Senior Business Development Executive - M&A in London

This is a varied role requiring excellent team-working and communication skills as well as the ability to build strong, trusted relationships with senior internal stakeholders and client contacts, and to work collaboratively with brand, marketing, communications, research and business development specialists across our global firm.

The Business Development Senior Executive will have several years of experience of working for a global firm in a fast-paced, professional, and client-focused environment. They may have operated in a specialist team providing support to multiple practice groups, for example Pitching or Content, or they may have been focused on providing broader business development support to a particular practice group or sector.

The role holder will be responsible for working collaboratively as part of the Global Business Development team for M&A/Corporate to:

• Understand the specific challenges and opportunities for M&A/Corporate and work with the Manager or Senior Manager to develop and execute a focused marketing and business development strategy that strengthens relationships with existing clients, targets new work, and builds the global reputation of the firm.
• Work independently under the direction of the Manager/Senior Manager on the development of compelling credentials, proposals, and pitches to respond to fast turn-around bids, strategic panels, or other opportunities to win work for M&A/Corporate and record on Salesforce.
• Deliver timely, compelling pitches and credentials for fast-moving M&A mandates.
• Develop practice group or sector-specific content, campaigns, and events, including directory and award submissions, to increase engagement with priority clients and enhance the personal brands of leading practitioners and the firm’s global reputation.
• Leverage marketing technology and tools (e.g., Salesforce) to spot opportunities to develop existing clients and services, track key relationships, and measure the success of initiatives.
• Provide strategic support for M&A practice events, leveraging its success for further brand-building initiatives; organise client roundtables and Listed Company Academies.
• Build trusted relationships with a specific group of internal stakeholders and MBD colleagues to achieve a ‘one team’ global mindset across GT, sectors, and key advisory and risk practices.
• Meet partner expectations for strategic MBD support, client targeting, and relationship development.
• Be part of an agile and responsive bespoke service model based on mutual respect and appreciation of skillsets across the team.
• Contribute to continuous improvement in the firm’s approach to business development, including proactive sharing of knowledge, content, and data to centralised tools such as Foundation.

• Educated to degree level; with several years of experience of working in marketing or business development in a professional business environment (ideally legal, accountancy, technology, consultancy).
• Ability to work confidently and independently on own initiative, but also with strong teamworking, collaboration and internal relationship-building skills.
• Ability to operate with resilience in a fast-paced environment, prioritize actions and work flexibly to meet strict, often quickly evolving deadlines.
• Strong communication skills, with excellent attention to detail in grammar and proofreading.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Suite software.
• Natural curiosity and propensity to learn; enthusiasm to grow into a rounded business development practitioner, specialising in M&A/Corporate.

Freshfields is an equal opportunities employer and all applications received by the firm will be considered on the basis of their merit alone. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals regardless of background. All offers of employment will be conditional on the candidate having/securing the right to work in the UK in the role in question and providing the firm with evidence of that right prior to employment commencing.

Freshfields is a Ban the Box employer. We ask applicants to disclose criminal convictions only if and when a conditional job offer is made. A conviction does not automatically lead to withdrawal of the offer: we make decisions on a case-by-case basis and take a number of relevant factors into account.