Global Commercial Director - FTC

Business Area: Specialist Platforms Group (SPG) – Law Business Research Maternity Cover Contract

Role Purpose

The Global Commercial Director is accountable for driving sustainable global revenue growth across Law Business Research’s Specialist Platforms portfolio. The role owns the end‑to‑end commercial agenda, including global sales strategy, pricing, client relationships, and revenue performance, with a strong focus on subscription revenues, renewals, upsell, and long‑term client value within the legal sector. The role requires deep understanding of law firm economics, buying cycles, and legal decision‑makers, combined with strong leadership, financial acumen, and data‑driven execution.

Equal Opportunities Employment

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to ensuring that all candidates are given the same opportunity to succeed regardless of their sex, gender identity/expression or reassignment, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion, age or disability. If you do require any reasonable adjustments to be made, please let us know as part of our application process.

Key Responsibilities

• Define, implement, and continuously refine the global commercial and sales strategy to support business growth.
• Develop and deliver annual sales plans based on market trends, economic indicators, and competitor analysis.
• Identify and maximise new business opportunities across regions and brands to meet global revenue targets.
• Develop deep market and sector insight into clients and competitors, sharing insights internally to strengthen product development and client experience.
• Lead, motivate, and performance‑manage Sales Directors, Sales Managers, and wider commercial teams globally, in line with LBR values.
• Forecast headcount requirements and design team structures to maximise productivity and revenue.
• Actively coach, mentor, and support team members, taking ownership for talent development and succession planning.
• Design and implement competitive commission and incentive plans, working closely with Finance to ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Own and maintain senior relationships with law firms (partners, knowledge leaders, BD), in‑house legal teams, and legal service providers.
• Attend key client meetings to communicate product developments and gather actionable client feedback.
• Oversee strategic account planning for priority global clients.
• Represent the business at industry events, networking to strengthen brand profile and create new commercial opportunities.

Subscription, Retention & Lifetime Value

• Optimise subscription models, contract structures, and renewal processes to maximise retention and lifetime value.
• Drive improvements in customer usage, engagement, and expansion revenue.
• Work closely with research, editorial, and product teams to ensure client needs directly inform product evolution and commercial propositions.
• Full accountability for P&L management within area of responsibility.
• Establish sales objectives by forecasting and setting quotas by region and brand, with clear volume and margin targets.
• Review and monitor pricing strategies, recommending changes where required to remain competitive and profitable.
• Own revenue forecasting, pipeline management, and performance reporting, ensuring accuracy and transparency.
• Define and track key commercial KPIs, including: New business revenue, Renewal and churn rates.

Cross‑Functional Leadership

• Build strong, collaborative relationships across the organisation, including: Editorial, research, and content teams, Marketing and sales enablement, Revenue operations and client services, Product, technology, and Finance.
• Act as a senior commercial voice within leadership forums, influencing strategic decision‑making.

Skills Knowledge and Expertise

• Proven senior commercial leadership experience in legal research, legal publishing, professional services, or B2B subscription businesses.
• Demonstrated success delivering global revenue growth and managing recurring revenue models.
• Significant experience managing and developing high‑performing sales teams.
• Excellent commercial judgement, negotiation, and pricing capability.
• Comfortable operating at executive and board level.
• Exposure to international or matrixed organisations.
• Strong understanding of law firm and in‑house legal buying behaviour.
• Experience working closely with editorial or research‑driven teams.

Measures of Success

• Delivery of global revenue and margin targets.
• Subscription growth, renewal, and retention performance.
• Accuracy of forecasting and pipeline management.
• Strength and stability of senior client relationships.
• Sales team performance, engagement, and capability development.

Benefits

Our people are our most valuable asset, as such, we offer a wide range of benefits to help ensure that all are supported:

• Eye care
• Employee Assistance Programme
• A day off for your birthday
• Pension (4% employer contribution and 4% employee contribution)
• Life assurance
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• £350 annual wellbeing allowance to contribute to gym memberships or fitness classes
• Perks at work platform access
• Company socials
• Access to Employee Affinity Networks
• Mortgage Advice
• Work from anywhere (2 weeks)
• Generous parental leave