Senior Manager, Pricing

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in Chicago seeks a Senior Manager, Pricing to lead the firm’s pricing strategy and execution. You will partner with partners, BD, practice leaders and finance to design and track client fee agreements, matter budgets, and pricing databases.

This role blends financial analysis with people leadership, process management and client negotiations, influencing at senior levels. This role drives adoption of pricing tools, playbooks, and performance reporting, delivering

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business, or related field.
• MBA, JD or other advanced degree preferred.
• 8-10 years in pricing/financial analysis within professional services.
• Experience leading teams and influencing senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead pricing strategy and execution with lawyers, BD, and finance teams.
• Develop and evaluate fee proposals, budgets, and AFAs with partners.
• Provide sophisticated financial modeling to support negotiations.
• Prepare data-driven business cases and influence approvals.
• Deliver pricing performance reporting and insights for committees.
• Manage and mentor pricing team; optimize workflows and tools.
• Collaborate on firm-wide pricing playbooks and best practices.
• Support client negotiations and value-driven proposals.

Skills

Pricing strategy

Financial analysis

Leadership

Client negotiations

Process improvement

Team management

Stakeholder influence

Excel

PowerPoint

Education

Bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting/business

MBA or JD preferred

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Pricing tools

AI awareness tools

Data visualization

Job description

Essential Job Duties & Responsibilities

Pricing & Partner Support

The Senior Manager, Pricing will help lead the firm’s pricing strategy and execution by partnering with lawyers, business development, practice group leadership and other finance teams to design, implement and track client fee agreements. This role combines advanced financial analysis, matter budgeting, and direct partner support with leadership of a team responsible for maintaining pricing processes, tools, and databases. The Senior Manager will also play a key role in ensuring best practices are embedded firm-wide, and that pricing data and insights are captured, maintained, and leveraged effectively.

This is a collaborative, hands-on leadership role for a commercially minded professional who can balance analytical rigor with strong communication, process management, and people leadership, and who is comfortable influencing at the most senior levels of the firm.

Pricing & Partner Support

• Collaborate with partners to develop and evaluate fee proposals, budgets, and alternative fee arrangements
• Provide sophisticated financial modeling and analysis to support client negotiations and business development opportunities.
• Support partners in the preparation of business cases and obtaining approvals from the firm’s Finance Committee by supplying data-driven insights and recommendations.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to partners, practice group leaders and firm leadership on pricing trends, client expectations, risk-sharing structures, and firm guidelines.
• Act as the escalation point for the most complex or sensitive pricing matters and exercise sound judgment on risk, profitability and client relationship considerations.

Pricing Performance & Strategic Insights

• Oversee the building and monitoring of matter budgets, providing updates and insights to partners and leadership.
• Track performance against pricing assumptions, identifying risks, leakage, and optimization opportunities.
• Provide actionable insights on pricing outcomes and client behavior to refine strategy and improve commercial results.
• Develop and deliver regular pricing performance reporting, dashboards and insights and recommendations for review by the Finance Committee, practice group leaders and firm leadership.
• Contribute to the firm’s broader pricing strategy, including rate and realization analysis, profitability by client, practice and matter type, and competitive market positioning.

Team & Process Management

• Lead, manage and develop a team responsible for supporting pricing processes and partner requests, including setting goals, conducting performance reviews, and coaching.
• Ensure team members deliver accurate, timely and high-quality support to partners and practice groups.
• Establish and maintain efficient workflows, ensuring consistency and scalability of pricing support across the firm.

Pricing Tools & Database Oversight

• Oversee the maintenance and accuracy of the firm’s pricing databases, tools, and templates.
• Ensure pricing data is captured consistently, enabling robust analysis and reporting.
• Partner with IT and other finance teams to enhance tools and processes that improve efficiency and client service, including defining requirements and leading implementation of technology and automation initiatives.
• Evaluate emerging pricing technologies, analytics and AI-enabled solutions and make recommendations on adoption.

Best Practices & Process Improvement

• Lead the creation and roll-out of pricing playbooks, guidelines, and templates.
• Drive adoption of consistent approaches to scoping, budgeting, and fee negotiations.
• Lead and contribute to firm-wide initiatives that improve value delivery, efficiency, and financial outcomes.
• Deliver training and education programs for partners, associates and professional staff on pricing, scoping and project management principles.

Client Engagement Support

• Play an active role in RFPs, client negotiations, and fee discussions, including participating in pitches and client meetings as needed.
• Provide strategic support in creating and presenting value-driven, competitive proposals.
• Support relationships with client procurement and legal operations teams on pricing matters.

Leadership & Firm Impact

• Partner with the Chief Financial Officer, finance leadership, business development and practice group leaders to advance strategic pricing priorities, providing commercial insights and leading the execution of initiatives that support the firm’s commercial and growth objectives.
• Manage and mentor senior team members, and act as a thought leader on pricing and legal industry trends.

Education

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business, or related field.

Preferred

• M.B.A., J.D. or other advanced degree preferred

Skills & Experience

• 8-10 years of experience in pricing, financial analysis, or related roles within professional services (law firm experience strongly preferred), including at least 3-5 years in a leadership or management capacity.
• Proven track record of leading and developing teams, with a focus on developing talent and building collaborative, high-performing groups; experience managing managers or senior professionals is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience advising and influencing senior partners, practice group leaders and executive or committee-level stakeholders.
• Proficiency in MS Office suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
• Deep understanding and embrace of generative AI. Experience with Claude, Harvey, and DeepJudge.