Marketing and Business Development Practice Senior Advisor at Aluko & Oyebode

JOB SUMMARY:

• The Marketing and Business Development Practice Senior Advisor plays a key role in supporting the lawyers and practice groups to grow client relationships, enhance visibility, and drive revenue. The role combines strategic planning, client development, and marketing execution with a deep understanding of the legal services industry and the ecosystem in which the corporate and commercial practice operates.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Strategic Planning and Practice Group Support - Develop and execute tailored annual business development plans for assigned practice groups, aligned to the firm’s strategic priorities and growth targets. Manage practice group BD budgets, tracking expenditure against plan and reporting to the Director. Conduct structured market and client research to identify growth opportunities, emerging sectors, and competitive threats. Facilitate strategic planning discussions with practice group heads and present data-driven recommendations on where to focus BD investment. Prepare quarterly BD performance reports and track progress against plan for each assigned practice group.
• Client Development and Relationship Management - Lead the design and delivery of the key account programme for assigned practices, ensuring structured, consistent, and senior-level engagement with priority clients. Drive a disciplined client feedback programme, synthesising findings and presenting actionable recommendations to practice group leadership. Identify cross-selling opportunities across practice groups and develop strategies to capture them, working directly with lawyers to execute targeted outreach. Support client retention initiatives by ensuring clients feel valued, well-served, and strategically engaged at all stages of the relationship. Maintain up-to-date client and prospect records on CRM and produce regular pipeline reports.
• Leads, Pitches and Proposals - Oversee the preparation of EOI, RFP, and pitch responses for assigned practices, ensuring they are strategic, compelling, differentiated, and tailored to the specific client and brief. Apply a rigorous quality assurance process to all submissions. Every proposal must represent the very best of what the firm can offer before it is sent. Maintain and continuously improve the firm’s pitch and proposal content library, keeping case studies, credentials, and lawyer biographies current and of high quality. Track leads and prospects from marketing efforts including trips, conferences, and events, and maintain a live pipeline dashboard. Monitor win/loss outcomes and run structured post-pitch debriefs to extract learnings and embed improvements into future submissions.
• Thought Leadership and Content Marketing - Work proactively with lawyers to develop and publish thought leadership that advances their individual profiles and the firm’s positioning in target sectors and industries. Manage a content calendar for assigned practice groups covering articles, client alerts, webinars, event participation, and social media content. Ensure consistent, strategic messaging across all digital and print channels for the practice group. Identify high-value opportunities for lawyer visibility including speaking engagements, panel contributions, and media commentary, and coordinate the firm’s participation. Collaborate with the local and regional MBD teams to maximise the reach and impact of practice group content.
• Market Research & Competitive Intelligence - Provide lawyers and practice group heads with timely, well-researched intelligence on clients, prospects, industries, sectors, and competitors to support BD conversations and strategic planning. Monitor legal market trends, regulatory developments, and sector dynamics, and brief practice group leadership proactively on relevant opportunities and threats. Support the integration of lateral hires by providing new joiners with client and market analysis to accelerate their BD activity from day one. Curate relevant industry news and developments and distribute regular briefings to keep lawyers informed of market context.
• Collaboration and Best Practice - Act as a trusted BD coach and adviser to lawyers at all levels, guiding them on client development strategy, networking, proposal writing, and relationship management. Design and deliver practical, tailored BD training sessions for assigned practice groups. Share learnings, successful approaches, and best practices across the MB&BD team to raise collective capability. Work with external agencies and third parties to implement elements of the marketing plan, setting clear briefs and holding suppliers accountable to outcomes and timelines.
• Marketing - Plan and deliver high-quality client events, roundtables, seminars, and sponsorships that create meaningful engagement with priority clients and prospects. Ensure practice group pages on the firm’s website and in legal directories are current, compelling, and strategically positioned. Manage relationships with external marketing agencies, directories, and suppliers to deliver initiatives on time, on budget, and to specification.
• Directory and Award Submissions - Lead the preparation of directory submissions (e.g., Chambers, Legal 500) and award nominations for assigned practice groups, working closely with lawyers to capture matter highlights, client references, and key achievements throughout the year. Develop compelling submission narratives that differentiate the practice group and reflect its strongest work. Maintain a submissions calendar to ensure all deadlines are met without exception, and manage the end-to-end process from briefing through to final submission. Track outcomes across directories and awards, analyse feedback from researchers and judges, and use findings to continuously strengthen future submissions.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, Law, or a related field.
• A postgraduate degree or professional certification in Marketing, Business Development, Communications, or a related discipline will be an added advantage.
• Membership of relevant professional bodies (e.g., marketing or communications associations) will be considered an advantage.

SKILLS / KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENTS:

• Minimum of 6–8 years’ experience in marketing and business development, preferably within a law firm or professional services environment.
• Proven experience supporting practice groups and senior professionals on business development initiatives.
• Strong understanding of business development strategy, client relationship management, and key account programmes.
• Experience managing RFPs, EOIs, pitches, and proposal development.
• Strong market research and competitive intelligence skills.
• Ability to develop high-quality proposals, marketing materials, and thought leadership content.
• Experience supporting client targeting, cross-selling, and revenue-generating initiatives.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Ability to coach and guide professionals on business development best practices.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Experience planning and delivering client events and marketing campaigns.
• Familiarity with CRM systems, digital marketing tools, and analytics.
• Strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and professionalism.