Business Development Manager, Proposals and Pursuits

Business Development Manager, Proposals and Pursuits Chicago Illinois

Job

Our client, a nationally recognized law firm in the financial services sector, is seeking a Business Development Manager, Proposals and Pursuits to join their Marketing and Business Development Department. As part of their dynamic and expanding business development team, the BD Manager will play a pivotal role in driving the firm’s growth and success by leading and executing the firm’s Request for Proposal, pitch, and pursuit efforts.

This role serves as both a strategic advisor and project manager, crafting compelling, client-focused materials that go beyond standard capabilities and responses.

This is a unique opportunity to build an important function within our growing business development team. The successful candidate will work with the Director of Business Development to improve and expand the proposal/pursuit process at the firm, oversee the end-to-end pursuit workflow, including development and submission of RFPs and pitch materials, management of content repositories and data sources, coordination of survey and league table responses, collaboration with attorneys and business development staff, and continuous improvement of response standards.

They are seeking a highly organized and creative individual with experience in proposal and pitch management in the legal or financial services industry. The position is open in all firm locations, with a preference for the Chicago office. The position requires an in-office presence but includes flexibility for some remote work.

Proposals:

• Leadership and ownership of all aspects of the Requests for Proposal (RFP) response process, including RFPs, RFQs, RFIs, and client compliance surveys, from notice to submission, including coordinating with other firm departments and functions.
• Produces proposal and pitch documents, including identifying most applicable content, editing existing content, and drafting new content (practice overviews, experience summaries, biography and statistics updates, etc.), delivering compelling content and design to differentiate the firm.
• Serves as primary liaison for online proposal portals (PERSUIT and others) and coordinating responses with relevant stakeholders.
• Acts as an advisor to identify and implement best practices for each pitch opportunity.
• Manages go/no-go decisions and tracks proposal outcomes.

Presentations/Pitches and Publications:

• Responsible for all aspects of preparing pitch books and qualification statements, including customizing practice group descriptions and industry experience, in both Word and PowerPoint formats.
• Ensures newly developed content (experience summaries, biography and statistics updates, etc.) are added to the firm’s data sources and other relevant marketing materials.
• Ensures design and formatting adhere to firm brand guidelines and recommends design enhancements to elevate client presentations and training materials where appropriate.
• Tracks pitch outcomes.

League Tables and Surveys:

• Oversees all aspects of the firm’s legal/financial industry/business directory and league table submissions.
• Prepares responses for client specific survey requests and manages updates of internal deal/matter lists and statistics.

Department Leadership and Mentorship:

• Supervises and mentors personnel who provide business development and pursuit support, and supports individual learning, training, and development.
• Leveraging competitive intelligence, provides strategic advice to partners and leadership on pursuit strategy and differentiators, market trends, and client insights.
• Uses AI appropriately and proactively to create efficiencies work product creation.
• Collates with administrative departments to improve knowledge/data sharing efficiency and process improvements where appropriate.
• Performs other duties as assigned or required to meet firm goals and objectives.

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• Minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience preparing proposals, pitch decks, and other business pursuit presentations, preferably in a law firm or financial services organization
• Experience analyzing requests…