Senior Specialist, Directories & Awards

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

RRSP Matching Program

Fitness Reimbursement Program

Extended Health & Dental Care

Job summary

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP in Toronto seeks a Senior Specialist, Directories & Awards to drive the firm's presence in major directories and rankings. You will oversee submissions calendars, coordinate Chambers, Lexpert, Legal 500, and other programs, ensuring quality and consistency across the process.

The role requires strong writing, project management and relationship-building skills, with a bachelor’s degree and 3–5+ years’ experience in a professional services or legal environment.

Qualifications

• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling abilities.

Responsibilities

• Act as project lead for major directories: Chambers, Lexpert, Benchmark Litigation, Legal 500, IFLR1000 and other rankings.
• Maintain submission calendars, milestones and internal communication plans.
• Coordinate Chambers submission process and draft submissions for cycle approvals.
• Lead drafting and submission for other directory services and ensure content quality.
• Track outreach, follow-ups and referee participation.
• Maintain directory profiles, biographies and firm descriptions.
• Upload final materials through publisher portals with compliance.
• Coordinate lawyer interviews and researcher liaison.
• Analyze rankings, prepare reports and recommendations for leadership.
• Collaborate with Marketing to publicize rankings across channels.
• Develop best practices, templates and training materials for directories and awards.

Skills

Writing & editing

Project management

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree (Marketing/Communications/English/Business)

Tools

CRM

Microsoft Office

Job description

Our Culture:

At Cassels, our mission is to attract, retain and promote individuals of exceptional ability and talent from as broad a range of backgrounds as possible. We offer meaningful career opportunities, invest in professional growth, and foster an inclusive environment. Our Firm’s success is built on the unique skills, perspectives, experiences and values of each individual. We encourage a corporate culture that respects and celebrates the dignity, value and diversity of all.

Role Overview:

Our firm is currently seeking a Senior Specialist, Directories & Awards to join our Business Development & Marketing department. The Senior Specialist, Directories & Awards plays a central role in advancing the firm's reputation through the successful management of legal directory and awards submissions. Working closely with lawyers, business development professionals, and marketing colleagues, this position is responsible for coordinating the firm's participation in major legal directories and rankings programs, including Chambers, Lexpert, Benchmark Litigation, Legal 500, and other targeted publications.

This role serves as the operational lead for the firm's directories program, overseeing submission schedules, processes, quality standards, stakeholder communications, and publisher relationships. While the firm employs a decentralized service model for Chambers and other major directories—with Business Development professionals responsible for drafting submissions within their assigned practice and industry groups—the Senior Specialist ensures consistency, accountability, and excellence across the entire process.

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

Legal Directories and Rankings

• Acting as project manager for all major legal directory submissions, including Chambers, Lexpert, Benchmark Litigation, Legal 500, IFLR1000, and other targeted rankings and recognition programs.
• Maintaining annual submission calendars, workback schedules, milestones, and internal communication plans to ensure all deadlines are met.
• Coordinating the firm's decentralized Chambers submission process, working closely with Business Development team members, monitoring submission progress and providing ongoing support and quality control throughout the submission cycle, while independently leading the drafting process on a defined set of submissions per cycle.
• Leading the drafting and submission process for other directory services derived from Chambers, working with Business Development colleagues where appropriate to refine content and seek approvals.
• Tracking referee outreach and response rates, proactively identifying areas requiring follow-up and working with Business Development colleagues to coordinate reminder campaigns.
• Maintaining directory profiles, biographies, firm descriptions, and other supporting content required by ranking organizations.
• Uploading and submitting final materials through publisher portals and ensure compliance with formatting, submission, and eligibility requirements.
• Coordinating lawyer interviews with researchers and support preparation activities as required.
• Serving as the primary liaison with directory publishers, editors, researchers, and external vendors, addressing questions, resolving issues, and maintaining strong working relationships.
• Analyzing annual rankings results, referee participation data, and competitive trends, preparing reports and recommendations for firm leadership and stakeholders.
• Collaborating with the Marketing and Communications team to publicize rankings, recognitions, and notable achievements across internal and external channels.
• Assisting with the development of best practices, templates, training materials, and internal resources related to directories, awards, and experience management.

Awards and Recognition Programs

• Assisting with the coordination, preparation, drafting, and submission of award nominations for lawyers, practice groups, and selected clients under programs including Lexpert Rising Stars, Canadian Law Awards, Canadian General Counsel Awards, Lexpert Zenith Awards, and similar industry recognitions.
• Conducting research and gather supporting information from lawyers, clients, and internal stakeholders.
• Drafting persuasive and compelling nomination materials that effectively showcase achievements, innovation, leadership, client service, and market impact.
• Tracking award deadlines, eligibility criteria, and opportunities aligned with the firm's strategic priorities.
• Collaborating with the Marketing and Communications team to publicize awards and recognitions on firm channels.

Experience Management and Content

• Working closely with Business Development colleagues to compile, review, classify, and tag matters within the firm's experience database.
• Assisting in identifying experience relevant to directory and award submissions and extracting information for use in rankings, proposals, pitches, and marketing initiatives.
• Reconciling submission materials against database records following each submission cycle to ensure information remains accurate and current.
• Identifying process improvements and best practices to enhance data collection, reporting, and submission preparation.

The successful candidate must have the following education, experience and/or demonstrated skills:

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Communications, Journalism, Business, English or a related field.
• 3-5+ years of experience in a professional services, legal, business development, marketing, communications, or related environment.
• Experience coordinating legal directories, rankings, award submissions, proposals, or similar reputation-management initiatives is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with Chambers, Lexpert, Benchmark Litigation, Legal 500, IFLR1000, and other legal ranking organizations is highly desirable.
• Exceptional writing, editing, proofreading, and storytelling abilities.
• Strong project management skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines and stakeholders while maintaining attention to detail.
• Ability to build credibility and maintain productive relationships with partners, lawyers, business professionals, and external contacts.
• Strong understanding of legal services and the ability to translate complex matters into compelling directory and award submissions.
• Excellent judgment and client service orientation, with the confidence to manage expectations and influence outcomes across varying stakeholder groups.
• Analytical skills with the ability to identify trends, generate insights, and prepare executive-level reporting.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and experience management, CRM, or proposal management systems.

Employment Type: Permanent, Full-Time

Salary Range: $80,000 – $95,000

What we offer:

• Competitive compensation + Extended Health & Dental Care.
• RRSP Matching Program.
• Fitness Reimbursement Program.
• Diversity and Inclusion Centric Culture.
• A Culture of Wellness: Cassels recognizes the importance of wellness and provides a comprehensive program that addresses the mental and physical well-being of our employees by providing resources, services, training and support on an ongoing basis.
• A fully stocked kitchen with healthy snacks, plus coffee, tea, and drinks throughout the year.
• A business casual dress code (client/day specific).
• Employee referral bonus.
• A hybrid work environment.

Cassels is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a workplace where people of all identities and lived experiences feel valued, respected, and supported. We are dedicated to removing barriers and ensuring equitable access to employment. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, racialized people, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, and individuals with intersectional identities. All qualified candidates are welcome to apply. Accommodations for disabilities, accessibility needs, or cultural practices are available throughout the recruitment process upon request. Please contact our recruiter with any questions or accommodation needs.

We wish to thank all applicants for their interest, however, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted. We regret that we are unable to respond to individual inquiries about application status, unless required for accommodation purposes.