Business Development Specialist - Strategic Transactions

About Ropes & Gray

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

About Business Development at Ropes & Gray: 

The Business Development department’s commercial objective is to grow firm revenue and take market share, grow existing client relationships, and develop new client relationships in alignment with firm and practice goals and our industry and client teams.

Business development works in collaboration with partners, other attorneys and business support colleagues to achieve these objectives and is part of a broader business support organization in a collaborative work environment. The business development team is a specialist business support function with a range of offerings focused on business development in the firm’s practice groups.

The Business Development Specialist (BDS) will be an integral member of the Business Development Team.  The BDS will work under the direction of the Business Development Manager, Strategic Transactions to provide strategic, commercial, and practical support on the implementation of strategic and commercial business and client development priorities. The BDS is expected to collaborate closely with business development and other colleagues across all global offices to support the development and execution of integrated marketing and business development plans that increase the firm’s brand, visibility, attract new clients, and drive client satisfaction and loyalty.

Responsibilities

• Support the BDM on the development and execution of business development and marketing efforts designed to generate new business and improve market visibility for the Strategic Transactions Practice Group.
• Develop an understanding of the Strategic Transactions group’s ambitions, helping to identify, assess, and pursue new clients.
• Support the BDM in maintaining internal reporting and communication frameworks to track progress and share outcomes. Communicate best practice business development activities and successes across the group.
• Support the development and implementation of AI-enabled business development practices and be proficient at leveraging AI tools to support business development activities, particularly related to research, pitches and RFP responses.
• 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 the Strategic Transactions Practice Group including by commissioning and conducting business research to keep abreast of industry/market intelligence and to support the BD strategy and proactively sharing relevant insights with the BDM and team.
• Support pitching and new business generation by assisting the BDM in project managing pitches, proposals, and RFPs, ensuring timely completion, document storage, and follow-up actions as directed, including:
  • maintaining up-to-date pitch content, materials, and client information,
  • participating in scoping and preparation for in-person meetings and pitches,
  • tracking wins and losses and follow-up efforts.
• Work with the BDM and marketing team and other business support colleagues to:
• identify 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.
• Build a good working knowledge of adjacent practice and industry group services and a clear understanding of relevant group's strategy, priorities and clients and support the BDM in monitoring and identifying market opportunities and trends for client engagement.
• Support the BDM in the onboarding and mentoring of new team members and assist with attorney-facing business development training initiatives as needed.

Qualifications

This position requires a professional, highly motivated individual capable of functioning in an international, fast-paced legal environment:

• Superior client service orientation.
• Able to quickly establish credibility with BDM 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.
• Ability to thrive in a challenging and dynamic environment.

Education and Experience Required:

• • An undergraduate degree is required.
  • Three to five years’ experience in business development within a professional services firm or corporate environment.

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:$77,000 - $117,450

New York: $84,000 - $128,100

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.