Business Development Manager

The Business Development Manager works with and supports the assigned practice group and department, along with related cross-practice, industry-focused working groups. 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.

Primary Areas of Responsibility

• 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 group’s 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 group’s objectives.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• 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.

Experience

• 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.