Client Development Manager - Life Sciences and Private Equity

Ropes & Gray LLP; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 161,000 - 258,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Career growth opportunities

Discretionary bonus

Job summary

Ropes & Gray LLP in New York seeks a Client Development Manager to coordinate strategic client development and relationship management for Life Sciences and Private Equity clients. You will partner with partners, attorneys, and business teams to advance client programs and drive revenue growth.

You will lead cross‑functional client teams, develop annual plans and budgets, coordinate client research, and monitor financial performance while guiding junior staff and ensuring service quality across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA preferred but not required.
• 8+ years in business development and key account management in a large professional services firm.
• Strong knowledge of life sciences and private equity industries preferred.
• Proven ability to work in a virtual team and influence across offices.

Responsibilities

• Manage portfolio of Client Teams in Life Sciences and Private Equity; identify growth strategies.
• Develop and execute Client Team plans including objectives and actions; manage budgets.
• Coordinate client research and share market intelligence with teams.
• Monitor financial performance; review reports and analyze key trends.
• Coordinate and manage client-wide RFPs, pitches, and fee arrangements.
• Develop junior team members and ensure delivery of service commitments.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Negotiation

Team collaboration

Project management

CRM platforms

Strategic client development

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA (preferred)

Tools

CRM systems

Job description

About Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List for eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com’s UK A-List twice in the past three years - rankings that honor the "best of the best" law firms.

The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.

Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer.

Overview

JOB SUMMARY

The Client Development Manager will proactively provide and coordinate strategic and practical client development, client relationship management, and service delivery support for a group of priority Client Teams in the Life Sciences and Private Equity industries with the objective of developing deep, long-term, mutually beneficial institutional client relationships. This position works alongside internal stakeholders - the Client Team lead partners (CCLs), other attorneys and business support teams including business development, client operations services/legal project management, paralegals, marketing, practice development, finance and HR. This role may at times also be client facing as one of the key points of contact in the firm for the client. In addition to client teams, the CDM will also provide support on other client development initiatives as assigned by the Senior Client Development Manager and Director of Client Development, such as client listening initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Manage portfolio of Client Teams in the Life Sciences and Private Equity industries. Help to identify and implement strategies and tactics to improve client satisfaction, expand into new areas of service and grow client revenues.
• Together with CCLs:
  • develop and nurture a core team around the relevant Client Teams
  • take responsibility for the development and execution of Client Team plans, including identifying key objectives and supporting actions to development the relationship
  • create and manage the annual Client Team budget.
• Ensure that each Client Team is managed in accordance with best practice client account processes.
• Organize and actively participate in regular Client Team meetings both as part of the smaller core team with the CCLs and as part of the fuller team, including creating agendas, meeting minutes and facilitating follow up.
• Commission client research in support of specific pitches or to enhance client team’s general overall knowledge of the client’s business.
• Regularly monitor and share with the Client Team intelligence about the client and its market with an eye for opportunities to enhance the client team’s knowledge-base, assist with cross-selling, develop value added training, etc.
• Monitor financial performance:
  • work closely with the designated Finance and Client Operations colleagues for the Client Team, to establish the most appropriate management tools, systems and billing processes
  • review monthly client financial reports and develop analysis of key trends for the client team partner lead(s) and the broader client team.
• Coordinate and manage client-wide RFPs, pitches, panel renewal procedure and fee arrangements, working with relevant business support colleagues.
• Identify opportunities to conduct post-pitch debriefs, post-matter reviews, statesperson visits, and annual meetings with the clients.
• Ensure delivery of service commitments agreed with the client and implement systems and procedures to promote client service quality and consistency.
• Develop relationships with the client becoming the key contact person where appropriate.
• Manage and develop junior members of the Client Development team when appropriate.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• Master of Business Administration degree (MBA), preferred but not required.
• Senior professional experience with a minimum of eight (8) years of experience in business development and key account management within a large professional services firm.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the life sciences and private equity industries is strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to work in a (virtual) team and effective in collaborating across various teams, countries and cultures.
• The ideal candidate will have a demonstrated track record of success and results within a partnership or professional services environment. Must have executive level presence, a high degree of poise and presence with the ability to interact effectively, build relationships with several different constituents, and the ability to influence action and achieve results.
• Must be able to establish credibility with partners, tailoring your style to bring to bear the right mix of confidence, tact and persistence in working with the firm's lawyers across offices. Effecting change without direct authority.
• High level of self-motivation and results orientation, setting and achieving goals.
• Demonstrate advanced stakeholder management, communication skills, diplomacy and negotiation skills to achieve buy-in and ownership of stakeholders; setting and communicating goals; measuring accomplishments and holding people accountable.
• Able to work within a matrixed organization - balancing the needs of the client and firm goals.
• Strong collaboration, team work and sharing of best practices.
• Strong understanding of new business processes and platforms, CRM and the emerging technologies needed to help win and retain the client’s legal work.
• Ability to operate calmly under pressure and manage competing priorities, be methodical and logical, thrive in a robust and fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication, project management and key client account best practices.

Compensation And Total Rewards Package

Ropes & Gray is proud to offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package to our business support team members. The firm also offers comprehensive health and well-being benefits, personal and professional development, career growth opportunities and a collegial and supportive culture. The anticipated pay range for this role is listed below and represents our good faith and reasonable estimate of the starting salary range at the time of posting. In addition, this role is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on performance. The actual offered rate for this position will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors, including qualifications and experience, geographic location, education, external market data and consideration of internal equity.

Boston:$150,100 - $240,150

New York:$161,000 - $257,600

Working Conditions

This position requires hybrid on-site presence as an essential function of the role. Consistent and predictable on-site presence is required for ongoing business continuity, professional development and effective collaboration with colleagues and management.