Business Development Lead - bids, pitches and proposals (VA866) in London

We have an exciting opportunity for a Business Development Lead to join Carey Olsen. This is a newly created role, where you will design, build and manage a comprehensive bids, pitches and proposals infrastructure developing high‑quality templates, curated content libraries and playbooks that promote the firm's strategy, market positioning, service offering, credentials and capabilities. You will lead on the creation, submission and management of multi-jurisdictional / multi-disciplinary high value bids, pitches and RFPs. This is a global role working closely with the Business Development and Brand teams and key business development partners. The successful candidate can be based in either our London, Jersey, or Guernsey office.

Principal duties will include:

• Follow a review of existing materials, create a comprehensive and centralised database and library of pre-drafted proposal content, credential sheets, capability statements, representative deals and tailored partner bios.
• Work with the Brand team, design and launch high-quality, visually compelling Word and PowerPoint templates that will enable the wider BD team to respond to RFPs in a prompt and timely manner.
• Research and propose legal tech bid software or RFP automation tools to streamline the bids and RFP lifecycle.
• Design and maintain a new pitch tracking dashboard (in CRM system) to capture win/loss rates and prospect banks/pipeline trackers.
• Conduct structured post-pitch debriefs to refine RFPs, materials and infrastructure.
• Lead the end-to-end creation and submission of high-value, multi-jurisdictional / multi-discipline proposals and formal institutional panel tenders, liaising with relevant relationship partners and Finance on pricing and profitability.
• Work with Finance to ensure accurate and timely set up of new rates and discounting agreements in the firm's practice management system for panel/strategic clients.
• Communicate new pricing and panel/appointment terms to relevant partners/teams.

Experience and Professional Qualifications:

• Relevant experience in a bid management or business development role within a law firm or professional services firm.
• Proven experience of building or significantly upgrading a bid function, credential library, or proposal process from scratch within a professional services environment.
• Strong technical capability in leading bids with demonstrable experience working closely with partners, senior stakeholders, business development teams, and cross‑functional groups to shape proposals and bids.
• Familiarity with pricing concepts, legal service delivery models, and commercial value propositions (experience partnered with Pricing teams is a plus).
• Experience of working with proposal generation systems and online RFP portals (e.g., PERSUIT, Coupa, i-Supply, Ariba) preferred.
• Bachelor's degree preferred.

Personal Characteristics:

• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects – often with competing time pressures.
• Excellent drafting and copywriting skills to create impactful and succinct content, coupled with attention to detail and commitment to producing error‑free, compliant, and visually polished deliverables.
• Highly credible and comfortable operating in a partnership environment.
• Determined and focused on achieving results.
• Strong team player, track record of building and sustaining effective internal and external working relationships.

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