Senior Marketing & BD Manager

The role

The Litigation & Regulatory Group is large, complex and fast paced. It was recently recognised as a “most feared” law firm in litigation in BTI Consulting Group’s BTI Litigation Outlook 2023 report. The Group was named a “Powerhouse” – the highest rating in the report, representing the top 1 percent of all law firms – for class action defence, cybersecurity litigation and product liability advice. Furthermore, the Group continues to be ranked in the top 5 firms globally by disputes revenue, in the Lawyer’s Litigation top 50 survey and is ranked in the top 30 globally by Global Arbitration Review (GAR) and Global Investigations Review (GIR). The International MBD team underpins the team’s success by developing and implementing a wide range of high profile campaigns and client development activity.

The International MBD team provides the operational and strategic hub for the L&R Group, supporting the Amsterdam-based Global Co-Chair and the UK Location Head, alongside the Group’s other Business Partners, to to help deliver their priorities for the Group. This is a high-profile team, working closely with the international location heads, global subgroup leaders and other partners and regional colleagues.

The team is responsible for helping partners and senior lawyers to attract, retain and share profitable client relationships. They help to manage the Group’s market profile, developing a sense of community within the Group and across the Firm in order to build strong and cohesive client teams. The team forms part of a larger International marketing team based in locations across Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, with a strong central team of specialists based in London. The team works closely with these teams as well as with US and LatAm based marketing counterparts.
This role will lead and support a broad range of service areas to help the Firm and Group enhance its profile with clients, in the market generally, and win profitable business.

Occasional travel within the UK and internationally is a requirement of the role.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (Across the International firm):

• To be the Global Co-Chair’s and UK Location Heads trusted MBD advisor. Help support and action the Group’s strategic priorities
• Work closely with the wider MBD team, the Group’s partners and senior lawyers to develop and action strategic business development initiatives; including the development of and execution of subgroup implementation plans, the provision of innovative solutions to marketing and BD challenges (including challenging and consulting on strategic objectives), and working with the Group’s MBD managers to maintain and progress the infrastructure required to deliver these plans
• Work on key client relationships and client targeting programmes in particular with a view to cross-selling opportunities within the Group and across other relevant practice groups, and in alignment with the efforts of the Sectors and the wider firm
• Leverage the power of our internal systems, utilising data analytics, to provide a smarter marketing & BD service and experience to the Group
• Champion our new marketing systems (including a global credentials database and a proposal automation tool) and drive engagement across L&R internationally
• Bring the best of the firm to the L&R Group – with so many campaigns and initiatives happening across the matrix structure, there is a need to identify and share the most relevant opportunities on an ongoing basis and help to plug in the right L&R contributors
• Work closely with Partners and other MBD colleagues (sectors, practice groups and locations) to identify joint client and target opportunities – craft winning pursuit strategies
• Work closely with Sector MBD teams to ensure L&R representation/input into the Firm’s go-to-market sector strategy
• Lead and support on key L&R pitch opportunities (from reactive/quick turnaround transaction opportunities to more strategically planned approaches)
• Value Added Services – working closely with Knowledge, the Service Delivery teams and PR on how we bring wider value to our clients, such as connecting clients to opportunities and engaging on headline agendas
• Support lateral hires with embedding their ‘book of business’
• Reignite the L&R group’s client listening programme (tying in with the wider firm programme) – from client interaction itself through to how this converts to opportunities and use of the intelligence to bring wider value back to the Group through behaviour & culture
• Coach new partner promotions, potential partner talent and ‘rising stars’ in the Group
• Work closely with the other business services functions to take the Group’s products and services to market in the best possible light
• Manage the International and UK MBD budget and work with the Head of Operations for L&R on the quarterly International Location Heads agenda – through the eyes of clients/sectors and the external market
• Report on results and ROI
• Organisational support for internal group conferences and subgroup training days with Knowledge and the Head of Operations
• Oversee the development and submission of key directory submissions for the varying workstreams within L&R.

In order to deliver the areas of key responsibility identified above, the successful candidate will be expected to write, manage & execute the L&R MBD strategy:

• Work with the Head of Operations and Global Co-Chair to ensure a regular communication flow across the practice, keeping the strategic priorities front of mind for the Group
• With a Group strategy in place, work with the key subgroup leaders to review and refresh their own subgroup marketing and BD plans
• Work closely in conjunction with our Knowledge team in the identification of issues affecting clients and consider how to bring related thought leadership and client solutions to our market place
• Develop products and services with robust route to market campaigns (via sectors and/or regions as appropriate)
• Build the profile of the Group both internally and in the market
• Work with Location Heads, across priority countries, to ensure we optimise the Group’s go-to-market

Manage the MBD team:

• Provide leadership and direction to support the group marketing team, ensuring it is kept fully informed of developments, issues and requirements of the group
• Manage the marketing team and the group’s access to the central marketing functions – web, events, pitching, research, marketing systems, Interaction and PR
• Coach and mentor talent within the team, providing the necessary stretch to develop and prosper for the Group and the firm as a whole

The job holder may be required to undertake additional duties from time to time.

ABOUT YOU

The successful candidate must have:

• Senior manager level experience and be looking to expand their role in an international organisation
• A Degree or equivalent qualification
• A high level of written, oral communication and project management skills. In addition you will be expected to have strong probing, consultative listening skills coupled with the ability to negotiate, persuade and manage senior stakeholders
• The ability to display a consistently positive and proactive attitude and demonstrate a collaborative working style; operating both as an individual and as part of a wider team (often based in other international locations)
• A deep knowledge of MBD processes for professional services – a sound understanding of new business processes, digital marketing, CRM and the emerging technologies that will help us win and retain legal work
• An exemplary professional approach and demonstrably high levels of commitment and internal client care
• Ideally a working knowledge of a L&R practice and a familiarity with the terminology
• Demonstrable experience in demanding, partner-led international environments, where success has depended on an ability to:

• A proven ability to deal with confidential and sensitive information
• High level of literacy in IT and marketing systems – Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Teams and Outlook is essential; experience of InterAction / CRM and design software would be beneficial
• Sales techniques and coaching skills
• Ability to understand and identify with the Firm, its objectives and values

This job description is not designed to be exhaustive and can be varied, as required, to develop, or fulfil, the role on the demands of the L&R Group.

ABOUT US

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

OUR VALUES

In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

HYBRID WORKING

We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.