Assistant Director of Business Development — Washington, DC

We are working with a major law firm that is seeking an Assistant Director of Business Development to support the firm’s Litigation and Investigations practices in the Washington, DC office. This role will be working closely with the Firm’s practice group leaders, the Director of Business Development and other members of the business development team.

Primary responsibility is to oversee and support the development and implementation of strategic business initiatives aimed at securing new clients, strengthening existing relationships, and increasing visibility of the assigned practices consistent with the overall goals and strategies of the firm. This role currently supervises five direct reports and reports to the Director of Business Development.

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required. MBA a plus.
• Minimum of 5 or more years of Marketing and/or Client Development manager-level experience supporting multiple practice groups in an AmLaw 100 firm. Litigation practice marketing/client development experience is highly desirable.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills, including a high level of responsiveness.
• Demonstrated leadership, resourcefulness, problem-solving capabilities, and taking initiative.
• Prior supervisory experience required. Experience supervising at least three direct reports preferred.
• Proven ability to work well in a fast-paced environment. Manage tight deadlines and competing priorities while maintaining a professional demeanor.
• Experience with information technology and software for marketing the practice groups, including website, databases, and knowledge management tools.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Planning

• Work with global Litigation Practice Group chairs on overall business development planning process.
• Work with key lawyer stakeholders and BD (business development) team members to develop annual business plans for assigned practice groups. Ensure that plans are tied to the Firm’s strategic business plan and have clearly stated action items, and measurable milestones. Assist with implementation and monitoring of the plans’ progress.
• Develop and monitor supporting budgets for assigned practices and review monthly general ledgers for accuracy.
• Prepare for quarterly practice group meetings with the Management Committee, participate in the quarterly meetings, provide actionable post-meeting reports, and support execution of priorities.

Business Development

• Work with BD team members and key lawyer stakeholders to generate ideas for external outreach, identify and execute outreach to these client targets for specific initiatives tied to practice group business plans.
• Develop client-specific pitches and proposals and conduct preparatory sessions with lawyers prior to client meetings.
• Leverage Firm’s Market Research team to analyze market opportunities and to assist lawyers/groups in preparation for client meetings as well as pitches and RFP responses.
• Coordinate with members of the BD team on cross-practice efforts for regional/industry initiatives.
• Work with Relationship Manager program team to maintain and expand relationships with targeted clients.
• Support strategic and logistical aspects of the lateral integration process for lawyers in relevant practices.
• Provide one-on-one business development coaching to lawyers, and conduct business development related training sessions for litigation practice groups.
• Identify and evaluate sponsorship and speaking opportunities at conferences and seminars and ensure effective participation and ROI. Support preparation and follow-up for these engagements.
• Recommend thought-leadership opportunities and CLE programs for clients.

Marketing

• Work with BD team members to draft effective submissions for relevant practices for directory listings and other awards, including Chambers, Global Investigations Review, Global Arbitration Review, Global Competition Review, and AmLaw’s, NLJ’s, and the Recorder’s “Litigation Department of the Year” awards.
• Ensure well-written, up-to-date representative client lists and matters/deal descriptions. Maintain descriptions in Firm’s experience database.
• Work with BD and Marketing team members to develop and maintain practice-specific and geographic focused marketing materials.
• With support from members of the CRM Systems team, develop and maintain segmented client and prospect mailing lists.
• Provide support for client events, including concept development, invitation creation and certain logistics and follow-up.

Supervisory

• Meet regularly with direct reports to assess and manage workloads, ongoing project prioritization, and resolve coverage needs.
• Support team training and professional development objectives.
• Provide annual review with specific feedback and recommendations.
• Provision of training to practice groups and individual lawyers on specific topics i.e. best practices.

Compensation will be dependent on experience; base salary is flexible.

Law firm provides great working environment and culture.

To hear more (confidentially of course), please email an updated resume along with salary expectations.

Thank you,

Hope Tocci

Owner & President

htocci@toccilegalsearch.com