Business Development and Senior Manager - Urgent Recruiting

The Business Development Manager works with and supports the assigned practice group and department, along with related cross-practice, industry-focused working groups. This position will support the Patents and Advertising & Brand Protection Practice Groups and Intellectual Property Department. The Manager leads group business development initiatives and supports and coordinates marketing efforts. The Manager will report to a Business Development Director.

This position will work closely with colleagues across the Marketing Department, including the business development, communications and marketing and branding teams, to drive practice group and firm-wide initiatives. this position also supports Chicago office marketing efforts, on an as needed basis. including client events, local CLEs and sponsorships and other profile raising activities.

• Collaborates with department, practice and working group leaders and the Business Development Director to develop and implement strategic plans and initiatives.
• Engages with practice groups and attorneys to understand the legal and business needs of clients and the corresponding legal solutions the firm can provide. Through practice group fluency, contributes business development advice and guidance that demonstrates a sound understanding of the nature of the work and experience of the lawyers in the assigned practice groups and working groups.
• Drives business development goals of assigned group(s), including support in identifying business leads and opportunities, expanding existing client matters, and identifying and pursuing cross-selling opportunities.
• Develops pitches and proposals, including responses to formal RFPs.
• In collaboration with Research Services, digests and delivers meaningful research on existing and prospective clients, competitor activity, and industry or market trends to inform and support business development opportunities, strategies, and decisions.
• Develops compelling marketing collateral, website descriptions, and other client facing materials; ensures materials are regularly updated.
• Supports opportunities to increase brand awareness and profile for assigned practice groups and working groups, including outward facing activities such as sponsored events, in-house presentations, professional speaking opportunities, alerts and published articles; collaborates with events team as needed.
• Supports firm-wide efforts related to knowledge management for assigned group(s), including collecting experience captured in pitches, proposals, and other experience-based submissions, such as awards and ranking publications; maintains matter/experience lists and databases for assigned groups.
• Supports, monitors and reports on the progress of on-going business development efforts and initiatives for assigned groups.
• Works with individual lawyers and advises on business development best practices and strategies to assist in developing their practices.
• Supports lawyers with client alerts, blogs, and newsletters.
• Oversees the timely preparation and submission of the Chambers, Law360 and other ranking submissions for the assigned practice and working groups.
• Supports lateral integration efforts.
• Works with the PR team to coordinate proactive media and publishing opportunities to elevate the profile of the practice group and individual attorneys.
• Handles other business development and marketing responsibilities, as assigned.
• In coordination with the PGLs and Practice Management colleague, helps to set agendas for practice group, steering committee and working group meetings.
• Contributes to the development of agendas and BD components of practice group retreats and other special group meetings.
• Annual budget:
  • Works with the Practice Management colleague, Business Development Director, and practice group leadership to develop and monitor, on a monthly basis, the practice groups annual business development budget.
  • Keeps practice group leadership apprised of monthly Business Development spend and helps to facilitate review and approval of unbudgeted initiatives that are important to achieve the groups objectives.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Demonstrated ability to build strong working relationships across all levels of the organization and work effectively both independently and with others in a cooperative, enthusiastic and friendly manner to accomplish position functions and participate in team efforts.
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and maintain a productive and committed work effort, meeting deadlines and managing workload.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate persuasively, both orally and in writing, on a prepared and extemporaneous basis with clients, lawyers, and staff.
• Experience with content creation and messaging development.
• Strong business and marketing acumen. Ability to leverage research and competitive intelligence to identify business opportunities and support go-to-market strategies.
• Ability to appropriately delegate work to others to meet deadlines, goals and objectives, develop skills and knowledge of others, build capacity and productivity of department.
• Strong knowledge of and familiarity with legal and business environments.

• The position requires a minimum of five (5) years of increasingly responsible, directly related experience during which the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities were attained.
• Experience working with an intellectual property practice in a business development/marketing role within a law firm environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated project management experience is an asset to this role.
• Experience directly supervising others on a regular basis preferred.

