Global head of sector business development Full time NEW

A&O Shearman is a new global industry-leading law firm, with nearly 50 offices in 29 countries worldwide.

Our fluency in English law, US law, and the laws of the world’s most dynamic markets, enables us to provide unmatched insight and seamless delivery to clients. We work on challenging and important deals and disputes that have the potential to shape the future.

We offer exceptional opportunities for our people; opportunities to work for the world’s leading businesses; to transform the status quo, and to deliver your best work, helping you and your career to thrive, while delivering unparalleled outcomes for our clients.

Whether you’re helping clients solve complex challenges, transforming the ways we manage our business, or ensuring the smooth-running of our operations, this is an environment where you can belong and excel. We provide first-rate training and development, we are committed to an inclusive environment, and we provide support and ways of working that help you optimise your wellbeing.

What truly defines a career with us? We recruit the best and ask for the best of you. And together, we will redefine success.

Department purpose
Our global marketing team contributes to the setting and achievement of the firm’s business objectives. This includes supporting our partners and associates in their pursuit of becoming our clients’ trusted advisers, building and maintaining long-lasting, deep institutional client relationships, winning new clients, increasing the visibility of the firm globally, and positioning the firm as the thought leader among the global elite law firms. The function works as one team across the globe with close collaboration between the central groups and professionals supporting offices, practices and sectors.

Role purpose
The role is a leadership position within our global marketing function, responsible for developing and executing the firm’s sector strategy. Specifically, the role will shape how the firm goes to market through industry groups, help us amplify our name in key sectors and develop a firmwide approach to client relationship best practice.

The role will report to our managing director for clients. Our global sector BD team, based in various offices across our global network, will report into the role.

Key relationships

• Chief marketing officer
• Global head of sector strategy
• Managing director for clients and managing director for BD
• Sector group leaders and their partner teams
• Global sector group BD team
• Director of operations – global sectors
• Global marketing leadership team
• Firmwide senior leadership team, including practice and office heads, as well as the senior partner

Role & responsibilities

Principal responsibilities of the role:

• Work with sector group leaders to build consensus on collective sector priorities and initiatives
• Work with leadership partners to continuously develop and execute our go-to-market strategy for sectors
• Lead a senior team of sector BD leads, ensuring there is a common focus and direction across the team
• Drive client development best-practices, creating uniformity across sectors and our key client program – eg client planning, measurement, behaviors etc – including overseeing the efforts of our global CRM teams
• Identify and prioritize ‘cross-over’ market trends and opportunities that cut across multiple sectors
• Leverage data insights and analysis to challenge and support sector group leaders with driving client growth
• Ensure our sector BD efforts are aligned with our practice and office/regional BD efforts
• Engage leadership partners across the firm on our sector strategy
• Work with firm leadership to evolve the strategic and operational role of sectors within the firm

Context on A&O Shearman’s approach to sectors

Our sector strategy is a central component of how we go-to-market and the firm’s overall strategy. The firm has identified a defined group of priority sectors, building leadership teams and partner groups around each. We have also defined our global sector priority clients, with relationship teams mandated to broaden and deepen those relationships, ultimately with the goal of delivering greater value to those clients.

There are three strategic areas of focus for our sector groups:

1. Build a collective

• Bring expertise together across practices/offices
• Empower industry experts and collaborators
• Foster an inclusive sector community

2. Deliver sector excellence

• Drive profitable growth of our priority clients
• Build business and client plans, to drive execution and ensure accountability
• Define client development best-practice through sector leader and relationship partner role expectations

3. Amplify sectors

• Embed sector expertise into our client propositions
• Develop impactful and targeted sector marketing campaigns
• Establish internal sector communication channels

This role will work with our partners, BD and wider marketing teams to help shape and execute the firm’s efforts across these three strategic areas of focus.

Key requirements

• Minimum of 15 years of relevant experience in business development in a law firm setting. 
• Senior level marketing and BD professional with a proven track record of delivering high-impact change in large professional services environments.
• Significant relevant business development and marketing experience, likely to be within a professional or financial services organization, notably marketing to a sophisticated business audience.
• Confident and experienced in working with senior stakeholders to shape a strategic agenda.
• Proven track record of delivering high-impact change.
• Client focused – driven and motivated by delivering exceptional outcomes for the firm’s clients.
• Excellent communication skills – both written and oral. Experienced in selling concepts and presenting up to senior executive/board level.
• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills – with partners, attorneys, BD colleagues and clients. This role is not about ‘power’; it is suited to someone who can achieve results through influence.
• Politically astute – can make tough decisions and follow through; anticipate future areas of risk and takes appropriate action to address these.
• Ability to motivate, develop and inspire both team and attorneys to deliver business goals and change behavior.
• Experience of managing and developing the careers of senior BD professionals.
• Applies a proactive approach, creativity, tenacity and energy to achieve business outcomes.
• Ability to work to deadlines, juggle multiple projects and deliver under pressure.
• Previous experience of working in a sector or industry focused role is desirable.

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and disability

A&O Shearman is an equal opportunity employer, including veterans and disability. Every individual has the right to work in a professional environment that promotes equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination and harassment. This policy applies to all aspects of an individual’s relationship with A&O Shearman, including, without limitation, recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, compensation, discipline, termination, and all other terms and conditions of employment.

If you are vision-impaired or have another disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law and wish to discuss accommodations related to applying for employment at A&O Shearman, please contact US HR Transactions at US-HRTransactions@aoshearman.com or call +1 212 610 6300 and ask for HR Transactions.