Business Development Manager - Artificial Intelligence

Ropes & Gray • Washington, DC

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Business Development Manager (BDM) will serve as a trusted advisor to the firm’s AI leadership team, as well as practice group leaders, attorneys, and other stakeholders, and provide strategic, commercial, and practical support on the implementation of strategic and commercial business and client development priorities. The BDM is responsible for developing and executing integrated marketing and business development plans that grow Ropes & Gray’s multidisciplinary AI capabilities, increase the firm’s brand visibility, attract new clients, and drive client satisfaction and loyalty.

Requirements

• Demonstrated proficiency with generative AI tools.
• Superior client service skills.
• Able to quickly establish credibility with lead partners and key stakeholders by balancing a confident, measured, and persistent approach.
• Work effectively and efficiently as a team player with an enthusiasm for developing relationships. Able to engage with and support colleagues and stakeholders across all aspects of the business.
• A confident leader and self-starter in a dynamic environment.
• Commercially minded and solutions oriented.
• Excellent organization, communication, and project management skills.
• Attention to detail and accuracy in all aspects of the role and responsibilities.
• Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, with all levels of attorneys and business professionals.
• Experience writing in a professional services environment.
• Able to set clear goals and priorities, multi-task and meet multiple deadlines.
• Creative and flexible when managing individual and team workloads and priorities, taking colleagues’ time into account.
• Respond quickly and positively to shifting demands and opportunities.
• Able to demonstrate creativity and initiative by continuously looking for areas to improve and ways to implement positive change to all aspects of the role and responsibilities.
• Ability to thrive in a challenging and dynamic environment.
• Bachelor's degree.
• Professional experience, including management of direct reports.
• Minimum of eight years of experience in business development within a professional services firm or corporate environment.

Nice To Haves

• MBA or JD helpful but not required.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute AI-related business development and marketing efforts to generate new business and improve market visibility for the firm’s AI adoption and innovation in its legal offerings.
• Establish and maintain effective AI-focused internal reporting and communication frameworks to track progress, share outcomes, and support management reporting across practice groups and affiliated teams.
• Champion AI initiatives within the firm by showcasing success stories, gathering and disseminating use cases, and articulating the strategic benefits of AI adoption.
• Lead cross‑functional collaboration with AI leadership, practice group partners, global client teams, and business support colleagues to execute AI‑centric growth strategies for priority clients, manage and expand key relationships, and orchestrate pursuits for new engagements that grow revenue and deepen relationships, including:
• Organizing internal business development meetings, creating agendas, capturing and circulating action steps, and proactively driving follow-up and making connections to other global business development colleagues.
• Developing expertise in how AI is being deployed across industries, including by commissioning and conducting business research to keep abreast of industry/market intelligence and to support the BD strategy.
• Project managing the delivery of client, market, and competitor research, and tailoring the data for partner or clients and share insights from other practice groups and offices for collaborative initiatives.
• Monitoring and identifying market opportunities and AI innovation driven trends and themes for client engagement.
• Drive pitching and new business generation by:
• Maintaining and developing up-to-date AI-focused pitch content, practice materials, client information, and matter and experience tracking.
• Leading and/or contributing AI-practice-focused, subject-matter expertise to pitches, proposals, and RFPs; identifying ways to differentiate our AI expertise from the competition; and drafting key sections.
• Packaging internal AI use cases into client-ready narratives, case studies, and value propositions, in collaboration with marketing and technology teams.
• Maintaining accountability for the timely and accurate completion and submission of RFPs or pitches, ensuring proper document storage and tracking, and establishing and executing appropriate follow-up action steps post-submission.
• Promoting best practices and knowledge sharing across global business development and marketing teams.
• Acting as trusted advisor to attorney teams and affiliated business support teams to prepare for both in-person meetings and pitches and providing post-pitch client and target feedback.
• Building a strong working knowledge of adjacent practice and industry group expertise and goals, and a clear understanding of the firm’s AI strategy and priorities.
• Work with the marketing team and business support colleagues to:
• Identifying appropriate client and market target opportunities to create and implement integrated AI focused branding and profile-raising campaigns, including creating an AI thought leadership calendar (webinars, alerts, client roundtables, podcasts, speaking engagements).
• Assessing AI-related market conference and sponsorship opportunities, including by advising the lawyers on selection, participation and execution, and project managing client and firm events to support AI innovation and strategy.
• Support the development of AI business development training and internal communications that educate attorneys, marketing and business development colleagues, and other firm stakeholders on the firm's AI offerings.
• Manage and develop junior members of the business development team, fostering a culture of teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, professionalism, and integrity.

Benefits

• The firm also offers comprehensive health and well-being benefits, personal and professional development, career growth opportunities and a collegial and supportive culture.
• this role is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on performance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level