Houston - Senior Executive, Market Development

Winston Taylor; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 210,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Winston Taylor in Houston seeks a Senior Executive, Market Development to lead market presence and build strategic relationships across territories and sectors. You will identify opportunities globally, qualify them, and drive a robust pipeline in collaboration with senior partners to enable pursuit and conversion.

The role demands executive-level relationship skills, data-driven pipeline management, and strong CRM discipline to deliver measurable outcomes in a fast-paced global firm environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years of business development, professional services sales, consultative selling, client development, or related experience required.
• Advanced CRM proficiency (Salesforce, InterAction, Nexl, Dynamics, or similar platforms) required.
• Flexibility and willingness to travel frequently, including overnight travel, based on business needs and client meeting schedules, is required.

Responsibilities

• Source and develop new business opportunities aligned with the firm's strategic priorities.
• Conduct thorough qualification of prospects, evaluating legal needs, buying influences, market timing, competitive landscape, relationship dynamics, and revenue potential.
• Assess opportunities using established qualification frameworks and determine appropriate pursuit strategies.
• Develop meaningful client intelligence and actionable insights before introducing opportunities to lawyers.
• Ensure that opportunities handed to attorneys are well-vetted, strategically aligned, and positioned for successful pursuit.

Skills

CRM proficiency

Business development

Client development

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree

Tools

Salesforce

InterAction

Nexl

Dynamics

Job description

About Us

At Winston Taylor, we set the standard, together. Winston Taylor is a transatlantic law firm built for the businesses, people, and markets driving capital and innovation. Here, you're in the room. In the action. Sleeves rolled up. You'll work with leading clients. Disruptors. Fast-growth companies. And help them to stay one step ahead of the moment and make critical decisions that shape their future. We're present in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East, combining the scale and speed that clients demand. You'll be trusted with real responsibility from the outset and build experience through hands-on work. We take your progression personally. We provide the platform. You shape the work around your goals and aspirations. Step into the moments that matter. Join Winston Taylor.

Position Summary

• The Senior Executive, Market Development serves as the firm's frontline business development executive within an assigned geographic territory with a sector focus and an international perspective on strategic expansion. This highly visible role is responsible for building market presence, developing strategic relationships, identifying and qualifying new business opportunities globally, and creating a robust pipeline of prospective clients for the firm.
• Unlike a traditional legal marketing role, this position functions as an external-facing relationship builder and sales professional. The successful candidate will proactively cultivate connections across the business community, uncover opportunities before they become active legal needs, and strategically match client challenges with the firm's capabilities and individual partners to lead sales enablement efforts. The role is accountable for generating qualified opportunities and successfully transitioning warm leads to lawyers and client teams for pursuit and conversion.
• The candidate must combine executive-level relationship skills with a highly analytical, data-driven approach to pipeline management. Success requires exceptional judgment, intellectual curiosity, commercial acumen, and disciplined use of CRM technology to drive measurable business outcomes.

Position Responsibilities

Market Development & Relationship Building

• Serve as the firm's lead market representative within an assigned geographic territory and sector.
• Develop and maintain a robust network of legal team leaders, C-suite executives, private equity professionals, investment bankers, corporate development leaders, entrepreneurs, consultants, and other key influencers.
• Establish the firm as a trusted advisor and strategic resource within the business community.
• Identify emerging companies, industry trends, market disruptions, and business events that create opportunities for legal engagement.
• Be a "student of the firm" and invest in building knowledge of the business while cultivating an active internal network, so the candidate can bring the best of the firm to the opportunities they identify in the market.
• Attend and leverage conferences, trade associations, networking events, and industry gatherings to expand the firm's market presence.

Opportunity Identification & Qualification

• Source and develop new business opportunities aligned with the firm's strategic priorities.
• Conduct thorough qualification of prospects, evaluating legal needs, buying influences, market timing, competitive landscape, relationship dynamics, and revenue potential.
• Assess opportunities using established qualification frameworks and determine appropriate pursuit strategies.
• Develop meaningful client intelligence and actionable insights before introducing opportunities to lawyers.
• Ensure that opportunities handed to attorneys are well-vetted, strategically aligned, and positioned for successful pursuit.

