executive team and trusted advisor to leadership.
• Translate operational realities into experience‑driven strategic opportunities.
• Use data, feedback, and measurable outcomes to prioritize investments and guide decision‑making.
• Help scale experience initiatives through systems, dashboards, knowledge sharing, technology, and thoughtful use of AI.

You will help us create measurable improvements in areas such as:

• Client satisfaction across key touch points
• Stronger settlement and disbursement experiences
• Better referral partner engagement and retention
• Reduced operational bottlenecks across teams
• Improved employee engagement, retention, and cross‑team alignment
• Experience‑driven business impact through stronger trust, better communication, and scalable systems

• Significant leadership experience in client experience, customer success, service operations, or related executive roles
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional strategy and influence without creating disruption for disruption’s sake
• Strong operational judgment — able to understand how the organization functions before proposing solutions
• Experience building scalable experience programs, feedback systems, and measurable improvement initiatives
• Strong executive presence, communication skills, and relationship‑building ability
• Expert at working with data, experience metrics, and operational performance indicators
• Legal industry experience is highly valued; professional services, healthcare, or other high‑touch complex service environments also strongly considered

You are curious before decisive.
You ask questions before prescribing answers.
You know that trust is built by understanding how work really gets done.
You can move between strategy and execution.
You know how to unite teams, not just redesign processes.

Most importantly: you understand that in a law firm, client experience is inseparable from ethics, judgment, and the responsibility we carry for the people we serve.

If you’re energized by building thoughtful, durable improvements that strengthen both client outcomes and internal alignment, we’d like to talk.

Candidate can sit anywhere on the East Coast, ideally within close proximity to a major airport. You will travel ~50-75% of the time initially as you learn and get integrated. Once settled, 50% or less, with monthly onsite meetings, and quarterly planning meetings at HQ in Charleston, SC.