Senior Business Development Manager – Litigation

Cleary Gottlieb is a pioneer in globalizing the legal profession. We have fourteen offices in major financial centers around the world, but we operate as a single, integrated global partnership and not a U.S. firm with a network of overseas locations. The firm employs approximately 1,100 lawyers from more than fifty countries.

Since 1946 our lawyers and staff have worked across practices, industries, jurisdictions, and continents to provide clients with simple, actionable approaches to their most complex legal and business challenges, whether domestic or international. We support every client relationship with intellectual agility, commercial acumen, and a human touch.

The Senior Business Development Manager will work alongside a peer Senior Business Development Manager, with the two roles jointly responsible for business development and marketing across the Americas Litigation practice. Each Senior Manager will take primary responsibility for a distinct set of Litigation subpractices while collaborating closely to ensure a unified approach to the practice's overall BD strategy. This Senior Manager will also oversee a team of direct reports and will work closely with attorneys and other members of the Global Business Development (BD) team.

• Lead the business development efforts and initiatives for the assigned Americas Litigation subpractices, working closely with the Americas Litigation Practice Group Leaders and Sub-Practice Group Leaders to drive the strategic direction and execution of all relevant BD activities.
• Work with the Global Business Development Director of Practices to create and implement best practices for the Litigation BD team and oversee the development and work product of multiple direct reports.
• Partner with the Litigation Practice Operations Manager to drive the execution of the practice's strategic business plans and track progress on a continual basis.
• Collaborate with senior BD leadership and practice leadership on global and local cross-selling and client targeting efforts, including as they relate to the firm's key client program.
• Act as Client Account Manager on up to 3 of the firm's key client accounts, coordinating the relationships globally and leveraging a strong understanding of the clients' strategies, challenges, and competitive and regulatory landscapes to identify client development opportunities.
• Oversee pitches and RFP responses, directory and award submissions, and the development and maintenance of practice group credentials and other relevant materials, ensuring that each is thoughtfully tailored to the specific opportunity at hand.
• Lead efforts to continuously improve pitch and directory submission processes, identifying efficiencies and implementing best practices to enhance the quality and consistency of all submissions.
• Drive improvements to experience management processes, including the timely updating of web bios, pitch bios, and matter credentials, ensuring that all materials accurately reflect the practice's current capabilities and experience.
• Evaluate practice group strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and conduct research on existing and prospective clients, competitor activity, and industry or market trends to help drive strategic decisions and create revenue and profitability opportunities.
• Conduct client feedback interviews and ensure that feedback is onboarded and acted upon, as appropriate.
• Ensure that junior team members develop and maintain sufficient substantive knowledge of the Litigation practice areas they support, providing guidance and resources to strengthen their understanding of relevant legal and market developments.
• Partner with the Competitive Intelligence team to identify and surface new business opportunities arising from client developments, competitor activity, and market and industry trends.
• Foster a collaborative environment and help promote an exceptional culture across the team.

The position requires a high-energy and motivated team player who is also able to work independently as the business development point person for partners engaged in litigation and litigation-related work. The individual must be able to adapt to change, balance competing demands, and manage demands outside of traditional business hours.

• 9+ years of relevant business development experience in a professional services firm, with a minimum of 4 years of litigation legal marketing experience. Previous law firm experience is required.
• Strong people management skills and demonstrated experience overseeing and developing direct reports, with the ability to work well with others across functions, levels, and geographies.
• Excellent analytical and research skills and the ability to synthesize, interpret, and summarize information from a wide variety of sources in a clear and concise manner.
• Proven experience leading the development of pitches and proposals, including complex RFP responses.
• Extraordinary attention to detail and a proactive approach to generating new ideas.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills.
• Excellent time management, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to develop and display strong substantive knowledge of the supported practices and markets.
• Professional manner, consistently demonstrating the ability to maintain strict confidentiality.
• Expected to monitor emails outside of regular business hours.
• Flexibility to work outside regular business hours, including early mornings, evenings, and weekends, as needed.

Practice portfolio is subject to change to maintain alignment with the evolving needs of the firm.

The estimated base salary for this position ranges from $215,000 to $240,000 at the time of posting. The actual salary offered will be determined based on various job-related factors, including skills, education, training, credentials, experience, the scope and complexity of role responsibilities, geographic location, and performance. This is a exempt role, meaning it is not eligible for overtime pay.

Cleary provides a comprehensive benefits package, including health care benefits. More information can be found here: Benefits

We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination based on any category protected by law. Cleary provides reasonable accommodations to enable otherwise qualified employees to perform the essential functions of their position, provided the accommodation does not pose an undue hardship to the Firm.

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