The position requires a Bachelors Degree. A JD, MBA or other related advanced degree may substitute for required experience.

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Job Summary

The Senior Business Development Manager partners with Department and Practice Group leadership to develop strategic priorities, identify and pursue business opportunities, and provide comprehensive business development, branding and marketing support to the practices in the firms Transactional Department (Corporate, Financial Services and Tax). The Senior Business Development Manager serves as a well-informed strategic business advisor to the chair(s) of the Department and to Practice Group leadership.

Primary Areas of Responsibility

• Partners with department, practice, and working group leaders to develop and execute annual business development plans, including expanding and diversifying existing client relationships, attracting new clients, identifying areas for cross-selling, and collaborating with attorneys in other practice groups to drive business growth and market visibility.
• Proactively engages with Corporate, Financial Services and Tax group leadership and attorneys to understand the groups skill sets and substantive experience, as well as the legal and business needs of clients, referral sources and prospective clients, so as to marshal offerings in a client-generating, revenue-increasing and brand enhancing manner.
• Through group and market-centric fluency, contributes high-level business development advice and guidance that demonstrates a thorough understanding of the groups experience, business, client base, market forces, and competitive landscape in particular ecosystems (e.g., emerging companies/venture capital and investment banking) and industries.
• Brings new ideas and proven approaches to support client retention and expansion and brand elevation.
• Develops formal and informal pitch materials and proposal responses that reflect a clear understanding of the opportunity and a focus on positioning the relevant experience, knowledge and firm offerings
• Continues to build on knowledge management efforts to facilitate efficient and effective development of tailored and informed pitch and proposal narratives, drawing on existing source material.
• Collaborates with practice group leadership, as well as marketing and recruiting leadership, to develop messaging, materials and successful strategies to advance and capitalize on lateral recruiting efforts.
• Supports the integration of lateral partners and senior counsel with an emphasis on facilitating strategic business opportunities.
• Develops compelling marketing collateral, website descriptions, experience lists, and other client facing materials; ensures materials are up to date by managing group knowledge management efforts.
• Analyzes business intelligence to inform business development initiatives and capitalize on opportunities.
• Supports client service teams as assigned.
• Works with practice group and working group leaders to develop value-based offerings for clients.
• Supports firm-wide knowledge management efforts for assigned groups, including with regard to the firms CRM and experience management programs.
• Identifies and pursues opportunities, in collaboration with the firms communications team, as appropriate, to increase brand awareness and profile for the Corporate, Financial Services and Tax Groups, including sponsored events, in-house training presentations, professional speaking opportunities, firm alerts, media opportunities, and published articles.
• Plans and orchestrates client development events with group attorneys.
• Plans and drives written thought leadership efforts, including with regard to blogs, alerts and articles.
• Oversees the timely preparation of strategic and compelling submissions to Chambers, Law360 and other target ranking publications and recognition opportunities.
• Develops strategies for and actively participates in business development events.
• In collaboration with Corporate, Financial Services and Tax Group leadership, develops and manages the practice groups business development budgets.
• Guides, mentors and trains two BD professionals to create a high-performing Transactional BD team that provides proactive support and is well-positioned to advance strategic priorities and pursue revenue opportunities.

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated proactive business development experience growing revenue, including expanding existing client relationships and developing new clients.
• Proven experience doing both the strategic and foundational work required to identify and capitalize on business development opportunities.
• Strong business and marketing acumen, including the ability to leverage business intelligence and financial data to identify business opportunities and support go-to-market strategies.
• Highly motivated, persuasive, priority-driven, and collaborative.
• Ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and perform well under pressure.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with internal and external audiences.
• Experience with knowledge management systems, including CRM and experience management.
• Experience leading teams and building and managing results-oriented BD support functions.

Experience

• The position requires a minimum of eight years of increasingly responsible, directly related experience.
• Previous business development and marketing experience in a transactional environment/in a corporate development position is strongly preferred.
• Experience motivating and leading others to drive results is required.

Education

• The position requires a Bachelors Degree. A JD, MBA or other related advanced degree may substitute for required experience.