Pursuit & Proposal Lead – Marketing & Client Development

Based in a market leading Irish law firm, this is a great opportunity for an experienced bids professional to join a newly formed and ambitious Client Development Team.

Working directly with the firm’s Partners, Client Teams, Client Development Managers and Marketing you’ll play an integral role, responsible for the creation of all pitch and proposals for the firm, managing and leading the process from start to finish, and using your expertise and experience to best determine how to elevate winning pitches to support our business goals. You’ll be joining a supportive Client Development team who pride themselves on their collaborative nature and ambition to succeed.

The aim is to work closely with the Head of Client development and team to embed, coordinate and project manage market leading bids, proposals, pitches, and tenders that maximise the return on the firm’s time and cost investments. Working with Client Development Managers and Partners on winning strategies tailored for each client or prospect opportunity. This will involve overseeing the timely production of high-quality documents or presentations and liaising with lawyers to convert the opportunity.

The Pursuit & Proposal Lead will also, in conjunction with the Client Team, run client debriefs, collate feedback and analyse processes and win rates to ensure we are always improving and listening to our clients needs.

The ideal candidate will have exceptional project management skills and have experience of evaluating the merits of progressing new business opportunities and influencing the bid/no bid decision.

Duties will include:

• Managing the end-to-end pitch process, from scoping and planning to pricing and presenting, ensuring that all deadlines and client requirements are met.
• Leading and coaching a team of bid managers and coordinators, providing guidance, feedback and support on best practices, processes, and tools.
• Developing and implementing a clear pitching strategy that aligns with the firm's business objectives and growth ambitions, and reviewing it regularly to identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
• Collaborating with partners, fee earners and other stakeholders across the firm to understand the client's needs, challenges, and expectations, and to craft tailored and compelling solutions that demonstrate our expertise and differentiation.
• Leveraging data, analytics, and market intelligence to inform our pricing and value propositions, and to monitor and evaluate our win rates and return on investment.
• Ensuring that our pitch documents are consistent, accurate and compliant with our brand guidelines and quality standards, and that they reflect our commitment to ESG and D&I principles.
• Utilising and enhancing our pitch management software and content library to automate and streamline the pitch document creation and storage, and to ensure that our information is up to date and relevant.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• Proven experience in leading and delivering complex and high-value pitches, preferably in the legal sector or a professional services environment.
• Excellent project management, communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and senior stakeholders effectively and efficiently.
• Strong commercial acumen, analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret client requirements and provide innovative and bespoke solutions.
• A keen eye for detail, quality and design, with the ability to produce clear, concise and persuasive pitch documents that resonate with the client's audience and objectives.
• A positive, collaborative and proactive approach, with the ability to work well in a team and foster a culture of change / continuous improvement and client centricity.
• A good understanding of the legal market, the firm's services and sectors, and the key trends and challenges affecting our clients and prospects.
• Proficiency in using pitch management software and other relevant applications, such as Microsoft Office, CRM and content management systems.

The firm

A&L Goodbody (ALG) is a leading Irish law firm. It has 6 international offices in Dublin, Belfast, London, New York, San Francisco, and Palo Alto. There are currently 115 partners and over 900 employees. The strong international and domestic business community in Ireland forms a valuable part of the A&L Goodbody client base

We are incredibly proud that A&L Goodbody has been ranked as a 'Top Tier' firm in the Legal 500 EMEA Guide for 2023. The firm is consistently ranked number one in the Irish market and also on a European level. A sample of other recent notable awards include: listed as one of Ireland's top 25 best places to work according to LinkedIn's Top Companies list for 2022; Irish Law Firm of the Year (2022) by Chambers Europe; Irish Law Firm of the Year (2021) by Who's Who Legal; Most Popular Graduate Recruiter in Law (2021) by GradIreland; Tier 1 in all 7 practice areas (2022) by Chambers Global; Band 1 in 11 practice areas (2022) by Chambers Europe; Outstanding Firm for Pro Bono (2021) by Chambers Europe; and Diversity & Inclusion Firm of the Year (2021) by EMEA Tax Awards.

A&L Goodbody has a reputation for leading the way in continuously developing its service to clients and internally to its business. This is delivered through the use of new processes, ways of working and technologies and marketing-leading business service teams.