Senior Business Development Manager in London

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, commercial, ambitious Senior Business Development Manager, motivated by driving change, who would relish the challenge to join us to play a leading role in developing and delivering our business and client development strategies for the firm's Technology, Media & Entertainment (TME) sector. Some work has started, but there is much to do and the ambition is significant.

Our market-leading Technology, Media, and Entertainment (TME) team supports some of the world's most innovative platforms, media companies, and entertainment providers. This role will form an integral part of the senior BD leadership team, reporting into the Associate Director, Business & Client Development. You will directly manage a BD Manager and BD Executive, who will also manage their own respective practice areas and clients with guidance and strong leadership from you.

You will be joining the firm at an exciting time when there is a great deal of strategic focus on our sectors and ambition within the business and client development function and the wider firm. The firm's marketing and business development function is seen as pivotal in making achievement of our strategic priorities a reality. The role is highly visible and works strategically with the partnership, a crucial part of our ambition around accelerating revenue growth through our priority sectors across the firm. It is front and centre in the new Managing Partner's strategy for profitable growth.

Key responsibilities include:

• Strategic planning
• Work with the Sector Partner lead and Advisory Groups, design and deliver a long-term overarching marketing and business development strategy for the sector to achieve sustainable profitable growth
• Design and execute annual and long-term marketing and business development plans - coupled with financial, BD and resourcing targets - which support the sector strategies
• Use data and market insights to identify opportunities, monitor trends, and adjust strategies for revenue growth
• Set targets and KPIs to track the effectiveness of the TME sector strategy and BD efforts
• Work closely with the Partner Sector Lead, senior stakeholders and colleagues across the firm to develop, manage and implement the commercial strategy for identified high-potential clients within the TME sector, fostering a commercial, collaborative mind-set and addressing barriers to client development success
• Regularly review the TME sector's client portfolio and performance against strategic objectives to ensure alignment with firm objectives and sector developments
• Lead and manage BD and client-targeting initiatives and firmwide integrated campaigns for the TME sector, focusing on high-potential clients and key audiences
• Working alongside the Client Development team, conduct client listening interviews and leverage insights from the firm's client listening programme to identify opportunities and drive a culture of client service excellence at both an individual client and group level
• Provide regular reports to senior leadership on progress against targets, successes, challenges, acting as an ambassador for a market and client focused mindset
• Bid management
• Collaborate with the pitch teams to create compelling proposals and strategic approaches to winning work, coaching lawyers, and ensuring pitch feedback is shared and acted on.
• Act as a 'champion' for best practice bid management within the TME sector team
• Lead on the management and drafting of ad hoc opportunities as required
• Improve and continuously refine standard content and materials to support the bid process
• Team collaboration and leadership
• As a member of the BD Leadership, collaborate with colleagues across the Brands, Clients and Markets team, acting as a mentor and support to more junior members of the team
• Foster collaboration across teams, in London and internationally, to drive cross-selling, share best practices, and ensure a coordinated approach to client targeting
• Develop close relationships with marketing communications colleagues in support of BD plan implementation
• Lead and collaborate on wider projects outside of the TME sector scope where necessary
• Knowledge and training
• Act as a coach, role model and mentor toward direct reports - Manager and Exec - providing constructive guidance, support, encouragement, feedback, communication and a commitment to their development and progress
• Help Partners and Associates become more effective in their BD efforts through coaching and skill-building
• Budgeting
• Take the lead role in preparing an annual Brand, Clients & Markets budget for the TME sector marketing and business development activity, as well as associated practice areas
• Develop and monitor budgets ensuring they are aligned to the firm and practice's priorities and deliver value for money
• Review monthly expenditure against budget, ensuring value-driven cost control

The team leads Business and Client Development for the firmwide Technology, Media and Entertainment sector and has direct responsibility for a team of two but works collaboratively with colleagues across the team. Reporting to the Associate Director, Business and Client Development, the role is a key part of our Business and Client Development Team, working collaboratively with BD colleagues to drive profitable growth across our priority, growth and target clients. The Business and Client Development team is part of our broader Brand, Clients and Markets team.

Knowledge, skills and experience

Due to the senior nature of this role, it is likely best suited to a Business Development professional already operating at a Senior Manager level with a minimum of 8 years' experience, ideally within professional services. The ideal candidate will be looking for a new and exciting challenge to lead BD and client development for a priority firmwide sector across the firm.

Skills and experience ideally to include:

• Experience of development and implementing sector and/or practice and client-focused BD and marketing plans and a track record of delivering results aligned to objectives.
• Previous experience and knowledge of the Technology, Media and Entertainment sector a bonus.
• Evidence of excellent Partner/senior stakeholder management and influencing skills, ideally gained within a professional services environment.
• Experience of developing client-focused key account plans a bonus and a track record of delivering financial results aligned to objectives.
• Experience, and a strong understanding of, the workings and dynamics of a partnership.
• Strong operational and project management skills.
• Experience of managing people, resources, budgets and projects effectively.
• Effective relationship builder - can interact with and influence individuals at all levels across the business.

The candidate

• A driver of change, self-motivated by a challenge, and ambitious to succeed
• A passion for the technology, media and entertainment sector
• A very high degree of emotional intelligence, empathy and flexibility
• Energetic and highly collaborative with a willingness to bring new ideas to the firm on how we can make our business development efforts more effective and efficient.
• Strong intellectual and analytical skills, with the ability to simplify complex ideas and drive impactful results through strategic and pragmatic approaches
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (both verbal and written)
• Effective at building networks, fostering collaboration, and maintaining strong stakeholder relationships to drive change within the business
• A collaborative and influential leader and mentor within a non-hierarchical, matrixed structure, who coaches and develops junior team members to achieve their full potential
• Committed to being a part of a supportive, inclusive and collaborative firm culture
• Demonstrates a growth mindset and is committed to lifelong learning to build knowledge and expertise