Communications Manager

New York, NY

Company Description

Firm is an international disputes and investigations firm comprised of over 150 lawyers and analysts based in the Americas (New York, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Washington DC), Asia‐Pacific (Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai), EMEA (London, Tel Aviv), and Offshore (British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands). The firm’s conflict‐free profile focuses exclusively on serving as special counsel, allowing it to advance aggressive positions against virtually any adversary.

Job Description

Firm is looking for a strategic, creative and intellectually curious teammate to join a highly‐collaborative Marketing team, playing a critical role in a very different kind of law firm. Because of their highly distinctive business model and unique global footprint, members of Firm’s Marketing and Strategy teams have opportunities to make an outsized impact, including an openness and eagerness for new ideas; day-to‐day collaboration with company leadership; and exposure to unique and innovative litigation issues, many of which are often front page news.

The Communications Manager will drive Marketing/Communications strategy across the firm’s different products and regions, finding innovative ways to reach priority audiences, drive demand and build a compelling and differentiated reputation in the marketplace.

Strategic thinking is the top characteristic that will ensure success in this position. They define ‘strategic thinking’ as the ability to identify commercial opportunities and challenges amidst a vast wealth of information and data; turning those insights into actionable plans; and doing so in a fast moving and sometimes ambiguous environment.

They are also looking for someone who can package complex ideas and arguments into simple and compelling narratives, often for non‐legal audiences. This candidate will be working with attorneys and fellow business development professionals to identify market opportunities and put together actionable strategic plans for the firm’s different products and regions.

Candidates that are multilingual and/or have experience living and working abroad will excel in this position, as the daily work will touch upon different regions around the world-from Shanghai to Tel Aviv, Sao Paulo, British Virgin Islands and beyond.

Reporting to the Senior Marketing Manager, Communications, this role will work in collaboration with the Marketing and Business Development teams as well as across the firm’s other lawyers and staff to implement all external and internal initiatives. A legal background is NOT a requirement for this position. 

Primary Responsibilities

Developing Marketing Plans for Different Products and Regions

• Working with attorneys and fellow business development professionals to identify firm strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the firm’s different products and regions. Will develop and submit actionable plans and insights based on third‐party market research and firsthand intelligence gathered from the firm’s lawyers and staff.
• Based on the insights and research above, the candidate will apply “Outside‐in” thinking towards how to best reach priority targets including (but not limited to): Insights into the identification, segmentation, and needs/motivations of our audiences; defining clear objectives; and collaborating with our Digital Marketing team to gleam insights based on SEO, Analytics and other digital tools. 

Devising External Communications Strategies and Story Mining

• Liaise with key business partners, including product managers, lawyers/partners, and the Communications team, to align on objectives, source and vet story ideas and facilitate the editorial process
• Seek out and develop deep substantive knowledge in select Firm products (which are unique in the legal market and often involve navigating significant complexity), including developing strong relationships with internal subject matter experts and self‐initiating research based on internal and external information sources
• Manage content calendar for his/her products, including defining overarching messages, storylines and campaigns; devising plans and deadlines; and ensuring those deadlines are met
• Collaborate with lawyers, product group managers and marketing colleagues to identify industry trends, key case information/wins and newsworthy client work to enhance demand for the firm’s legal products

Media Relations and PR

• Lead content development and support lawyers through editing bylined articles. Work with external PR firms to place content in key national, international, legal/trade and business publications
• Develop materials including messaging, talking points, backgrounders and FAQs in response to external inquiries from media
• Track relevant media, respond to press inquiries, pitch stories, and schedule interviews for attorneys

Position Requirements

• 4‐5 years’ experience in a strategic marketing and communications role, such as management consulting, PR/marketing agencies or in‐house
• Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, English/Liberal Arts, International Relations, Political Economy, Communications, Business or related field
• Master’s Degree in fields such as Marketing, Public Policy, Economics or an MBA a plus but not required

• A truly global mindset as evidenced by being able to speak multiple languages and/or having extensive experience working/studying/living in non‐English speaking countries
• An innate curiosity to understand global political and market dynamics (i.e., being a news junkie)
• Excellent written, editing, listening and verbal skills that reflect an ability to clarify and simplify technical and complex legal topics, including for a non‐attorney audience
• Proven ability to generate creative ideas and content. Experience in media/PR/journalism (e.g., pitching a variety of media) are preferred
• Highly proactive and intellectually curious, able to navigate ambiguity and complexity while developing tangible and specific solutions
• Strong project management skills to multi‐task and manage multiple projects simultaneously from beginning to end
• Ability to work in a fast‐paced environment and manage multiple, deadline‐driven projects with a keen attention to detail
• Demonstrated ability to establish strong working relationships with key internal & external stakeholders, including the media
• No legal background required