Job Description

What we will offer

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We will offer you a place where you can be yourself and where there are no limits on what you can achieve. With us, you can take ownership of your career and have honest conversations throughout. You would join an ambitious firm with a clear strategy for profitable growth where you can get early responsibility and early involvement in growing the business. Here you can expect a competitive and fair reward as well as recognition based on all round performance. This forms part of our internal promise to you, The Deal, between the firm and its employees.

Team Structure

The international business development and marketing team focuses on the pillars of client development; practice group and sector business development; and brand, marketing and communications.

The Role

This role will be focusing on supporting the Commercial Litigation practice group, which, with 35 partners in the London office, is the largest in the firm. You will be able to assume a large amount of autonomy as the primary point of contact for a number of specialist teams within Commercial Litigation, building relationships with the key stakeholders. Strategic support and guidance will be provided by the Commercial Litigation BD manager. The below list is subject to change, depending on the candidate\'s relevant experience.

Regulation \xe2\x80\x93 As the BD lead for the regulatory team, you will play a key role in providing strategic support to our London-based team, while also fostering closer collaboration with our international offices. You\'ll actively participate in the team\'s fortnightly BD meetings, contributing your ideas and insights on upcoming and future initiatives. Additionally, you\'ll be an integral part of the global team meetings, where we actively seek opportunities for cross-office collaboration. The team has particular expertise in banking and financial services and is experienced in providing advice in areas including regulatory reporting, authorisation and approval applications, and the implications of the new senior managers regime. The team also advises on regulatory compliance, regulatory litigation - having been at the forefront of the highest profile FCA investigations and enforcement actions over many years - business crime and corporate criminal liability.

Restructuring & Insolvency \xe2\x80\x93 You will play a crucial role in supporting our recently expanded Restructuring & Insolvency team as they strive to elevate their presence in the market and capitalise on internal opportunities, including collaborations with our global offices. Your efforts will be instrumental in identifying international sources of work and facilitating the team\'s growth in this area. The team covers the whole spectrum of work in this area: International and domestic debt restructurings, refinancings, workouts and turnaround strategies, debt for equity swaps, distressed M&A, distressed investing and loan to own strategies, schemes of arrangement, enforcement strategies, Restructuring Plans, company voluntary arrangements, administrations (including pre-packs), receiverships, liquidations, personal bankruptcy, insolvency litigation, investigations, fraud and asset recovery, and commercial litigation. This breadth of expertise is unique for a firm of our size/profile.

Intellectual Property \xe2\x80\x93 You will work with the IP team to support them in increasing their focus on strategic Business Development, helping them to identify opportunities to grow key client relationships, raise their profile in the market and support them in their day-today BD and marketing activities. The team advise on patents, copyright, databases, designs, trade marks, domain names, trade secrets and confidentiality. They have particular strengths in life science and in luxury and consumer brands, and have a formidable reputation and client base within these sectors.

Other specialists teams such as art and aviation litigation \xe2\x80\x93 You will be providing support to other specialist groups within the team as and when required, working with the relevant fee earners to spot BD opportunities, raise their profile in the market and provide day-to-day support on their BD and marketing activities.

Main Responsibilities

Responsibilities may vary depending on the sub practice area, however, general responsibilities will include:

• Work closely with the BD manager to help partners to further develop profitable revenue growth on their key client and intermediary relationships
• Work with the BD manager and the partners to implement and execute BD plans for relevant priority areas
• Carry out market/client research to keep the fee earners informed of hot topics, trends and competitor marketing and BD activity, to help to identify BD and marketing opportunities
• Support the groups with ongoing BD profile raising activity on a day-to-day basis
• Responsible for managing the effective digital distribution of newsletters, podcasts, social media posts and other marketing content and working closely with the PR, brand and online marketing team to produce this content
• Manage the full proposal lifecycle, which includes being responsible for pitches relevant to the areas above and other Commercial Litigation teams, as and when required, manage/produce individual capability statements as well as input on pitch presentations
• Manage the Legal 500 and Chambers submission process for agreed areas (and additional sector/practice awards) and work towards producing high quality submissions
• Work with the events manager to produce and deliver outstanding client events (virtual or otherwise depending on restrictions) but also support the logistics and materials required for the many events we sponsor or host overseas
• Support the fee-earners in updating relevant marketing materials and actively maintain credentials logs. Periodically update new work on the website, hubs and ensure partner bios are kept updated
• Liaise with the communications and PR team on internal news announcements and press releases to support the media plan for the different practice areas

