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 seven years and is ranked #1 on Law.com International's "A-List" in the U.K. - rankings that honor the "Best of the Best" 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, New York, 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.

JOB SUMMARY:

The Senior Business Development Specialist (SBDS) will be an integral member of the Marketing and Business Development Team.  This position works closely with the Director of Business Development  (DBD) and Business Development Manager (BDM) and will take a lead role to support relevant partners with BD responsibilities to provide strategic, commercial and practical business development and client development support in support of the implementation of the practice group’s strategic and commercial priorities.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Working with the DBD and BDM, lead partners and practice development colleagues, develop and execute the business and client development strategy for the practice and industry groups with a focus on growing revenue and relationships
• Develop an understanding of the practice group’s ambition, helping to identify, assess, and pursue new clients; leverage learnings to make thoughtful and strategic recommendations to drive business development efforts
• Help to drive the development of existing client relationships in collaboration with other relevant business support colleagues including:
  • organizing, participating in and maintaining business development meetings and being responsible for certain aspects of client and target development efforts
  • developing a strong knowledge of consumer and retail and/or TMT, including by commissioning and conducting business research to keep abreast of industry/market intelligence and to support the BD strategy; share researching and learnings with BD team
• Supporting pitching and new business generation by:
• Executing pitches, proposals and RfPs, including collaborating in a team to develop a winning strategy, helping to identify ways to differentiate from the competition and helping to write aspects of the pitch
• maintaining up-to-date pitch content, materials and client information; identify opportunities to enhance content to promote innovation while still meeting client needs
• participating in scoping and preparation for in-person meetings and pitches
• Working with the BDM, DBD, marketing team and other business support colleagues to:
  • Identify and recommend opportunities to create and implement integrated branding and profile-raising campaigns
  • assess market conference opportunities, advise the lawyers on selection, participation in and execution
  • identify the appropriate client and market targets for the delivery of knowledge marketing
• Building a solid working knowledge of adjacent practice and industry group services and a clear understanding of relevant group's strategy, priorities and clients; act as an agent of the firm and BD department to break down silos and promote knowledge sharing across teams and departments
• Communicating best practice business development activities and successes across the group; develop and host trainings for BD team as well as adjacent business support departments 

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS REQUIRED: 

• An undergraduate degree is required
• Professional experience, including management of direct reports
• A minimum of five years of experience in business development within a professional services firm

• Superior client service orientation
• Quickly able to establish credibility with BDM, DBD and key stakeholders with a knowledgeable approach
• Work effectively and efficiently as a team player with an enthusiasm for developing relationships. Able to engage with and support colleagues and stakeholders across all aspects of the business
• A self-starter, when required, in a dynamic environment
• Commercially minded and solutions orientated
• Excellent organization, communication and project management skills
• Attention to detail and accuracy in all aspects of role and responsibilities
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with all levels of attorneys and business professionals. Experience writing in a professional services environment
• Able to work to clear goals and priorities, multi-task and meet multiple deadlines
• Creative and flexible when managing individual workload and priorities, taking colleagues’ time into account, to respond quickly and positively to shifting demands and opportunities
• Able to demonstrate creativity and initiative by continuously looking for areas to improve and ways to implement positive change to all aspects of role and responsibilities
• Work effectively in a culturally and educationally diverse multi-office environment

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 $86,500 - $131,000 in Boston and $91,000 - $137,000 in New York, which 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.

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.