Head of Business Development

We are recruiting a Head of Business Development to join our Marketing and Business Development department. 

About Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes is a pre-eminent law firm that serves a global client base in Private Capital, Private Wealth, M&A and Disputes. Personal connection, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to excellence are at the heart of our firm. These values drive our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.

We are big enough to undertake the most complex and demanding mandates yet small enough to know each other well and to be agile, adapting to the needs of our clients. We seek to strengthen the firm by recruiting talented people from all backgrounds who want to build long-lasting and impactful careers with us. Our culture is challenging and supportive, creating an environment where individuals can thrive.

The team

The wider Marketing and Business Development team consists of 32 people across Business Development (BD), CRM, Digital, Design, Events, Internal Communications and PR.

The BD team consists of 18 people, including practice area BD and pitch specialists. The Head of Business Development will manage seven direct reports at Manager/Senior Manager level and work closely with the Director of Marketing and Business Development, the Head of Marketing and Brand, and other senior colleagues across the team.

Marketing and BD team business objectives:

• close the gap between brand perception and reality; 
• deepen focus on the firm’s core pillars: Private Capital, Private Wealth, M&A and Disputes; 
• use data and insight to support smarter, more targeted business development and informed marketing activity; 
• strengthen and clearly articulate the firm’s international proposition; 
• use Beyond Legal to differentiate the firm in a credible and practical way; and 
• embed the new brand consistently across all external touchpoints. 

Marketing and BD team operating objectives:

• deliver sustainably and at a consistently high standard; 
• make insight-led, evidence-based decisions; 
• use AI to improve efficiency and quality; 
• make clearer choices about what is delivered in-house and what is supported by agencies; and 
• work in a more joined-up way across Marketing, Business Development and Human Resources (HR). 

The role

This is a key leadership role at an important point in the development of the firm’s Business Development function reporting to the Director of Marketing and Business Development.

The Head of Business Development will lead the BD team day to day while also helping to shape and deliver strategic projects across the firm. Current priorities include:

Business Development

• playing a key role in shaping how technology and AI are used to strengthen the BD function and enable the team and Partners to make better use of data and insight to support more commercially focused BD decisions; 
• identifying opportunities to use AI, automation and technology to simplify processes, improve efficiency and create more capacity within the BD team for proactive, higher-value activity, including overseeing the onboarding and use of a new AI directories tool; 
• embedding understanding of the firm’s new brand within the BD team and help translate this into focused, commercially effective activity across the firm’s priority practice areas and sectors, including Private Capital, Private Wealth, M&A and Disputes, ensuring activity, materials and conversations align with the firm’s strategic positioning; and 
• working with the wider Marketing and Business Development team on the firm’s emerging content strategy and planning framework, providing practical input on how it should operate day to day within Business Development and helping the BD team use it confidently so that activity starts with the right questions, is aligned to clear objectives and audiences, and makes best use of channels and follow-through. 

Key responsibilities

Leadership and team development

• lead, coach and develop the BD team, fostering a high-performing, collaborative and supportive culture; 
• manage seven direct reports and oversee team workflow, prioritisation and resource planning; 
• support recruitment, onboarding and capability-building across the BD team; 
• build commercial awareness across the BD team and strengthen understanding across Marketing and BD of the firm’s practice areas and recent activity;
• develop best practice guides and training programmes, working with Learning and Development where appropriate; and 
• help ensure the team delivers sustainably and at a consistently high standard, with clear priorities and effective ways of working. 

Strategic business development

• help ensure BD activity is focused, targeted and aligned to firm priorities; 
• help ensure BD materials and activity reinforce the firm’s market positioning and contribute to closing the gap between brand perception and reality; 
• support the articulation of the firm’s international proposition and Beyond Legal offering; 
• contribute practical input to the development and rollout of the firm’s content strategy and planning framework;
• help the BD team make effective choices about channels, tactics and follow-through, rather than defaulting too quickly to a particular activity;
• take a leading role in strategic initiatives such as fee-earner BD capability; and 
• oversee the firm’s approach to legal directories, including engagement, process and annual review of spend. 
  

Data, technology and AI

• improve the use of data, insight and reporting to identify opportunities, inform priorities and measure impact; 
• work closely with the Senior CRM Manager and Director of Marketing and Business Development to maximise value from CRM; and 
• play a key role in shaping how technology and AI are used within BD to improve efficiency and delivery.

This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the practice area.

The candidate

The successful candidate will ideally bring:

significant senior BD experience within a legal, professional services or partnership environment; 

• a strong track record of leading and developing teams; 
• commercial judgement and the ability to connect BD activity to firm strategy and growth; 
• experience of working with Partners and influencing senior stakeholders; 
• strong understanding of core BD disciplines, including pitching, CRM, directories, targeting and client development; 
• strong communication and interpersonal skills; 
• a pragmatic, collaborative and confident approach; 
• experience of using data and insight to support business development decision-making; and 
• a strong interest in how data, technology and AI can strengthen business development. 

Application screening

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records and employment references. These checks will be initiated with your consent and your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Our commitment to inclusion

Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the recruitment team at [email protected].