Business Development Specialist

New York, NY

The Business Development Specialist will enhance and support the business development (BD) needs primarily for our nationally ranked, large law firm client’s Corporate (M&A, Securities, Private Equity, Banking and Finance) group. The position will plan, execute and evaluate the ROI of all BD initiatives to attract, retain and expand a loyal client base. This position will report to the Senior Manager of Business Development and will be based in the New York office. 

Responsibilities

• Contribute to development of business plans and work with lawyers to execute BD initiatives.
• Develop and tailor content for RFPs/pitches and client presentations; manage the pitch/proposal-development process from start to finish and ensure presentation of content is consistent with branding.
• Track industry news for opportunities/issues.
• Identify or create client/prospect outreach development tools such as one-on-one meetings, seminars and speaking engagements, events, sponsorships, client alerts, newsletters, fact sheets and other direct client communications.
• Identify opportunities for thought leadership and other marketing and campaign ideas to increase brand awareness within the practices.
• Track the actual number of wins/losses and reasons for them.
• Serve as point of contact for conferences, sponsorships and seminars; coordinate with lawyers and others to provide required materials.
• Develop directory awards/rankings submissions with the lawyers on the timing demanded by the rankings calendars.
• Orient laterals, including working with them to create biographies, announcements and to develop and implement BD plans that take the global platform, synergies and cross-selling opportunities into consideration.
• Monitor competitive activity, client and company, sector and geographic trends, draw conclusions, assess implications and prepare marketing and research reports.
• Assist with assessing/recommending priorities for BD plans/budget, track budgets throughout the year and make recommendations to optimize limited resources.
• Promote usage of new and emerging technology.
• Regularly update and work with Public Relations and Communications colleagues to promote lawyers matters and publications.
• Proactively track deals and submit new matters to ranking agencies for league table and other credit/acknowledgment.
• Collect and archive matter/case summaries and all related information for use in pitches/RFPs, bios, legal directory submissions, website, annual review, press releases etc.
• Coordination with other offices for practice/sector specific events (i.e. CLE events, office-specific events as needed).
• Assess the return on the investment of time and cost for larger initiatives on a quarterly basis.
• Regularly update bios and practice descriptions with new content, including matters and awards/rankings. 

Experience & Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience working for a law firm, consulting firm or financial institution. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required (JD a plus), law firm experience a plus.
• Ability to juggle multiple high-visibility, time-sensitive business development projects.
• Exceptional attention to detail and strong communication skills.
• Strategic thinking and the ability to take a leadership role with respect to the production of high quality materials.
• Results-oriented, self-directed individual with the demonstrated ability to prioritize, juggle multiple assignments, and function as part of a cohesive team.