Director, Client & Business Development - Corporate & Financial Services

Business Professionals; Toronto; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading Canadian law firm is seeking a Director of Client & Business Development to lead strategic initiatives for the Corporate Practice. The role involves collaborating with leadership to drive profitable growth and manage client relationships. The ideal candidate will have a university degree and 10+ years of BD experience in professional services, a strong understanding of capital markets, and effective leadership skills. This position offers a hybrid work arrangement with up to two remote days per week.

Benefits

Hybrid work arrangement

Diverse and inclusive work environment

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of BD experience within a professional services firm.
• Experience in capital markets and the financial sector is mandatory.
• Creative problem-solving to support client and BD initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead, collaborate on, and facilitate strategic BD and marketing planning.
• Develop client engagement strategies using CRM platforms.
• Analyze key industry trends and provide updates.

Skills

Highly organized

Client-service oriented

Strong leadership

Strategic thinking

Excellent oral and written communication

Education

University degree in marketing, business, communications or English

LLB (asset)

Tools

CRM technologies

MS Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook)

Power BI

Job description

Overview

Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is one of Canada’s leading business law firms with more than 1000 members based in offices in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and New York. Osler attracts top talent across lawyers, students, management and staff, fostering a culture of mentoring and idea exchange. Osler is a dynamic place to advance your career.

Position

Director, Client & Business Development – Corporate and Financial Services is a senior leader within Osler’s Client Development & Marketing (CD&M) team and a strategic partner to the Corporate Practice (capital markets, M&A, private equity, emerging and high growth companies, and related finance work) and the Financial Services Practice. Reporting to the Chief Client Officer, the Director leads the BD function, collaborating with practice leadership to establish and execute the business-development vision for the groups, drive profitable growth, enhance market profile, and deepen key client relationships. The Director leads a team of BD professionals, collaborates with lawyers and firm leadership, and marshals firm-wide resources to achieve the Corporate groups’ commercial objectives. The Director also oversees the firm’s competitive intelligence function to support the CD&M team’s strategic goals.

Major Responsibilities and Duties

• Lead, collaborate on, and facilitate strategic BD and marketing planning for assigned practice groups, including competitive analysis, practice positioning, market profile, cross-selling opportunities, and new business targets; set goals, timelines and KPIs.
• Collaborate with practice group leaders and firm leadership to identify key target markets, client segments, and service offerings to drive growth and differentiation.
• Analyze and provide ongoing updates on key industry and local market trends aligned with the firm’s strategic plans; adjust plans as necessary.
• Support individual lawyer BD planning initiatives.
• Client Activities: manage relationships, proposals, and engagement activities; lead key account management to strengthen client relationships; guide relationship partners in planning and executing firm-wide activities focused on strategic clients; monitor ROI; develop and implement client engagement strategies using the CRM platform and other tools.
• Proposals and Submissions: work with Pursuits team on pitches and proposal responses; advise on content and positioning for RFPs, credentials and related materials.
• CPD & CLE Programming: develop and coordinate execution of client-related education and entertainment programs (seminars, webinars, receptions, networking events, etc.).
• New Business Opportunities: assist in developing new business opportunities including prospect lists and information-gathering efforts (researching and recommending new target clients, industries or geographies).
• Competitive Intelligence program leadership: collaborate with CCO and CD&M leadership to establish and integrate CI function, defining strategic mandate, processes and deliverables; continuously assess CI focus to align with strategic priorities and client development opportunities.
• Champion adoption of AI-driven research and analytics to generate actionable insights for competitive advantage.
• Marketing & Communications Strategy: develop and execute a marketing strategy aligned with firm objectives; coordinate internal and external messaging, digital content and thought leadership.
• Practice and Lawyer Brand Building: lead market recognition efforts (awards, directories, league tables), manage conferences and sponsorships, ensure currency of bios and marketing materials, and oversee related digital content.
• Media: identify opportunities for visibility with business, trade and legal media; coordinate strategy and messaging with lawyers and the media team.
• Other Activities to Maximize BD Effectiveness and Client Impact: transitions and succession planning in collaboration with firm leadership; data management of BD data, budgets, internal communications, training and mentorship; people leadership to build a high-performing BD team.
• Provide direct leadership and strategic direction to CI research; collaborate with CD&M leaders to optimize deployment of CI resources against high-value priorities.

Education and Experience

The position requires a university degree in marketing, business, communications or English and a minimum of 10 years of BD experience within a professional services firm. An LLB is an asset; understanding of capital markets and the financial sector and/or the legal space is mandatory. An equivalent combination of education, training and experience is acceptable.

Knowledge and Skills

• Highly organized, proactive and client-service oriented; strong leadership and collaboration skills; ability to manage shared resources and balance stakeholder priorities.
• Creative and collaborative problem-solving to support client and BD initiatives; ability to work in a fast-paced environment and rally teams.
• Strategic thinking and analytical skills with strong interpersonal and active listening abilities.
• Project management: prioritizing objectives, managing requests, meeting deadlines, accountability for work product.
• Knowledge of local market and business community; ability to stay up to date with market and competitive trends affecting internal and external client groups.
• Excellent oral and written communication; knowledge of CRM technologies and marketing platforms integration; ability to lead and mentor junior team members.
• Familiarity with relevant technology and marketing media; general knowledge of how a law firm and practices operate.
• Proficiency in MS Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook) and with AI tools; Power BI is an asset.

We operate a hybrid work arrangement with required office presence and up to two remote days per week.

Accessibility and Accommodation

Osler is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment; accommodations are available upon request for candidates in all phases of the selection process.

Background and Reference Checks

Any offer of employment is conditional upon background and reference checks, including criminal record check, credit check, and employment/education verifications.

If you have the required background and wish to work at a leading Canadian law firm, please reply with a cover letter and resume by the closing date.

LI-Hybrid

LI-MS1

Key Skills: Business Development; Sales Experience; Direct Sales; B2B Sales; Marketing; Sales Pipeline; Salesforce; Strategic Planning; Enterprise Sales; Negotiation; Lead Generation; Contracts

Employment Type: Full-Time

Experience: 10+ years

Vacancy: 1