Senior Business Development Executive

Job Purpose

This role will suit someone with strong analytical skills, excellent attention to detail and who has experience in managing their own workload with accuracy and a highly efficient level of time management. You will be a senior key point of contact for one or more of our focussed sectors and this role will give you the opportunity to get involved with the full marketing and BD mix with lots of autonomy and responsibility as well as support. The postholder will also provide coaching and guidance to junior team members.

The successful candidate will need to be an energetic, driven and focused individual with the ability to quickly establish rapport with stakeholders and manage internal and external relationships. The successful candidate will take pride in their work, enjoy working as part of a team, and be proud of Devonshires.

The Team

This role sits within the Marketing and Business Development Department led by the Head of Business Development. The team are a close-knit, hardworking team dealing with a full spectrum of tasks including tenders, bids, proposals, business development, client development, seminars, events, digital marketing, PR, responsible business and marketing.

Duties and Responsibilities

This is not an exhaustive list and from time to time it may be necessary to vary these to meet the department and business needs

You will have responsibility for all marketing and business development initiatives relating to your departments. You will work closely with the wider Marketing and BD teams to deliver the support that is needed. This role is holistic and as such you’ll need to be happy leading market planning but will also relish rolling your sleeves up at times to get on-brand marketing assets, events, campaigns and pitches delivered for your teams.

• Leading on the development and implementation of the marketing and BD plans and budgets for a group of departments in the firm
• Leading regular business development meetings with the departments updating them against the plan, seeking their input and ideas for the future
• Work with the marketing team, knowledge development lawyers and departments to identify opportunities and hot topics, build overall brand and reputation in the external marketplace
• Being creative and continually thinking of new approaches and opportunities to support growth
• Managing involvement at a range of department specific events and conferences
• Identifying and running thought leadership campaigns in conjunction with marketing
• Support with developing content for directory submissions, award submissions, credentials and collateral
• Tracking and reporting on new business opportunities and targets generated through marketing and business development activities
• Conduct client, competitor and market research
• Work in conjunction with client development colleagues supporting client development initiatives
• Identify and facilitate cross-selling or client sharing opportunities across the group
• Maintain an interest in and awareness of the sectors we operate in
• Consistently keeping an eye on groupwide opportunities and how they could be leveraged
• Assist the wider marketing and BD team as and when necessary.

Person Specification

• 3-5 years’ experience within a Marketing and BD environment at Executive level, within professional services, ideally within a law firm;
• Prior experience in leading marketing and BD plans and budgets, working directly with Partners and fee-earners across departments;
• Comfortable working closely with Partners to deliver, provide advice, and share ideas;
• Collaborating with colleagues in the wider BD and Marketing department to provide a high level of service to the firm;
• Prior experience working in a Business Development-focused role, with experience managing events and projects;
• Attention to detail to produce work which is consistently of a high standard;
• Good time management skills with the ability to prioritise workload;
• Established stakeholder management experience;
• Has a flexible, proactive, and can-do approach;
• Must enjoy working as part of a team and possess excellent communication skills both written and verbal; and
• Willingness to excel within a professional services environment and keen to learn.