Strategic Opportunity Facilitation

• Act as the bridge between prospective clients and the firm's lawyers.
• Identify the most relevant partners, practices, and sector teams for each opportunity.
• Coordinate warm introductions and facilitate relationship development.
• Brief lawyers on prospect objectives, business challenges, competitive dynamics, relationship history, and engagement strategy.
• Remain actively involved throughout the early stages of pursuit to maximize conversion potential.

Pipeline & CRM Focus

• Maintain rigorous management of all opportunities within the firm's CRM platform.
• Ensure complete, accurate, and timely documentation of meetings, activities, contacts, opportunities, and engagement histories.
• Develop and manage a territory business plan supported by measurable pipeline metrics.
• Utilize CRM data to identify patterns, target accounts, relationship gaps, cross-selling opportunities, and growth trends.
• Maintain exemplary standards of data integrity, contact management, and CRM hygiene.
• Generate accurate pipeline forecasts and regularly report on territory performance.

Market Intelligence & Data Analytics

• Leverage internal and external data sources to identify growth opportunities and market trends.
• Analyze territory performance, pipeline progression, conversion rates, relationship networks, and industry intelligence.
• Partner with competitive intelligence, client development, and practice leadership teams to develop targeted growth initiatives.
• Use data-driven insights to refine market strategies and business development efforts.

Basic Qualifications

Experience, skills, and qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years of business development, professional services sales, consultative selling, client development, or related experience required.
• Advanced CRM proficiency (Salesforce, InterAction, Nexl, Dynamics, or similar platforms with tool-agnostic abilities) required.
• Flexibility and willingness to travel frequently, including overnight travel, based on business needs and client meeting schedules, is required. Travel frequency may vary significantly from week to week.

Desired Qualifications

• Demonstrated success generating and qualifying complex B2B opportunities.
• Experience managing a sophisticated sales pipeline and CRM-driven business development process.
• Strong understanding of professional services, legal services, consulting, accounting, investment banking, or related industries.
• Proven ability to engage and influence senior executives and decision-makers.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.

Competencies

• Executive Presence
• Exhibits credibility and confidence in interactions with CEOs, General Counsel, Boards, private equity sponsors, founders and investors (VC, CVC, PE/Growth, angel investors, family offices), and other senior leaders.
• Represents the firm's brand with professionalism, discretion, and sophistication.
• Navigates high-stakes conversations with polish and sound judgment.

• Relationship Intelligence
• Naturally connects people, ideas, industries, and opportunities.
• Understands business drivers and recognizes where legal needs intersect with strategic objectives.
• Ability to "connect the dots" across practices, industries, markets, and client challenges.
• Commercial Acumen
• Thinks like a salesperson and strategist rather than a traditional marketer.
• Understands buying behaviors, relationship dynamics, decision-making processes, and revenue generation.
• Focused on outcomes, pipeline progression, and measurable growth.
• Generates workflow from US and European tech and life sciences clients and contacts (such as venture capital firms and investment banks) to the UK and EME.
• Maximizes existing connections and networks to introduce validated new matter opportunities to appropriate partners.
• Technology & Data Orientation
• Deeply comfortable leveraging technology to drive business development performance.
• Uses CRM systems as a strategic growth tool—not merely a reporting mechanism.
• Committed to accurate data management, reporting discipline, and process excellence.

Benefits

Winston offers comprehensive benefits that provide a full spectrum of coverage and support for our full-time employees and their families. Additional information about benefits and rewards can be found here .

SALARY

Los Angeles applicants only: The target annual salary range for this role is currently $215,000-$265,000 based on a regular, full-time schedule. The amount of compensation offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to experience, qualifications, market data and internal equity. Total compensation includes a comprehensive healthcare benefits package, yearly retirement contribution, and may include an annual discretionary merit bonus.

San Francisco applicants only: The target annual salary range for this role is currently $230,000-$280,000 based on a regular, full-time schedule. The amount of compensation offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to experience, qualifications, market data and internal equity. Total compensation includes a comprehensive healthcare benefits package, yearly retirement contribution, and may include an annual discretionary merit bonus.

Silicon Valley applicants only: The target annual salary range for this role is currently $230,000-$280,000 based on a regular, full-time schedule. The amount of compensation offered will be determined by several factors, including but not limited to experience, qualifications, market data and internal equity. Total compensation includes a comprehensive healthcare benefits package, yearly retirement contribution, and may include an annual discretionary merit bonus.

We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences.