Business Development Manager - Corporate & California Region

A&O Shearman; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 163,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

401(k) plan

Health insurance

Job summary

A&O Shearman is seeking an experienced Business Development Manager to lead California-focused BD and marketing initiatives for one of the world’s leading law firms. This role partners with California partners and global teams to implement regional strategies and drive client engagement.

The candidate will coordinate pitches, events, and thought leadership, ensuring alignment with the firm’s strategy while collaborating with the communications team to maximize exposure in the California market.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of legal or professional services experience in a high-profile, fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of the Bay Area/Silicon Valley market and technology sector required.
• Bachelor’s degree required.

Responsibilities

• Understand the vision and objectives of California partners.
• Develop and deliver regional business development strategies for California and Corporate initiatives.
• Drive regional business plans, tracking progress and reporting on outcomes.
• Conduct market research and monitor industry trends to generate client opportunities.
• Coordinate pitches, events, and media collaborations to raise the firm’s profile in the region.
• Collaborate with partners and teams to align marketing collateral with strategy.
• Manage client targeting and cross-sell opportunities across practice areas.

Skills

Legal marketing

BD strategy

Project management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

MS Word

PowerPoint

Excel

Job description

A&O Shearman is a new global industry-leading law firm, with nearly 50 offices in 29 countries worldwide.

Our fluency in English law, US law, and the laws of the world’s most dynamic markets, enables us to provide unmatched insight and seamless delivery to clients. We work on challenging and important deals and disputes that have the potential to shape the future.

We offer exceptional opportunities for our people; opportunities to work for the world’s leading businesses; to transform the status quo, and to deliver your best work, helping you and your career to thrive, while delivering unparalleled outcomes for our clients.

Whether you're helping clients solve complex challenges, transforming the ways we manage our business, or ensuring the smooth-running of our operations, this is an environment where you can belong and excel. We provide first-rate training and development, we are committed to an inclusive environment, and we provide support and ways of working that help you optimise your wellbeing.

What truly defines a career with us? We recruit the best and ask for the best of you. And together, we will redefine success.

Department Purpose and Structure

The U.S. Marketing & Business Development team (U.S. MKT Team) is a sophisticated group of experienced professionals charged with guiding the Firm’s fee earners to grow U.S. and global revenues, expand existing client relationships and strategically tackle new client pursuits.

This is a team that is all-in. As business professionals at one of the largest law firms in the world, the U.S. MKT Team thrives on market challenges and outside-the-box thinking. It is a team where fresh ideas are not only entertained, they’re encouraged.

Role Purpose

The Business Development Manager role is a fantastic opportunity to gain global experience working for one of the largest law firms in the world and to learn the unique approach that a truly global firm utilizes towards business development and marketing. Our U.S. team works cooperatively with our colleagues located in close to 50 offices throughout the world as one integrated team.

The Business Development Manager – Corporate & California Region will support and work closely with partners to develop and implement business development and marketing strategies for the firm’s California offices. This role will require frequent collaboration with partners in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley, including our Technology sector heads, as well as practice groups across the U.S. The Business Development Manager will work with business development teams across the firm to help support these groups. This includes, but is not limited to, responding to client requests for proposals, coordination of involvement in firmwide initiatives, sponsorship and event management, collateral creation and management, client targeting exercises, coordinating of media opportunities with the communications team, thought leadership, and legal directory submissions.

Key Relationships

• Associate Director – Business Development (based in Austin, Texas)
• BD Manager – Corporate (based in Silicon Valley)
• Chief Marketing Officer – Americas (based in New York)
• California Co-Managing Partners, practice heads, and partners in California
• U.S. business development team
• Peers across the wider business development, marketing and communications teams

Context

The Business Development Manager is crucial to the execution of our regional strategy and its success. The role will involve strategy, lead generation, management of business development partnerships, pitches, market research, events and PR. There is also involvement in the day-to-day marketing processes management, planning, and execution.

Role and Responsibilities

• Understand the vision and overall business development objectives of California partners.
• Work closely with respective partners, to define, develop and deliver the business development strategy to support the vision for California as well as the Corporate practice and initiatives as needed in the region.
• Drive the implementation of regional business plans, including development of target client lists, and monitor and report on progress.
• Analyze and report on competitive market position in the region (e.g., firm’s market share with key clients, panel position, client segmentation, etc.).
• Conduct market research on existing and prospective clients and market issues which may impact clients’ businesses and proactively monitor regional, client and industry news and trends to help drive work origination opportunities with clients.
• Analyze existing client relationships to identify and integrate cross-selling opportunities across practice groups and sectors.
• Facilitate regular meetings with key partners with a focus on the identification of hot topics and associated opportunities for the firm, profile raising and client targeting activities and follow-up to ensure agreed upon actions are completed.
• Work with partners and others to drive issues-based marketing campaigns targeted and tailored for the region and clients within.
• Ensure all relevant marketing collateral fully aligns with our industry and firm business development strategy and plans.
• Project manage panel pitches and other strategically important pitches and provide regional-related input on pitches across the platform as needed.
• Identify appropriate industry events and conferences, and plan A&O Shearman-hosted client events and seminars, working with the U.S. events team on delivery and execution, ensuring opportunities to raise the profile of the firm are maximized and results are measured and reported.
• Work with the communications team to maximize press coverage and any profile-raising opportunities arising from key deals and cases within the region.
• Ensure priority client matters and achievements are fed into relevant awards and directory processes (legal directories, industry related publications, etc.) and assist with drafting submissions and nominations as needed.
• Other projects and duties as assigned.

Team

This position reports directly to the Associate Director – Business Development and works closely with members of the marketing and business development team.

Key Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of legal or professional services experience working in a high-profile, fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of the Bay Area/Silicon Valley market and technology sector required.
• Confident, flexible and resilient team player.
• Works effectively under the pressure of deadlines with little supervision.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; high attention to detail and strong clients-first mindset.
• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills - with partners, key associates, and business development colleagues, and clients, including selling concepts and presenting to senior management.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to prioritize effectively while working on multiple conflicting deadlines.
• Proven track record of achieving strategic business objectives and using this experience to determine people and financial resources required for specific projects.
• Experience with budgeting, including writing business cases, is a plus.
• Strong knowledge of MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Bachelor’s degree required.

This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced business development professional to work closely with an energetic group of people where innovation and creative ideas are encouraged. We are looking for an individual who is proactive, persistent, a supportive colleague, and committed to “getting the job done.

Equal Employment Opportunity, including Veterans and Disability

A&O Shearman is an equal opportunity employer, including Veterans and Disability. Every individual has the right to work in a professional environment that promotes equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination and harassment. This policy applies to all aspects of an individual’s relationship with A&O Shearman, including, without limitation, recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, compensation, discipline, termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.

If you are vision-impaired or have another disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law and wish to discuss accommodations related to applying for employment at A&O Shearman, please contact US HR Transactions at [e-mail] or call [phone] and ask for HR Transactions. This role is open to our Silicon Valley office. For individuals assigned to or hired for this opportunity in Silicon Valley, the estimated annualized base salary range for this position is $163,000-$200,000. The actual base salary offered will depend on the overall qualifications of the individual applicant for the position and other job-related factors permitted by law. We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package which includes a discretionary bonus, paid leave, life, health, accident, and disability insurance; and a 401(k) plan.