Research Development Process Engineer Jobs in Illinois

Cooley is seeking a Legal Process Engineer to join the Practice Engineering team.

Position summary: As the leading technology law firm, Cooley is determined to become a leader in the digital practice of law. Cooley Innovation embraces a culture of customer service excellence and all members of the department are expected to move this agenda forward. To that end, under the direction of the Associate Director, Legal Practice Engineering, the Legal Process Engineer will play a critical role at the intersection of legal domain expertise, process engineer, and digital product development, working directly with the firm's practitioners across offices and practice areas to uncover, analyze, and re-design legal workflows. The Legal Process Engineer is deeply engaged with all products and platforms that create, consume, or analyze legal work products and legal information. By collaborating directly with practitioners, technical teams, and innovation stakeholders, the process engineer ensures that every solution, from document drafting tools to analytics platforms, effectively leverages document automation, AI, and data integrations.

This role partners across multiple domains including Knowledge Management, Software Engineering, and Product Development, bringing strong legal process insight, user-centered design thinking, and visual storytelling to help shape the next generation of digital tools. The process engineer is the strategic translator between legal practitioners, innovation stakeholders, and technical teams, translating legal process insight into strategic, actionable guidance that informs product direction across the entire lifecycle.

Position responsibilities:

• Lead workflow discovery efforts in direct partnership with practice groups and Knowledge Management attorneys, capturing end-to-end legal workstreams across corporate, regulatory, and transactional domains, including those that impact external stakeholders such as clients and their directors, officers, and investors
• Identify and map the flow of data through documents and organizations, carefully investigating and understanding the role of different personas as authors and consumers. This includes tracing how information moves through each step, clarifying document ownership and use, and visually representing the legal process logic for both internal and client-facing solutions
• Analyze and reimagine legal workflows to identify opportunities for digitization, automation, AI integration, and alignment with Cooley's existing or emerging product platforms
• Translate legal process insights into early-stage solution concepts, informing roadmap planning, prototype development, and MVP scoping
• Create workflow diagrams, process maps, journey maps, and wireframes to visually communicate how legal work is done and where digital transformation adds value using tools like Miro, Lucidchart, and Figma
• Support AI and automation incubation projects by documenting requirements, mapping logic, and facilitating handoff to product development and software engineering teams for production readiness.
• Provide legal domain expertise across the full product lifecycle, in collaboration with UX designers, engineers, and business analysts
• Partner with product managers during planning, feature definition, and prioritization-ensuring legal nuance and workflow complexity are well-represented and strategically considered
• Contribute domain-specific context and nuances to user stories, acceptance criteria, and iterative refinement within Agile/Lean frameworks
• Contribute to user testing, solution validation, and stakeholder feedback loops to ensure solutions remain grounded in legal practice and user needs.
• Maintain a working knowledge of Cooley's digital platform portfolio to identify integration points and avoid redundant tool development
• Stay current on legal tech trends, process innovation methods, AI/ML applications in law, and practice-specific technologies
• Present complex workflows and product concepts through visual storytelling and design thinking approaches to legal and technical audiences
• Ensures alignment with departmental standards, best practices, and governance in the development, delivery, and support of legal technology and product solutions
• All other duties as assigned or required

Skills and experience:

Required:

• After orientation at Cooley LLP, exhibit proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, iManage and other firm applications
• Willingness to work extended and /or weekend hours, as needed
• 4+ years of experience in legal process design, practice innovation, legal tech, or legal process engineering roles. Senior level candidates considered with 5+ years' experience with proven ability to operate at an elevated level in terms of scope of responsibility, judgement and autonomy.
• Deep understanding of legal practice workflows and professional experience working directly with legal practitioners (attorneys, paralegals, Knowledge Management)
• Proven ability to lead discovery sessions, map and re-engineer legal processes, and design actionable solution paths
• Familiarity with product development methodologies (Agile, Lean, etc.) and experience working alongside product managers, UX designers, and software engineers
• High proficiency in workflow visualization and storytelling tools (e.g., Miro, Figma, Lucidchart)
• Strong storytelling and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate complex legal and technical concepts to diverse audiences
• Experience supporting AI, automation, or digital tool initiatives within legal or professional services environments

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree
• Juris Doctorate (or equivalent) degree
• Experience as a product manager or in cross-functional product teams, certifications in Product Management, Business Analysis, or Design Thinking
• Awareness of data strategy concepts and legal AI concepts
• Experience working in a legal services environment, preferably in an AMLAW 200 law firm or in-house legal department with greater than 50 attorneys

Competencies:

• Ability to take initiative, synthesize complexity, and work independently with cross-functional stakeholders
• Demonstrates initiative and ownership in managing responsibilities, priorities, and deliverables, while proactively aligning work with Practice Engineering's strategic objectives and standards
• Ability to connect legal process insight with long-term business and technology goals; thinks proactively across the full product lifecycle
• Applies empathy and design thinking to problem-solving, discovery, and solution design-ensuring attorney, client, and internal stakeholder needs are represented throughout the process
• Demonstrates sharp analytical skills and meticulous attention to detail to accurately interpret complex legal workflows and product requirements
• Ability to approach every interaction with professionalism, responsiveness, and a strong customer-service mindset, committed to excellence in delivery
• Communicates clearly, visually and verbally, with audiences at all levels. Balances attention to detail with strategic clarity
• Ability to build strong, respectful working relationships across disciplines. Acts as a connector between legal and technical teams, fostering trust through collaboration, clarity, and follow-through
• Thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment. Navigates ambiguity and shifting priorities with resilience and embraces feedback for continuous improvement

Cooley offers a competitive compensation and excellent benefits package and is committed to fair and equitable employment practices. EOE.

The expected annual pay range for this position with a full-time schedule is $103,000 - $150,000. Please note that final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience and skillset of the candidate. Senior level candidates may be considered for this position and would be eligible for a higher salary range based on experience.

We offer a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, long-term care coverage, backup care for children and/or adults and other parental support benefits. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive firm-paid life insurance, AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as 21 days of Paid Time Off ("PTO") and 10 paid holidays each year. We provide generous parental leave and fertility benefits. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources.