At a Glance
- Tasks: Manage proposals and develop strategies to win high-quality clients.
- Company: Lester Aldridge, a leading UK law firm with a strong reputation.
- Benefits: Flexible working, collaborative culture, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Join a supportive team and shape the future of business development.
- Why this job: Be part of an exciting growth strategy and make a real impact.
- Qualifications: Experience in managing proposals within a law or professional services environment.
The predicted salary is between 50000 - 65000 £ per year.
About Lester Aldridge
Lester Aldridge is a full-service UK law firm with a strong reputation across key sectors including; healthcare, shipping, banks & other lenders, housebuilders, ports & harbours, charities, AI and private clients.
We are committed to delivering legal advice that creates commercial or personal opportunity for our clients and do that by building long-term client relationships.
We are at an exciting stage in our development as a firm and also to our approach to business development so this a unique opportunity to help shape that for a firm with bold and ambitious plans.
Our first Business Development & Marketing Director joined in 2025 and is part of the Senior Leadership Team who have been working on plans for our new strategy.
Supporting the partners and fee-earners with BD to win and retain high-quality clients across our target markets is key to those plans.
This role would also work alongside the BD & Marketing Director to develop the infrastructure to support the new BD approach.
Role Overview
We are looking for a BD & Proposals Manager to work closely with partners and fee-earners as well as the BD & Marketing Director and Marketing colleagues to identify and create BD opportunities and develop compelling, client-focused proposals that demonstrate LA’s proposition.
This is a high-impact role with visibility across the firm, supporting strategic growth in our priority sectors.
Key Responsibilities
- Bid & Pitch Management
- Produce compelling, tailored proposals (including credentials and tenders) that demonstrate Lester Aldridge’s proposition in their approach.
These could be from any part of the firm’s full service offering (so offers a lot of variety).
However, the Marketing & BD strategy will focus on target sectors and hence on collaboration across the firm in order to address clients’ specific requirements.
- Manage multiple concurrent submissions, ensuring high-quality outputs to deadline.
- Support go/no-go decisions aligned to firm strategy and sector priorities.
- Develop and maintain a high-quality library of proposal-ready credentials, case studies, and CVs.
- Sector Initiatives
- Help develop the firm’s sector BD strategy eg
- Track sector issues for impact on clients and high value targets
- Identify opportunities to support clients and targets by drawing on expertise across the firm.
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Partner closely with Partners and fee-earners across all parts of the full service firm.
- Challenge and shape bid strategy to improve win rates for high quality targets
- Support and coach fee earners in best-practice pitching and proposal development
- Facilitate review sessions and capture lessons learned from wins/losses
• Collaborate with Marketing on campaigns to attract targets through
- Events (seminars, webinars) including identification of invitees and attendance.
- Content
- Pipeline Management
- Ensuring new cold enquiries are responded to quickly by fee-earners.
- Help devise new processes (within current and emerging data infrastructure) for pipeline management at a firm, sector, team and individual level
- Ultimately, pipeline reporting.
- Firm Initiatives
- There may be new firm initiatives that will require support and input from this role eg
- Key client programme
- Alumni programme
- Pricing strategy
- CRM implementation
- Key Skills & Experience
Essential
- Proven experience managing proposals in a law firm or professional services environment
- Ability to develop strong relationships with partners and fee-earners and be seen as a trusted adviser with credibility.
- Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to produce high-quality, client-ready content
- Excellent project management skills and ability to manage competing deadlines
- Commercial awareness and understanding of client decision-making
Desirable
- Using tools such as Linked In and AI in research
- Advanced Power Point skills for proposal production
- Experience of CRM systems/pipeline reporting tools
- Experience working within one or more of Lester Aldridge’s key sectors (e. g. healthcare, shipping, housebuilders, private wealth)
- Key Competencies
- Strong communication and influencing skills
- Attention to detail and quality focus
- Collaborative and proactive approach
- Resilience and ability to work under pressure
- Strategic mindset with a focus on results
- Reporting Line
- Reports to: Business Development & Marketing Director
Why Join Lester Aldridge?
- Opportunity to play a key role in the firm’s exciting growth strategy
- Exposure to a broad range of sectors and legal services
- Collaborative and supportive culture
- Flexible/hybrid working approach
- Clear opportunity to shape and enhance the firm’s proposal capability
Business Development (Bid and Proposals) Manager in Bournemouth employer: Lester Aldridge
Lester Aldridge is an excellent employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters collaboration and innovation. Employees benefit from comprehensive professional development opportunities and a supportive environment that encourages personal growth, all while being part of a firm that is committed to strategic excellence in business development. Located in a vibrant area, the firm provides a unique advantage for networking and engaging with key industry players.
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We think you need these skills to ace Business Development (Bid and Proposals) Manager in Bournemouth
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