Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer

Job Description

A mid-size, Pennsylvania law firm is looking to bring add a Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer to their team! The Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer owns the development of firmwide, practice, and industry/section marketing and business development strategy; execution of the firm's revenue system: pipeline, pursuits, key client relationships; and leadership and management of the marketing and BD department.

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RESPONSIBILITIES

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Pitch, proposal, and pursuit management (25%)

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•Owns the end-to-end pitch and RFP process: intake, Go/No-Go screening, drafting, pricing coordination, submission, and debrief.

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•Builds a reusable pitch content library/answer bank and an experience database, as well as a process for updating/identifying gaps in matters and responses.

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•Runs win and loss debriefs on all major pursuits, and feeds findings back into positioning and pricing.

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•Establishes turnaround standards and holds the department and partners to them.

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Key client and cross-sell execution (20%)

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•Launches and runs a key client or industry-based strategy, including teams and relationship mapping.

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•Converts identified cross-sell opportunities into live pursuits, with follow-up and accountability.

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•Runs the client listening program: executive visits, periodic surveys, and end-of-matter feedback, on an ongoing cadence rather than as a one-time exercise.

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•Partners with the CSO and practice leaders on client and office succession, so relationships transition to the firm rather than depending on individual partners.

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Brand, marketing, and communications strategy (15%)

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•Owns brand positioning and messaging architecture for a firm that has outgrown its single-region identity.

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•Sets the thought leadership and content agenda, including client alerts, and the standards they are held to.

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•Owns website, digital presence, search visibility, and lawyer bios, including the requirement that bios carry named client matters where the client has approved.

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•Owns PR and media relations, rankings and awards strategy, and internal communications.

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•Differentiates the market playbook by office type: an established-market approach for Lancaster, Reading, and Harrisburg, and a distinct growth-market approach for Gettysburg, Hanover, Malvern, Maryland, and Pittsburgh.

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•Brings brand and positioning recommendations to the Marketing Committee for sign-off under its redefined charter.

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Partner BD coaching and enablement (15%)

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•One-on-one business development coaching for high-potential partners and senior associates.

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•Builds practice-level and office-level BD plans, with the practice group leader as owner.

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•Runs BD training, including BD onboarding for laterals and newly acquired groups.

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•Equips practice group leaders to run their own BD cadence rather than depending on the department to drive it.

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Team leadership and department management (15%)

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•Leads the five-person marketing and BD department: role boundaries, workload allocation, performance management, and professional development.

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•Defines who owns events, who owns experience capture, and who owns routine sponsorship intake and followup, with documented guardrails and up-front training.

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•Protects the team's capacity by moving low-value administrative work off the department or automating it (with MC).

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•Sets service standards and turnaround expectations, and manages agencies and outside vendors.

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•Assesses whether the current five-role structure is the right one, and makes the case for changes where it is not.

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Budget, pipeline, KPI tracking, and reporting (10%)

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•Owns the marketing and BD budget of approximately $1.05M, including the $520K sponsorship portfolio and the ROI framework it currently lacks.

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•Holds delegated authority for routine sponsorship approval within documented guardrails set by the Marketing Committee.

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•Owns pipeline hygiene and opportunity tracking in the CRM, and drives CRM adoption across the lawyer population (with BDC).

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•Produces the monthly BD dashboard and quarterly KPI reporting to the Management Committee.

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REQUIREMENTS/EXPERIENCE

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•Bachelor's degree required.

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•Ten or more years in law firm or professional services marketing and business development, including direct accountability for business development and revenue outcomes rather than marketing/communications alone.

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•Demonstrated experience running a competitive pitch and RFP function, including Go/No-Go discipline and win/loss analysis.

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•Experience leading and developing a team, including performance management and role design.