Business Development Manager

An excellent opportunity has arisen for a Business Development Manager to join the Business Development & Marketing department in our Grimsby office (Lincoln office would also be considered).

Wilkin Chapman is one of the largest law firms in Lincolnshire and South and East Yorkshire regions, with an unrivalled breadth and depth of expertise and experience.

We are distinguished by our approachability, innovation and commitment to providing the best service we can to our clients along with achieving and maintaining quality standards.

We believe that this quality, service-led approach is also reflected by the number of accreditations and recommendations that the firm regularly achieves with the UK's leading legal directories, such as Legal 500, Chambers UK and is ranked 111 in The Lawyer UK’s top 200 law firms by turnover.  

This is a great opportunity for an enthusiastic, resilient, opportunity seeking and lateral thinker to apply their business acumen to Wilkin Chapman.

One of the keys to success with this role will be to build strong relationships with internal stakeholders to support and seek out business opportunities by expanding the work we undertake.

The successful candidate will work closely with members of the Marketing team and be an excellent team player to deliver and grow client services to pursue further revenue generation.

Clients and markets – For the firm to be recognised as the ‘go-to’ organisation for legal services.

• To seek out, distribute, manage and project mange tendering opportunities for commercial teams for the firm.
• To support fee earners to provide current data information on client relationships to help build stronger and more effective relationships with key clients.
• Assist the Marketing team to build a strong, credible brand internally with key stakeholders.
• Work with office, department and sector heads to implement and deliver BD strategies as appropriate.
• Work with Partners to develop strategic relationships with key clients, external stakeholders and referrers to assist in generating a future pipeline of work.
• Facilitate and co-ordinate the completion of legal directory applications for the firm.
• Support other divisions within the firm where appropriate.
• Support, deliver and continuously the BD Training package provided to fee earners to help widen the knowledge of BD throughout the firm.
• Identify new business opportunities within the region for Wilkin Chapman and manage these opportunities appropriately.
• Proactively seeks and challenges feedback from external professionals about the firm and build on our perception in our marketplace.
• Supports and seeks the collection and use of credentials.
• Monitoring tender portals to identify suitable opportunities and discussing with the relevant individuals to enable successful tender responses.  Responsible for pulling together and preparing tender responses for both the Public and Private sector. 

People – We believe in attracting, developing, retaining and rewarding the best people by providing stimulating work and opportunities for career development and progression at all levels within the firm.

• To work with the marketing team (brand, digital & events) to make the most of opportunities and engage and be a conduit between business teams and marketing specialists.
• Work with the Head of BD & Marketing to deliver regular BD training modules to encourage and provide a greater use of BD throughout the firm.
• Effective communicator, engaging with the firm at all levels to ensure client management and development is at the forefront of colleague’s minds.
• Encourage and challenge colleagues where appropriate.
• To support and work with colleagues within the marketing team, particularly surrounding the firm’s busy events calendar.
• Takes ownership of personal development with a clear understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement.
• Is aware of and embraces Wilkin Chapman STAIRS values.

Operations – Deliver systems and processes that enables business growth.

• Cautiously advocate the use and benefits of the firms CRM system to aid and support wider teams’ collaboration.
• Provide supporting client data and trends to identify future opportunities for the firm.
• Consider current B2B promotional activities and adapt where necessary to ensure we stimulate the local commercial market.
• Work with and manage stakeholders across the wider Wilkin Chapman firm to ensure we take advantage of cross pollination of clients and raise awareness and knowledge throughout appropriate fee earners.
• Attend regular office and team meeting to widen the awareness of marketing and BD opportunities and activities.

Financial – Deliver profitable growth through winning new business and developing our existing relationships.

• To work with Partners and Heads for teams to drive forward business development initiatives.
• Monitor and track the income generated by tenders across the firm.
• Supports and drives forward the development of intermediaries with focus on building commercially beneficial relationships.
• Produce and provide monthly management information reporting on pipeline, state of relationships and future business development activity plans.

Successful applicants must be able to demonstrate:

• Experience working in a B2B environment is essential.
• Experience working within a professional services organisation is preferred.
• Good awareness and knowledge of the local market place.
• Proven stakeholder management experience.
• Analytical mindset and creative thinker.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to establish rapport with employees at all levels.
• Proven track record of developing effective business development initiatives.
• Strong influencing skills.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills (both verbal and written).
• Understanding and adopting the Firm’s values and behaviours. 

Wilkin Chapman is an equal opportunities employer that values diversity and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religious practice or any other perceived differences.  We are an armed forces friendly employer.

Our Values

All that we do is shaped by our five values: Service, Teamwork, Approachability, Innovation and Commitment to achieving results. These values are the bedrock of Wilkin Chapman, they define who and what we are - they underpin everything that we do. For more information on our values, please click here.

If you have any queries regarding this position, please contact recruitment@wilkinchapman.co.uk.