Most of our roles are hybrid, meaning that colleagues benefit from working in our office and remotely. We are happy to discuss this and other flexible working arrangements with you as part of the application and interview process.

Attributes/Skills Required

You will be of graduate calibre ideally; and with proven BD experience in a professional services environment, preferably at executive level. Previous experience of working within litigation is desirable.

• Demonstrates the Stephenson Harwood values of individuality, commitment, teamwork and straight talking
• Commitment to invest time in getting to know the team/sectors and look at this as an opportunity to really develop over the long term with the PGs and the BD team
• Knowledge of, or clear intellectual ability to learn, relevant industry jargon from related sectors
• Enthusiastic, proactive, confident, resilient and open to challenge and change
• Well organised and someone who delivers what they promise to a consistently high standard of quality
• A supportive team player able to demonstrate experience of building a collaborative environment
• A skilled verbal and written communicator with the ability to influence senior people in the business and develop relationships
• Critical thinking, showcasing the ability to plan ahead and \xe2\x80\x98join the dots\xe2\x80\x99 across teams and practice groups
• Innovative and open to new ideas, with the ability to challenge where necessary
• Commercially aware and knowledgeable and able to demonstrate that you consistently add value to business development thinking and activities
• Excellent attention detail and proof reading skills
• Good desktop publishing skills

This job description is indicative only and does not represent an exhaustive list of responsibilities. The firm reserves the right to alter or change the responsibilities at any time, in line with the firm\'s strategy and business needs.

We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to having a diverse workforce. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, culture or any other protected characteristics. We aim to create a culture where everyone can be themselves and is valued for their strengths and unique perspectives.

About the Firm

With 8 offices worldwide and with our headquarters based in London, Stephenson Harwood is a law firm where our people are committed to achieving the goals of our clients - listed and private companies, institutions, and individuals across the globe. Our mix of expertise and culture results in a combination of deep local insight and the capability to provide a seamless international service.

Our experience encompasses corporate, commercial litigation and arbitration, employment, pensions and private wealth, finance, marine and international trade, and real estate and projects.

We assemble teams of bright thinkers to match our clients\' needs and give the right advice from the right person at the right time. Dedicating the highest calibre of legal talent to overcome the most complex issues, we deliver pragmatic, expert advice that is set squarely in the real world.

We understand the power of diversity in delivering that high calibre advice to our clients. We want to attract diverse talent and we particularly encourage applications from underrepresented demographics.

Our values:

Individuality - We encourage creativity and develop talent

Commitment - To be the best and deliver the highest standard

Teamwork - We work together to build close, long-term relationships

Straight talking - We say what we mean and do what we say

These values express the personality of the individuals within our firm. They are the behaviours we encourage in our people and the standards which inform our decisions and actions.

Our vision into 2026

To be a successful firm where talented people work together in an entrepreneurial environment, building long term client relationships.

This vision is about who we want to be, as well as who we are. It is as much about our values as about our character \xe2\x80\x93 the attributes we want to see from all of our people. It also reflects the importance of remaining independent - a clear sign that we are confident in our own future. That\'s how we unlock our entrepreneurial spirit, advising our clients with top performing teams.

A key part of the 2026 strategy is to focus on five core sectors: decarbonisation, life sciences, private capital & funds, technology, and transportation & trade. These have been identified as crucial in the drive for accelerated profitable growth.

Stephenson Harwood