Sr Business Services Specialist - 90160240 - Washington

Job Summary

The Senior Business Services Specialist supports the Amtrak Law Department’s Legal Operations function by helping manage the business processes, systems, vendors, budgets, reporting, and administrative infrastructure that enable efficient legal service delivery. Reporting to the Manager, Business Services, this role supports operating and capital budget planning, spend tracking, forecasting, vendor and procurement workflows, invoice and payment issue resolution, matter and case management reporting, onboarding, training coordination, and department-wide process documentation. The position serves as a key operational partner to Law Department leadership and staff by improving workflows, maintaining accurate operational data, supporting legal technology adoption, and promoting consistent, scalable practices across the department. This role may also provide day-to-day guidance to the Business Services Specialist position as directed by the Manager, Business Services.

Essential Functions

• Serve as a Legal Operations resource for the Law Department by maintaining working knowledge of applicable Amtrak and departmental policies, developing procedure and guidance documentation, and supporting consistent, transparent business processes.
• Support operational governance for budget, administrative, personnel, procurement, and vendor-management matters under the direction of the Manager, Business Services.
• Assist with development, monitoring, forecasting, and reporting for Law Department operating and capital budgets; prepare spend, accrual, and variance reporting to support senior management decision-making and Finance coordination.
• Coordinate office operations, workspace planning, equipment, furniture, supplies, mobile devices, and field-office support to ensure Law Department personnel have the tools and infrastructure needed to work effectively.
• Act as departmental liaison for vendors, blanket purchase agreements, purchase orders, and payment channels; research invoice and payment delays, coordinate resolution with internal partners, and identify process improvements to strengthen vendor payment workflows.
• Support compliant procurement and sourcing activities, including drafting statements of work, initiating requests through Ariba on Demand, coordinating informal and formal vendor selection processes, managing vendor documentation, and ensuring timely payment processing.
• Serve as initiator, reviewer, or coordinator for purchase requisitions, blanket agreements, expense-related workflows, and related business-system transactions; provide user support and training on relevant Amtrak systems.
• Generate, maintain, and improve matter, invoice, vendor, and case-management reporting for practice groups including Commercial Litigation, Labor & Employment Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Real Estate/Engineering, and other Law Department teams as needed.
• Support workforce operations for the Law Department, including job-description preparation, vacancy posting coordination, interview logistics, onboarding, system access, equipment setup, and centralized Human Resources documentation.
• Coordinate Law Department training, professional-development tracking, bar membership status support, and adoption of departmental tools, templates, playbooks, and standard operating procedures.
• Assist with outside counsel invoice review, legal spend management, billing-guideline compliance, matter coding, and processing support in coordination with attorneys, Legal Operations, Finance, Procurement, and vendor partners.
• Arrange travel logistics, lodging, room scheduling, and ground transportation for team meetings, trainings, and Law Department events as needed.
• Prepare clear, professional communications, including executive-ready summaries, operational updates, process guidance, memos, reports, invoice correspondence, vendor communications, and other Law Department materials.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, legal studies, finance, technology, operations, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of relevant experience in business operations, legal operations, finance, procurement, vendor managment, administrative operations, or accounts payable. 
• Experience supporting budget tracking, invoice processing, vendor coordination, procurement workflows, reporting, and/or departmental operations.
• Demonstrated ability to learn and support business systems, maintain accurate records, coordinate across functions, and improve repeatable processes.
• Strong customer-service orientation with the ability to support attorneys, staff, vendors, Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, and other internal stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant experience.

• Five or more years of relevant experience in legal operations, business services, procurement, finance operations, vendor management, law firm billing, e-billing, matter management, or corporate legal department administration.

• Experience with legal technology, matter-management systems, e-billing platforms, SAP/S4HANA, Ariba, Concur, SharePoint, Microsoft Loop, reporting tools, or process-improvement initiatives preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate operational issues into clear guidance, concise summaries, and actionable next steps.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, and Teams; familiarity with Microsoft Loop, Visio, Power BI, or related collaboration and reporting tools preferred.

• Working knowledge of business and procurement systems such as Ariba on Demand, Concur, SAP/S4HANA, purchase requisitions, purchase orders, blanket agreements, invoices, and payment workflows.

• Ability to manage multiple priorities, use sound judgment, escalate issues appropriately, and drive follow-through in a fast-paced legal department environment.

• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with attention to data quality, process consistency, and operational controls.

• Ability to build productive relationships with attorneys, staff, vendors, Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, Information Technology, and other business partners.

• Self-motivated, adaptable, and comfortable learning new systems, improving workflows, documenting processes, and supporting change adoption.

Environmental Conditions/Physical Demands

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Physical Demands:

• Constantly or frequently uses a computer keyboard and monitor to perform a variety of tasks, e.g., create and review documents, analyze information, e-mail, etc.
• Constantly or frequently sits, stands, walks, and may lift, carry, push, or pull objects of various weights; may reach, kneel, crouch, bend, or twist in order to in order to perform administrative tasks (e.g., filing, retrieving materials from desks and bookcases, moving around an office setting).
• Occasionally subject to travel throughout and outside the region as required.
• Frequently performs tasks that require sitting for extended periods of time.
• Occasionally performs tasks that require standing and/or walking for extended periods of time.

Mental Demands:

• Communicates, comprehends, and responds to verbal statements and instructions, both orally and in writing.
• Frequently learns new knowledge, skills and tasks, both complex and simple, in order to maintain effectiveness in position.
• Frequently handles multiple projects simultaneously.
• Works in a fast-paced environment with frequently changing priorities.
• Frequently works in a time-pressed situation, requiring considered but fast decisions.

Working Conditions:

• This position works in a general office setting.
• May travel up to 10% of the time