Director of Business Development

Michelman Robinson; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading law firm is seeking a Director of Business Development to guide their business strategy and enhance revenue growth. The ideal candidate will have significant law firm experience, boasting a proven track record in strategic client development and team leadership. Responsibilities include developing BD plans, managing budgets, and fostering valuable client relationships. If you're driven by results and have a consultative selling approach, this position is a prime opportunity for you, based in New York, NY.

Qualifications

• Proven success in an Am Law or similar environment.
• Ability to lead high-performing teams.
• Experience with attorney-led sales processes.
• Sound judgment and business maturity.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement business development strategy.
• Serve as an advisor on client expansion.
• Drive opportunity development for key partners.
• Manage BD investments and educate attorneys.

Skills

Strategic mindset

Analytical skills

Consultative selling

Team leadership

Education

Advanced degree

Minimum 5 years law firm BD experience

Tools

CRM systems

Data-driven BD practices

Job description

The Director of Business Development is a senior leadership role responsible for setting, executing, and governing the firm’s business development strategy in support of revenue growth, client expansion, and industry positioning. This role ensures that the firm’s business development investments are disciplined, strategically aligned, and tied to a credible path to business across priority practices and industries.

Serving as a trusted advisor to firm leadership and key partner-originators, the Director provides strategic guidance on client development, industry engagement, and business development investments. This role also brings a commercial and consultative “sales mindset” to the firm’s go-to-market efforts by helping attorneys proactively pursue and win new client opportunities, expand existing relationships, and convert strategic conversations into retained work.

The role is central to shifting business development from activity-based spending to outcome-driven investment, consistent with best practices in Am Law–level firms.

The Director works closely with senior leadership, practice leaders, attorney originators, and the Director of Communications & PR to align business development strategy, marketing execution, and budget allocation with firmwide objectives. The Director will also partner with attorneys to strengthen the firm’s ability to pitch, position, and differentiate its services in competitive situations, including new business pursuits and cross-selling efforts.

Direct Reports: Events and Social Manager; Marketing Coordinator

Core Business Development Framework

The Director of Business Development is responsible for enforcing the firm’s BD framework, which prioritizes strategic investment over passive activity. The firm invests in business development when it creates measurable competitive advantage and supports revenue generation, relationship expansion, and market leadership.

Business development is defined as the deliberate process of earning the right to win work, and not generalized networking, visibility, or attendance. It includes the ability to create, shape, and advance opportunities through disciplined outreach, relationship development, and value-driven persuasion—ultimately helping the firm win business. As such, the firm’s BD investments must support one or more of the following outcomes, which the Director will navigate:

• Near-term revenue or a defined, credible pipeline
• Expansion of existing client relationships and cross-practice engagement
• Enhanced positioning within priority industries and markets
• Authority-building initiatives tied directly to practice growth
• Increased share of wallet within key client relationships
• Improved conversion of high-value prospects and opportunities into active matters

Key Responsibilities

Firmwide Business Development Strategy

• Develop, implement, and continuously refine the firm’s business development strategy in alignment with firmwide priorities.
• Serve as a senior advisor to partner-originators on business development planning and client expansion.
• Lead individualized BD plans for key partners with defined revenue and pipeline objectives.
• Drive disciplined opportunity development by helping partners identify targets, prioritize prospects, and build actionable pursuit strategies.

Governance of BD Investment & Spend

• Own and administer the firm’s BD investment and approval framework.
• Evaluate BD spend requests based on strategic alignment, access to decision-makers, engagement strategy, follow-up plans, and revenue opportunity.
• Educate attorneys on best-in-class BD investment principles.
• Coach attorneys on the commercial rationale behind BD investments, including how to convert engagement into business and sustain momentum through follow-up and relationship advancement.

Client Development & Industry Positioning

• Advance industry-focused initiatives that place attorneys in front of senior decision-makers.
• Prioritize conferences and sponsorships that provide leadership roles and controlled engagement.
• Support authority-building initiatives tied directly to practice growth.
• Support attorneys in translating market positioning into business conversations, including outreach scripts, prospect messaging, and direct engagement strategies.

Client Expansion & Cross-Selling

• Lead initiatives to deepen existing client relationships.
• Collaborate with relationship partners to identify cross-selling opportunities.
• Support client expansion strategies that increase share of wallet, strengthen retention, and uncover actionable new matters.

Marketing Operations, Analytics & Technology

• Oversee BD and marketing operations.
• Establish KPIs to measure ROI, pipeline development, and client growth.
• Lead CRM and client intelligence platform implementation.
• Track and report on opportunity progression and conversion (e.g., prospect-to-meeting, meeting-to-proposal, proposal-to-engagement), ensuring business development efforts translate into measurable outcomes.

Leadership & Budget Management

• Lead and develop the marketing and business development team.
• Manage the BD and marketing budget with firm leadership.
• Collaborate closely with the Director of Communications & PR.
• Partner with firm leadership to strengthen the firm’s approach to pitches, proposals, and pursuit strategy, including competitive differentiation and value articulation.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success in an Am Law or comparable professional services environment.
• Credibility with partners and senior leadership.
• Strategic, analytical, and commercially oriented mindset.
• Proven experience leading high-performing teams.
• Sound judgment, discretion, and business maturity.
• Demonstrated ability to help professional services teams pursue, pitch, and win new business through structured opportunity development and consultative selling skills.

Education and Experience

• Advanced degree a plus.
• Minimum of five (5) years of progressive law firm business development experience.
• Experience with CRM systems and data-driven BD practices.
• Experience supporting attorney-led sales processes, including targeting, pipeline management, pitch preparation, and conversion strategy.

Working Conditions and Travel

• Exempt position; may require work outside standard business hours.
• Professional office environment.
• Periodic travel required.

Ready to Apply?

If you’re a strategic, commercially driven business development leader with experience in a law firm or professional services environment, we’d welcome the opportunity to connect.

Think this role could be a strong fit? We invite you to complete our brief 5-minute behavioral assessment to see how your natural strengths align with the position.

Note: Removed external assessment link for formatting and relevancy.