Director of Business Development

The Employment Law Alliance (ELA) is the world’s largest network of labor, employment, and immigration lawyers, with member firms in over 100 countries throughout the world and in all 50 U.S. states. Our mission is to deliver seamless, world-class legal services to multi-jurisdictional employers through collaboration, shared expertise, and our unparalleled global reach.

The Director of Business Development (BD) will be a strategic and hands‑on leader responsible for driving growth across the ELA. This individual will design and implement initiatives to expand business opportunities both internally (among member firms) and externally (with network clients and prospects) through referral‑generating strategies, innovative branding, and marketing. Given that the ELA is a global organization, this individual must be able to manage and implement multiple initiatives across numerous time zones ensuring execution and alignment with strategic goals.

This position requires both strategic vision and executional capability — someone who can conceptualize large‑scale growth initiatives while personally managing campaigns, systems, and partner relationships. This individual must be highly organized, proactive and a self‑starter, and be able to react promptly and manage reactive requests alongside longer‑term projects.

Develop and execute a multi‑year business development strategy aligned with the ELA’s mission and growth objectives. Help set and monitor progress in achieving growth objectives. Identify new business opportunities and initiatives to expand referral activity and increase the visibility of member firms. Partner with the CEO and the Board to define KPIs, metrics, and reporting structures.

Develop and implement strategy to increase both intra‑ and inter‑regional referrals among ELA member firms, and drive member firms to collaborate and expand multi‑jurisdictional opportunities. Identify untapped synergies among firms, practice groups, and regions to create new referral pipelines. Look for opportunities to generate business outside of employment law by working with the ELA’s specialty groups and the international capabilities of member firms.

Develop systems to track and measure intra‑network business generation.

Oversee global branding, marketing, and thought leadership campaigns to elevate the ELA’s reputation as the premier global employment law network. Lead all internal marketing and business development initiatives, ensuring integration across web, email, social media, events, podcasts, and webinars. Lead and collaborate with internal staff to align ELA initiatives with each firm’s positioning, geographic reach, and client base. Evaluate what outside events and industry groups the ELA should participate in to maximize branding and referrals, and how to maximize such participation.

Develop and execute client‑facing events (virtual and in‑person) to generate awareness and foster new client relationships. Support the ELA’s annual meetings and regional events, ensuring that sessions promote existing BD initiatives and drive tangible business outcomes. Create business development toolkits for member firms to use during events and client meetings.

Manage systems and processes for tracking referrals, marketing ROI, and client engagement metrics across the network. Produce quarterly BD performance dashboards and growth reports for leadership and members. Oversee implementation and optimization of the ELA’s integrated business development platform, ensuring seamless coordination across CRM, email marketing, analytics, and reporting tools. Ensure accurate data capture and utilization to support proactive outreach and data‑driven decision‑making.

• 10+ years of experience in business development, marketing, or client growth roles within a professional services or legal environment (global law firm or legal network preferred).
• Proven ability to drive measurable business…