Head of Business Development and Client Growth - Melbourne/Sydney

HWLE Lawyers; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Career pathways

Executive impact

Culture & networking

Innovation & transformation

Job summary

HWLE Lawyers is seeking a senior business development leader to join as Head of Business Development and Client Growth. Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, you will lead BD, client relationships and growth, shaping how we win, retain and grow our most important clients.

This strategic role drives pricing, pipeline management, technology and data-driven decision making across a national team. You will work with the CEO, Practice Heads and Partners to accelerate sustainable growth,

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in BD, client growth, or commercial strategy in a law firm or professional services.
• Proven success transforming a BD function—operating model, capability, tech and culture change.
• Strong commercial acumen with understanding of professional services economics and profitable growth.
• Experience developing and implementing client growth, key account management, and BD strategies.
• Experience advising senior stakeholders including executives, partners and practice leaders.
• Understanding of strategic pursuits, client relationship management, market development and major tenders.
• Experience leveraging technology, automation and data insights to improve performance.
• Exposure to pricing strategy and value-based pricing.
• Outstanding leadership with track record of high-performing teams.
• Strategic yet pragmatic mindset focused on outcomes and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead the firm's business development, client relationships and growth functions.
• Shape how the firm wins, retains and grows key client relationships.
• Drive growth strategies, pricing evolution, pipeline management and data-driven decisions.
• Lead a multidisciplinary national team and collaborate with CEO and Partners.
• Ensure investments focus on opportunities that matter most.

Skills

Senior leadership

BD transformation

Commercial acumen

Client growth strategy

Stakeholder management

Strategic pursuits

Pricing strategy

Data insights use

Leadership

Strategic mindset

Job description

• Lead the growth agenda for Australia's largest legal partnership
• Drive client strategy, business development and pricing innovation nationally
• Flexible 3:2 work arrangements, Melbourne or Sydney based candidates welcomed to apply

About us

HWLE Lawyers is not your typical law firm. Our rapid rise to become the largest legal partnership in Australia shows that in our case, the differences are real. We deliver first-class legal advice to government and commercial clients in every state and territory across Australia. Firmwide, we have over 270 Partners and 1,900 people.

The opportunity

HWLE Lawyers has an exceptional opportunity for a senior business development leader to join our national team as Head of Business Development and Client Growth.

Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, you will lead the firm's business development, client relationship and growth functions, helping shape how we win, retain and grow our most important client relationships.

This is a strategic leadership role focused on enabling sustainable growth across the firm. Working closely with the CEO, executive leaders, Practice Group Heads and Partners, you will drive client growth strategies, strengthen key client programs, mature business development capability and lead the evolution of the firm's approach to pricing, pipeline management, technology and data-driven decision making.

You will lead a multidisciplinary national team and play a critical role in ensuring investment and effort are focused on the opportunities that matter most.

To succeed in this role, ideally, you'll have

• Significant senior leadership experience in business development, client growth, commercial strategy or related functions within a law firm or professional services environment.
• Demonstrated success transforming a business development function, including operating model, capability, technology and cultural change.
• Strong commercial acumen, with a deep understanding of professional services economics, client value and profitable growth.
• Proven experience developing and implementing client growth, key account management and business development strategies.
• Experience advising and influencing senior stakeholders, including executives, partners and practice leaders.
• Strong understanding of strategic pursuits, client relationship management, market development and major tender opportunities.
• Experience leveraging technology, automation and data insights to improve performance and decision-making.
• Exposure to pricing strategy, commercial frameworks and value-based pricing approaches.
• Outstanding leadership capability, with a track record of building engaged, accountable and high-performing teams.
• A strategic yet pragmatic mindset, with a strong focus on outcomes and continuous improvement.

What we offer

• Unrivalled career pathways: Our scale, national footprint and growth ambitions create unique opportunities to shape strategy and influence business outcomes.
• Executive-level impact: Partner directly with firm leadership, Practice Group Heads and Partners to drive sustainable growth across the business.
• Great culture and a huge networking platform: Be part of a firm renowned for its friendly and down-to-earth culture. We also have sports clubs, social club and monthly firmwide drinks which provide great opportunities for connectivity.
• Innovation and transformation: Lead meaningful change across client growth, business development, pricing and technology capability in one of Australia's fastest-growing law firms.

Applicants must have full working rights in Australia to apply.

HWLE also strongly encourages applications from the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community.

HWLE Lawyers strives to create an inclusive environment where our people want and feel comfortable to bring their entire selves to work. Varied perspectives contribute to our collective success so whatever your background, we'd love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

If you have reasonable accessibility requirements that will enable you to participate equitably in our recruitment process, please reach out to our Talent Acquisition team.