Where do law department administrators come from? Data from the First Law Department Operations Survey, published by InsideCounsel and Blickstein Group, identifies the three most common sources. Of the 33 who responded to the question, about a quarter joined from a similar role in another law department, a quarter were promoted into the position from within the law department, and a quarter moved from within the company into the law department.
You can poach an operations manager, promote one into the role, or persuade someone from elsewhere in the company to fill the position. Some search firms probably provide external candidates for major openings for administrators.