Business Development Executive

Position:                    Business Development Executive - Real Estate Division 

Location:                    London/hybrid (The firm operates a hybrid agile working policy allowing employees to work from home (or another UK location) for at least 50% of their time. Individuals can also apply for other flexible working options either at the time of recruitment or during their employment.

Reports to:                 Business Development Manager – line manager and Rachel Dawes (as Global Business Development and Marketing Director).

We are seeking a Business Development Executive who will support the Business Development Manager in all aspects of the work of the Marketing and Business Development Department.  Individual BD Managers are responsible for a portfolio of practice and sector teams. 

The BD Executive role will be specifically focussed on supporting the BD Manager responsible for the Real Estate Division (RED).

Real estate is one of Penningtons Manches Cooper’s key sectors and significantly contributes to the firm’s profits. The division is split across six of our UK offices – London, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Cambridge, Guildford and Oxford. It comprises 116 fee earners and specialists within construction, commercial and residential real estate, property disputes, and housing. Several teams are top ranked in the legal directories.

The BD executive will be expected to build a good understanding of the work and marketplaces of the various teams within RED and to play a critical role in helping those teams deliver their BD and Marketing strategies. These strategies, and hence the focus for the BD Executive role, include but are not limited to profile building, client retention and development, new client targeting, sector and international development. 

The BD Executive’s key responsibilities include:

Client, practice and sector development

• Helping the Business Development Manager on the development and execution of practice and sector BD plans.
• Keeping abreast of industry and market developments.
• Undertaking target research and providing company and industry/sector information in support of bids and credentials, and new markets.
• Using the CRM system to maintain/update and report on the practice/sector teams’ sales pipelines.
• Attending, taking notes and progressing actions from team meetings.
• Managing legal directory and award submissions for the real estate teams.

Marketing and events

• Producing client materials to include team sheets, capability statements, fact sheets and promotional flyers.  
• Liaise with BD colleagues to provide real estate-specific content for firm-wide pitches.
• Develop and maintain a set of credentials for the RED division.
• Working closely with the Business Development Manager, Marketing and Communications, External Suppliers (on occasion), and the Events team to raise the profile of RED through various channels including thought leadership, client newsletters, articles, podcasts, webinars, conferences and other industry events.  
• Using marketing software to manage and deliver appropriate e-marketing campaigns, GDPR compliance, etc. and reporting on readership statistics.  
• Managing the team’s events working with the BD manager and events team including follow up activities.
• Supporting fee earners to develop their online profile.

Website and intranet

• Development and maintenance of the real estate intranet pages.
• Ensuring the relevant communications mangers are provided with appropriate and timely content for the website and intranet including news items, articles, events, case studies, publications and people profiles as they relate to individual teams.

Other

• Taking responsibility for self-development and training.

The individual

• Highly proficient communication skills and in particular - strong writing and editing skills.
• Minimum of 3+ years’ experience of broad-ranging marketing roles in service-orientated organisations (ideally professional services).
• Professional, positive and proactive self-starter.
• Highly motivated - must have the ability to work alone and on own initiative but within a team environment.
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills.
• Effective time and project management skills, able to prioritise effectively and work well under pressure.
• Organised with excellent attention to detail.
• Flexible approach and reliable.

At our firm, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a priority and at the heart of everything we do. We actively want to attract a diverse workforce and welcome applications from everyone, from all backgrounds. We are committed to promoting an inclusive culture where everyone can be their full selves and experience being seen and heard. You can find out more about our firm’s commitment, initiatives and Pennclusion committees here.

We ensure that there are equal opportunities and treatment for all job applicants and employees, at all stages of the recruitment process and employment, regardless of age, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, disability, race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and social background. We aim to provide adjustments for people who have a disability, long-term health condition (including mental health) or neurodiversity. If you would like to request an adjustment, please contact Sam.Austin@penningtonslaw.com