Senior Business Development Manager

A full time, permanent role based in any of the firm's UK offices.

The role

The role reports to the Head of Business Development and consists of the following core components:

• Delivering outstanding internal client service and effective delivery of campaigns and projects to our private wealth, private client, family team and their home office and across the business on firm-wide projects. Providing strategic-level support to those teams with an international focus and ensuring their BD and marketing activities align with their 2025/30 business plans
• Shared management responsibility for the leadership and development of the BD team who are based across multiple offices. This includes recruitment, leading, coaching and motivating the team to provide the highest levels of service provision, with the primary aims focused on supporting partners and lawyers to retain and win business
• Working closely with other managers to ensure the BD team works and communicates effectively, is seen as experts in their field, is consistent and innovative in our approach and works effectively with other marketing functions and wider business services functions focused on delivering and supporting business growth

Main duties and responsibilities

Leadership

• Supporting the Head of BD with the leadership of the BD team, including direct management of members of the team
• Working with other BD managers to ensure we have a consistent approach to line management and reviews and that the team’s training and development is effectively co-ordinated. Facilitate coaching and mentoring across the team
• Encouraging effective communication across the BD team and ensuring we have a team that feels supported and valued through use of meetings, internal communications and away days, etc…
• Working closely with the Head of BD on managing any recruitment for the team. Bringing in support from the wider BD team when relevant
• Ensure effective work allocation and delegation across the team and to the BD assistants
• Have a network of peers and colleagues across the firm to encourage collaboration and best practice sharing. Ensure the team is working effectively with all the other marketing, business services and ESS functions

Delivering outstanding BD support

• Providing strategic BD support to the private wealth sector, private client and family teams and their home office
• Ensuring the BD team provides a consistent level of outstanding service to our teams and that we use the same type of materials and approach, with the primary aims focused on supporting partners and lawyers to win and retain business. Encouraging the sharing of best practice across the team
• Be able to handle a substantial, complex and strategic workload
• Deliver outstanding client service consistently to generate internal client satisfaction, positive feedback and referrals
• Driving forward ongoing development and delivery of best practice and ensuring that appropriate systems and structures exist to ensure a consistently high quality approach to BD and sales
• Strong internal and external network maintained and used to bring in opportunities for increased profile, access to new leads, competitor and market best practice
• Deep understanding of the client base and prospects for the sectors/NSLs/markets and aware of the commercial issues they face
• Identify mentoring and coaching opportunities to support lawyers to develop their BD and marketing skills

Personal profile

• Contribute to collaborative cross-firm culture for example participating in project teams, consultative groups, effective working initiatives, innovation events and able to influence others and gain support for views and initiatives
• Confident to communicate to all scales and types of audience across a variety of mediums e.g. presentations, project plans, emails, vlogs, etc…
• Demonstrate use of strategies to deal with a range of people and situations, including influencing, persuading and challenging internal clients and external suppliers
• Keep up to date with general commercial issues from business updates, media and briefings

Technical excellence

• Play a leading role in firm-wide projects that support the 2025/30 plan e.g. innovation projects, brand identity, thought leadership
• Plan, prioritise and manage work activities for yourself and your team to ensure they are completed efficiently, on time and to an appropriate standard. Implement reviews of major initiatives against KPIs and share learning
• Act as a role model by using all available systems at the firm to be as effective as possible, for example InterAction, Objective Manager, PMS, social media and be aware of the other core systems used within the marketing team such as the websites CMSs and Vuture
• Seek out new ideas internally and externally to support continuous improvement and innovation
• Quickly implement new methods of working and share/communicate learning
• Management of budgets for your areas ensuring effective use of expenditure through best practice procurement, implementation of cost saving initiatives and assessment of spend against KPIs

The person

• Proven BD experience within an international professional services firm
• A solid education background, ideally with relevant marketing qualification
• A proven full mix of marketing and BD tools
• Proven leadership and people management experience
• Sound working knowledge, and understanding of the business market place
• Strong commercial acumen: understanding of our business and our clients and their requirements
• Strong advisory and influencing skills as well as tenacity
• Good communication and networking skills to enhance the strong relationships already in place, as well as influencing decision makers

The package

As you would expect, the firm offers a generous salary and benefits.  The firm’s standard benefits are detailed in the following link:

https://www.mills-reeve.com/careers/benefits

Pre-employment screening

Please note that, in the event that we make an offer for a role, we will conduct pre-employment screening that includes, but is not limited to, a basic DBS check, right to work check, any disciplinary history recorded with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and a self-declaration to assess your character and suitability for the role.  A full policy of the screening the firm undertakes is available on request.

The Mills & Reeve Business Services career structure

We have a firm wide Business Services career structure and a published career progression framework.  Within the firm wide career structure there are five career levels.  For the purposes of the framework, this role is at an Assistant level and the role profile that details the outcomes and activities expected of across the firm is included with this job description.  Further information on the firm’s Business Services career structure is available from the HR team.

The firm

Mills & Reeve is a major UK law firm renowned for its outstanding service to national and international clients, for its collaborative culture and for its deep sector expertise.

The firm has a strong sector focus with expertise in agriculture, charities, education, food and beverage, health, insurance, private wealth, real estate investment, sport and technology. Clients include businesses from PLCs to start-ups, high net worth individuals and landowners, more than 120 universities, colleges and education bodies and over 100 healthcare organisations.

This is an ideal opportunity to build your skills and experience with a major UK law firm, listed as one of the “Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For” for the last 20 years - the only law firm to achieve this.

We are also proud to have been awarded Platinum Investors in People status this year.  The firm joins a select club of only 6% of 50,000 assessed organisations awarded the coveted platinum status.

The firm is also delighted to report for the eighth year running we were named as one of Roll On Friday’s ‘best law firms to works at’.

And finally

Mills & Reeve is committed to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment. We are happy to consider flexible working arrangements and endeavour to achieve the right balance for both our people and the business. This attitude to flexible working ensures we continue to provide outstanding service to our clients, whilst allowing our people to develop their careers in the knowledge that personal priorities will remain just that.

Mills & Reeve is committed to promoting equality, diversity and to providing an inclusive and supportive environment. Please click the link below to find further information regarding our diversity policy.

https://www.mills-reeve.com/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion

If you would like any more information about Mills & Reeve, you can visit our website by clicking on the following link:

http://www.mills-reeve.com/