IP Services Practice Manager

Job description / Role

Our client is an international professional services organisation, with a strong regional presence in the Middle East. As they continue to grow, they are now seeking to hire an IP Services Practice Manager to take overall responsibility for the work quality of the IP Services team across the region.

Day to day responsibilities will include overseeing the team and ensuring that the workload is effectively managed, distributed evenly and work is assigned based on capacity. There will lie responsibility for checking the practice management (output, volume, timing, deadline management etc.) of the team by liaising with lawyers regularly to gain feedback and addressing any concerns directly as well as working with the Head of Trademarks to monitor time sheets, daily hours and chargeables submitted and managing any issues identified with administration team members.

Additionally, you will collaborate with heads of department to develop a system which tracks exactly which tasks have been performed by administration team members each day, monitor and motivate performance and identify opportunities to enhance performance in consultation with Head of Trademarks and conduct performance reviews. You will be responsible for the general training and mentoring of the IP services team and paralegals and work with Head of Trademarks and the Senior Paralegal- IP Operations to create long-term training plans.

This role also takes responsibility for the practice management of the UAE and Rex offices including work quality, performance management, absence management and dispute resolution; sales coordination for each Rex office, working with business development to put in place marketing and promotional materials and following up on potential client enquiries

Database management is also a part of the role and the incumbent will ensure that the databases used by the IP teams properly support the IP department's work in quality of information, efficiency and effectiveness. Providing solutions and escalating serious issues to Head of Trade Marks as well as managing the budget for such.

Lastly, overall responsibility for monitoring IP Services billing by liaising with finance, the Senior Paralegal IP Operations and the partners to ensure that invoices are finalised within the appropriate billing cycle and that client-specific invoicing requirements are complied with.

There may be some travel to regional offices in order to maintain contact with team members and to help with integration of regional offices to IP Hub in Dubai.

Requirements

The ideal candidate will be educated up to high school level with a degree being desirable, have had previous team management and project management skills; experience gained in the professional services industry is preferred and excellent English and Arabic language skills (spoken and written) are essential.

Good interpersonal skills with the ability to persuade and influence others, creativity with strong attention to detail, be able to work under pressure and manage conflicting priorities and be willing and able to develop and implement ideas and strive for practical solutions. Must be able to travel freely within the GCC region.

About the Company

Irwin & Dow was established in 2013 to provide clients with a unique and highly personalised recruitment service, providing the very top calibre of candidates across the business support and secretarial function.

We provide a refreshing approach, working in close partnership with clients and candidates across diverse industry sectors; large MNC’s, government & semi -government entities, SME’s, local businesses and in the start-up and UHNWI support framework.

Great people equal great success: all our candidates are interviewed personally by a member of the team, and we develop longstanding and in-depth relationships with our clients, understanding their corporate culture and goals to ensure a successful outcome for both parties.

Our values of discretion and diplomacy are paramount, and we are pleased to be a partner of choice for clients and candidates.