Senior Manager: Proposal Center

Mayer Brown • Chicago, IL

11h • $150,000 - $200,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Mayer Brown is an international law firm positioned to represent the world’s major corporations, funds, and financial institutions in their most important and complex transactions and disputes. We are recognized by our clients as strategic partners with deep commercial instincts and a commitment to creatively anticipating their needs and delivering excellence in everything we do. We are a collegial, collaborative firm where highly motivated individuals with an unwavering commitment to excellence receive the opportunity, support, and development they need to grow, thrive, and realize their greatest potential all while supporting the Firm’s client service principles of excellence, strategic partnership, commercial instinct, integrated strengths, innovation, and collaboration across our international firm. If you enjoy working with team members whose defining characteristics are exceptional client service, initiative, professionalism, responsiveness, and adaptability, you may be the person we are seeking to join our Commercial department in our Chicago office, as a Senior Manager: Proposal Center. The Senior Manager: Proposal Center leads and oversees the development of the firm’s most complex, high-value proposals and strategic pitch materials, shaping how the firm competes, wins and positions itself in the global marketplace. This senior role acts as a trusted advisor to partners, practice leaders, sector leadership, and Commercial/BD&M leadership—driving pursuit strategy, elevating messaging, and influencing key decision‑making. The Senior Manager consistently brings a proactive, point‑of‑view–driven approach and ensures best‑in-class pursuit execution across the firm. During a period of purposeful change for the Proposal Center, the Senior Manager partners with leadership to modernize processes, expand the team’s mandate and scale smart automation and knowledge assets across the team. The Proposal Center invites creative problem‑solvers to help define its next chapter. The Senior Manager converts innovations and operational wins into a firmwide roadmap that enhances pursuit excellence, process maturity, and business enablement. The ideal candidate thrives in a hybrid work environment based in Chicago and influences stakeholders across geographies, balancing hand-on leadership with strategic oversight.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, English or another liberal arts discipline required
• Minimum of 7-10 years of demonstrated success in a business development or marketing role involving proposal writing for legal services or in a comparable professional services environment (e.g., accounting or consulting), required; prior experience in a law firm, preferred
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 is required; experience with proposal generation systems and online RFP portals (e.g., PERSUIT) preferred; knowledge of iManage, and Foundation a plus; strong research skills and familiarity with public and proprietary data sources
• Demonstrates exceptional project management, writing, editing, and storytelling skills, with a strong client-centric orientation
• Builds and maintains productive relationships with teammates, partners, and professionals across BD&M and other firm functions
• Prioritizes effectively and manages multiple concurrent pursuits under deadline pressure
• Responds quickly to shifting demands and navigates ambiguity with sound judgment
• Embraces the use of GenAI and automation to streamline routine and repetitive tasks, enabling greater focus on strategy, messaging, and other higher-value activities, in accordance with firm governance
• Possesses, or is eager to develop, an understanding of legal market trends and the competitive landscape, and shows curiosity about economic, legal, and political developments globally, and encourages these behaviors in junior team members
• Collaborates effectively in a professional services environment, exercising discretion and maintaining confidentiality
• Interacts with all levels of the firm and outside vendors in a professional manner
• Coaches and develops junior team members, including at least one direct report, to elevate team performance
• Manages processes for direct reports in regards to performance appraisals, annual compensation, goal setting and performance counselling
• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience
• Operational budget analysis and recommendations
• Conducts analysis of staffing levels and participation in the recruitment process
• Able to determine and implement change processes to improve workflow efficiencies
• Process- and service-oriented with strong leadership and project management skills
• Able to set priorities and delegate in an efficient manner
• Leads strategic planning for the Proposal Center including resource allocation, capability development, and multi‑year roadmap execution
• Acts as second‑in‑command to the Assistant Director and serves as leadership proxy when needed

Responsibilities

• Leads and strategically directs end-to-end responses to pitches and proposals, with a primary focus on complex, multi-practice panel RFPs
• Oversees and prioritizes key client account pitch activity and ensures alignment with client team strategies
• Chairs and steers pursuit meetings, including kickoff meetings, interim touchpoints, and strategy sessions
• Oversees development of high-impact executive summaries and core narratives; provides coaching and editorial direction to team members and partners
• Shapes and enforces firmwide standards of storytelling, tone, messaging architecture, and client-centric communication
• Coordinates visual storytelling in partnership with the design team
• Produces final submission documents, ensures compliance with all RFP requirements, and submits by the required deadlines
• Applies the firm’s style guide and brand standards to all materials and provides quality control for Proposal Center deliverables
• Coordinates cross-functional inputs with partners, Business Development and Marketing (BD&M); Pricing; Content and Knowledge Management; and other stakeholders to align messaging and value propositions
• Serves as a senior liaison to partners and business leaders, providing insights into trends, client expectations, and competitive dynamics
• Champions and scales approved generative AI (GenAI) and automation tools, identifying new use cases and leading change adoption within the team
• Oversees the daily operations of the US proposal team, including supervision and training of junior team members
• Performs other duties as assigned or required to meet Firm goals and objectives

Benefits

• We offer competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, including medical/dental/vision/life/and AD&D insurance, 401(k) savings plan, back-up childcare and eldercare, generous paid time off (PTO), as well as opportunities for professional development and growth.

What This Job Offers

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