Business Development Manager – Private Funds

Ropes & Gray•New York, NY

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Business Development Manager (BDM) will serve as a trusted advisor to private funds specialty group leaders, asset management practice group leaders, and partners to 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 increase the firm's brand visibility, attract new clients, and drive client satisfaction and loyalty. The Business Development department's commercial objective is to grow firm revenue and take market share, grow existing client relationships, and develop new client relationships in alignment with firm and practice goals and our industry and client teams. Business development works in collaboration with partners, other attorneys and business support colleagues to achieve these objectives and is part of a broader business support organization in a collaborative work environment. The business development team is a specialist business support function with a range of offerings focused on business development in the firm's practice groups.

Requirements

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.
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, multitask, and meet multiple deadlines.
Creative and flexible when managing individual as well as team workloads and priorities, taking colleagues' time into account, to 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.

Nice To Haves

MBA or JD helpful but not required.
Demonstrated knowledge of private equity, asset management, investment management, and/or financial services is preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute business development and marketing efforts designed to generate new business and improve market visibility for the private funds and sponsor solutions group.
Collaborate with practice group partners and global teams to develop and implement business and client development plans for target clients, including budget planning, expense monitoring, and identifying joint initiatives to grow revenue and relationships.
Drive AI adoption across the Business Development function by promoting proficiency in and consistent use of AI tools and technologies, helping teams integrate AI into day-to-day business development activities such as proposals and RFPs, prospecting, market and competitive intelligence, and event strategy to improve efficiency, responsiveness, and the quality of client-facing deliverables.
Establish and maintain effective internal reporting and communication frameworks to track progress, share outcomes, and support management reporting across practice groups and affiliated teams.
Manage and drive the development of existing client relationships and the pursuit of new engagements in collaboration with other relevant business support colleagues including the following: Organizing, participating in, and maintaining internal business development meetings – being responsible for all aspects of client and target development efforts, including creating agendas, capturing and circulating action steps, and proactively driving follow-up and making connections to other global business development and practice development colleagues.
Develop expertise in the private equity, private funds and asset management industries, including by commissioning and conducting business research to keep abreast of industry/market intelligence and to support the BD strategy.
Project manage the delivery of client, market and competitor research, and tailor the data for partner or client consumption and share insights from other PGs and offices for collaborative initiatives.
Monitor and identify market opportunities and private-equity-driven trends and themes for client engagement.
Drive pitching and new business generation by: Project managing and executing large pitches, proposals, and RFPs, including leading a team to develop a winning strategy, identifying ways to differentiate from the competition, and helping to write aspects of the pitch.
Working with finance to develop compelling fee arrangements.
Maintaining accountability for the timely and accurate completion and submission of the RFPs or pitches, ensuring proper document storage and tracking, and establishing and executing appropriate follow-up action steps post-submission.
Maintaining up-to-date pitch content, practice materials, client information and experience tracking.
Promoting best practices and knowledge sharing across global business development and marketing teams.
Acting as trusted advisor to attorney teams to scope, prepare for both in-person meetings and pitches, and provide post-pitch client and target feedback.
Building a strong working knowledge of adjacent practice and industry group services and a clear understanding of the relevant group's strategy, priorities, and clients.
Work with the marketing team and business support colleagues to: Identify opportunities to create and implement integrated branding and profile-raising campaigns.
Assess market conference opportunities, advise the lawyers on selection, participation in and execution.
Identify the appropriate client and market targets for the delivery of knowledge marketing.
Support the development of attorney-facing BD training.
Proactively building networks with adjacent practice and industry groups and clearly communicate the private funds and sponsor solutions groups' value proposition to relevant group's strategy, priorities and clients.
Manage and develop junior members of the business development team, fostering a culture of teamwork, accountability, continuous improvement, professionalism, and integrity.