Head of Business Development and Marketing – Practice Support Team (St Albans)

Position: Head of Business Development and Marketing – Practice Support Team (St Albans)
Department: Practice Support
Location: St Albans/Radlett

Company overview 

Debenhams Ottaway is a progressive law firm with a long history and a reputation built on providing outstanding service and legal advice. Based in the heart of St Albans with a London presence, we help individuals, families and businesses in Hertfordshire, London and across the UK.

We believe passionately in building long term relationships with our clients and people. Our teams of talented and ambitious people work together to help clients succeed. This is an opportunity to join an exciting and demanding work environment that offers support and guidance to help everyone achieve their best. Our career framework provides the opportunity to learn and develop in a structured but flexible way.

Overview

At Debenhams Ottaway the client and our people are always at the heart of what we do. This role involves leading our strategic initiatives, driving business growth and strengthening our market presence.
With a focus on developing key relationships, this strategic role leads a small team to create and implement a strong and consistent business development and marketing strategy across the firm, demonstrating our approachability, our knowledge and our excellent client care.

Key areas 

The Head of Business development and marketing is responsible for:

• Partnering with the senior team to develop and lead the ambitious business development and marketing strategy.
• As a senior leader, championing the company’s culture, behaviours and values.
• Leading and mentoring the Business Development and marketing team, including direct line management of the Business Development and Marketing Manager, fostering a collaborative and innovative work environment.
• Conducting market research to identify trends, competitive landscape, and opportunities for growth.
• Creating and executing progressive marketing plans to promote the firm’s services, enhance brand visibility, and attract new clients including.
• Testing and measuring the effectiveness of a variety of organic and paid acquisition channels like content creation, content curation, pay per click campaigns, event management, publicity, social media, lead generation campaigns, copywriting, performance analysis.
• Overseeing the creation of compelling and relevant content for the firm’s website, social media platforms and other digital channels.
• Managing online marketing campaigns and SEO strategies to increase online presence and drive traffic to the firm’s website.
• Organising and participating in industry events, conferences, and seminars to showcase the firm’s expertise.
• Facilitating networking opportunities for lawyers and key stakeholders to expand the firm’s professional connections.
• Analysing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and initiatives, using data-driven insights to make strategic decisions.
• Preparing regular reports on key performance metrics, presenting findings and recommendations to senior management.
• Managing the annual Business Development and Marketing budget and working with the Team Leaders to agree and review budgets that are aligned with the firm’s overall strategy
• Collaborating with lawyers and practice teams to align marketing and business development efforts with the firm’s overall goals and strategies.
• Ensuring a smooth and positive client experience during onboarding, while also ensuring compliance and establishing their preferred engagement style.
• Working with the legal teams to agree, develop and regularly review the annual Business Development and Marketing plan and budget in line with the firm strategy.
• Building and maintaining relationships with existing clients and partners, ensuring high levels of client satisfaction and fostering long-term partnerships.
• Collaborating with team leaders and the complaints handling process to address client complaints promptly and consistently. Extracting valuable lessons from these experiences to enhance client service, contributing to continuous improvement in policies and processes.

Skills and Attributes

Essential

• Degree or similar qualification in a Marketing or Business-related subject.
• Significant experience in marketing and business development roles within legal/ professional services
• Proven track record of developing and implementing successful marketing strategies in a legal context.
• Numerically and financially literate, comfortable working with metrics and budget management
• Strong understanding of digital marketing techniques, including SEO, SEM and social media marketing.
• Solid knowledge of website analytics tools
• Exceptional communication, negotiation and networking skills.
• Leadership skills with proven experience of leading, delegating, supporting and mentoring teams.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex data and provide actionable insights.
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and manage workload effectively.
• Ability to build and maintain professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent IT skills
• A progressive approach to problem solving.
• A commitment to continual learning and encouraging the same in others.