Manager: Pitches and Proposals

Mayer Brown is an international law firm positioned to represent the world’s major corporations, funds, and financial institutions in their most important and complex transactions and disputes. We are recognised by our clients as strategic partners with deep commercial instincts and a commitment to creatively anticipating their needs and delivering excellence in everything we do.

We are a collegial and collaborative firm where highly motivated individuals with an unwavering commitment to excellence receive the opportunity, support, and development they need to grow, thrive, and realise their greatest potential all while supporting the Firm’s client service principles of excellence, strategic partnership, commercial instinct, integrated strengths, innovation, and collaboration across our international firm.

If you enjoy working with team members whose defining characteristics are exceptional client service, initiative, professionalism, responsiveness, and adaptability, you may be the person we are seeking to join our Commercial department in our London office.

The Role:

• The Manager will join a team that is working to modernise processes, adopt smart automation, and codify best practices at a time when the Proposal Center function is undergoing purposeful change and building its impact across pursuits, processes, and enablement, with the goal of uncovering additional value for the firm.
• The ideal candidate thrives in a hybrid work environment based in London, collaborating effectively both on-site and remotely to support partners and teams.

Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with flexibility in accordance with the needs of the business. Happy to talk flexible working. Our current working from home policy allows for two days working from home, subject to business need. This policy is subject to change and does not form part of contractual terms.

Responsibilities:

• Leads the full lifecycle of strategic pitch and proposal responses, with a strong emphasis on high‑value, multi‑jurisdictional and multi‑practice panel RFPs for major institutional clients.
• Serves as a trusted advisor to the London BD&M Products team and broader European network, providing expert guidance, hands‑on support, and best‑practice methodologies for pursuits across the region.
• Manages and optimises the EMEA proposals function, including daily workflow oversight, resource allocation, capability building, and the delivery of structured training programs for the wider BD team.
• Drives continuous improvement of the firm’s proposal infrastructure, developing high‑quality templates, curated content libraries, and playbooks that reflect firm strategy, brand positioning, and emerging market needs.
• Facilitates and leads critical pursuit activities, including kickoff meetings, strategic workshops, regular check‑ins, and win‑theme development sessions to ensure clarity, alignment, and momentum across the team.
• Synthesises input from partners and cross‑functional stakeholders, transforming diverse viewpoints into compelling, persuasive, and client‑centric written narratives.
• Crafts high‑impact executive summaries and tailored proposal content, ensuring clear value propositions, strong differentiation, and alignment with client priorities and scoring criteria.
• Collaborates with design and creative teams to incorporate visual storytelling, enhancing readability, engagement, and brand presence in final deliverables.
• Oversees end‑to‑end submission production, ensuring accuracy, compliance with all RFP specifications, and timely delivery of polished, professional materials.
• Upholds brand, style, and quality standards, serving as a guardian of consistency and excellence across all Proposal Center outputs.
• Coordinates across Business Development & Marketing, Pricing, Knowledge Management, and legal teams, ensuring cohesive messaging, competitive pricing strategies, and integrated value propositions.
• Leverages approved generative AI tools to enhance process efficiency, content development, and pursuit insights, adhering to firm protocols and governance standards.
• Performs additional responsibilities as required to support firmwide growth, client development objectives, and strategic initiatives.
• Performs other duties as assigned or required to meet Firm goals and objectives.

Qualifications:

• Educated to a degree level or equivalent. An equivalent combination of education and/or experience may be considered in lieu of the degree when the experience has been directly related to the functions of the job.

Experience, skills and personal attributes:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in pitch, proposal, or pursuit management, ideally within a global law firm, professional services firm, or other partnership‑based environment.
• Proven track record of leading complex, multi‑practice and multi‑jurisdictional RFP responses, including panel tenders and strategic client pursuits.
• Demonstrated experience working closely with partners, senior stakeholders, business development teams, and cross‑functional groups to shape pursuit strategy and messaging.
• Experience managing or supporting a regional or global proposals function, including oversight of workflows, training delivery, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Strong background in writing, editing, and crafting client‑centric narratives for high‑value tenders, ideally with exposure to regulated industries or institutional buyers.
• Experience working with proposal content libraries, pitch automation tools, and generative AI solutions within approved governance frameworks would be an advantage.
• Familiarity with pricing concepts, legal service delivery models, and commercial value propositions (experience partnered with Pricing teams is a plus).
• Experience collaborating with or directing design/creative teams to deliver visually engaging proposal materials.
• Prior experience in a matrixed, fast‑paced, deadline‑driven environment, ideally across multiple geographies or time zones.
• Exceptional writing and storytelling ability, with the skill to convert technical legal information into compelling, client‑focused narratives.
• Advanced project and pursuit management skills, including the ability to orchestrate multiple stakeholders, competing priorities, and tight deadlines.
• Strategic thinking, with the ability to identify win themes, value propositions, and differentiators aligned to client needs.
• Strong editorial and content‑development skills, including the ability to tailor messaging and maintain brand voice.
• High attention to detail and a commitment to producing error‑free, compliant, and visually polished deliverables.
• Strong facilitation skills, capable of leading kick‑off meetings, strategy workshops, and alignment sessions with senior partners.

Cross‑Functional & Collaboration Skills:

• Ability to build strong working relationships with partners, BD&M, Pricing, Knowledge, and other business teams.
• Skilled at gathering input from diverse viewpoints and synthesising it into clear, cohesive outputs.
• Diplomatic communicator with the confidence to challenge constructively and steer stakeholders toward best‑practice pursuit approaches.

Technical & Tools Proficiency:

• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 is required; Experience with proposal generation systems and online RFP portals (e.g., PERSUIT) preferred; knowledge of iManage, and Foundation a plus;
• Strong research skills required and familiarity with public and proprietary data sources preferred.
• Familiarity with proposal automation tools, content management systems, CRM platforms, and GenAI tools used for content generation or insights.
• Ability to apply and enforce brand, style, and visual identity guidelines.

Personal Attributes:

• Proactive, resourceful, and solutions‑oriented.
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and driving clarity in complex situations.
• Highly organized with strong follow‑through and ownership.
• Resilient, calm under pressure, and committed to excellence.

At Mayer Brown, we are committed to creating an inclusive work environment that offers our people the opportunity and support they need to succeed. We are therefore happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments that individuals may require throughout the recruitment process and once they have joined the Firm. In addition, one of our core values at Mayer Brown is to promote inclusion at all levels within the business which is actively supported by our diversity networks - LGBT+, Fusion (Race and Ethnicity), Women, Enable (Disability), and Work and Me (Family).