Business Development Manager – life sciences and IP, commercial and data

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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. 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.

You can expect:

• A Competitive salary and a host of family friendly policies
• Life assurance, private health and cental care for you and your family
• A range of flexible benefits including gym discount and retail vouchers
• Tech, cycle and electric car schemes
• The opportunity to support the firm's charity through volunteering leave
• A wellbeing strategy that focuses on preventative measures to maintain overall health, and tools and support for when we experience physical or mental difficulties. The strategy focuses on four pillars: physical, emotional, financial and social aspects.

BD team - The BD & marketing team is responsible for practice group and sector BD, client development (including events), brand and online marketing, and communications and PR. This role sits within the practice group and sector BD team.

The role is focused on providing strategic business development support to the life sciences and healthcare sector, a key area of focus for the firm, working closely with the sector leader and core team to grow their market reputation and revenue.

You will also provide strategic BD support, advice, and insight to the recently created IP, Commercial, and Data practice group, helping the team to grow their market reputation and revenue. You will need to provide strategic input across the group, working closely with the overall practice group leader and practice area leaders. The Commercial and IP practice areas undertake a significant amount of work in the life sciences area, so the two areas of responsibility align closely.

Within each of these two areas, there are several specialist practice areas. The successful candidate will be expected to develop a detailed understanding of each area and effectively execute the BD plans. Junior support for this role will come from a BD executive for life sciences and healthcare, and a BD assistant for IP, commercial, and data. Both the executive and assistant support other areas in addition to those relevant to this role.

Life sciences and healthcare sector
The firm has a market-leading team of life sciences and healthcare lawyers. The core team consists of eight closely-knit partners. Our partners and associates have worked on a wide range of matters with clients, from small biotech start-ups to some of the world's largest multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Commercial, IP and Data protection
The group consists of nine partners, with four having joined in the last 18 months, making it a growing team. The practice group was recently formed in May last year.

Commercial – Our commercial team provides strategic and pragmatic advice to our clients regarding the manufacture and supply of goods, the provision of services, and the use of technology.

Data Protection – Our team provides advisory and transactional services across all aspects of international data privacy and information laws, ranging from conducting comprehensive data protection audits and drafting policies and agreements to advising on individual subject access requests and complaints.

IP – The team advises on patents, copyright, databases, designs, trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, and confidentiality. They have particular strengths in life sciences and healthcare matters, as well as in luxury and consumer brands.

• Collaborate with practice area leaders and the area of focus leader to draft business plans and lead the delivery of BD aspects of these plans.
• Work with partners to identify their BD budget requirements and collaborate with the practice group leader and area of focus leader to track spending.
• Assist partners in defining how they can differentiate their practices/sectors in the market and develop key selling messages for partners and groups as a whole.
• Develop and help execute client relationship plans, act as the account manager for key clients within the area of focus/practice group, and gather feedback to continuously improve our services.
• Manage key tender and panel opportunities, working with partners on specific selling messages and enhancing content by editing persuasive and accurate material with tailored messages, often to tight deadlines.
• Brand profiling – develop marketing communications and campaigns, including events, conferences, sponsorships, and thought leadership, to profile the SH sector offering/group in the external marketplace.
• Create customised credential documents highlighting our expertise across all practice areas.
• Take responsibility for understanding the different practice group offerings within the firm and explore ways to cross-sell the work of the IP, commercial, and data practices into other areas of the firm (and vice versa).
• Review Legal 500 and Chambers submissions for agreed sector/practice areas in London to ensure consistent messaging and high-quality submissions.
• Work with the events team, BD executive, and BD assistant to produce and deliver outstanding client events, suggesting opportunities to co-host events with relevant market bodies and other industry stakeholders, while reviewing budgets and ensuring return on investment.
• Consistently seek ways to improve BD practices and outcomes to maximise value from all activities.
• Identify market themes and review and share relevant competitor activity.
• Delegate work, mentor, and support the BD executive and BD assistant who support the Life Sciences and IP, commercial, and data practices respectively, delegating junior tasks and ensuring the quality of service and output.

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. 

• Demonstrates the Stephenson Harwood values of individuality, commitment, teamwork and straight talking.
• Able to influence senior stakeholders and provide strategic advice whilst at the same time being willing to get on with regular BD tasks.
• Ability to drive initiatives and projects forward.
• Proactive and enthusiastic with a positive attitude. 
• A skilled written communicator with a good eye for detail. 
• Well organised and someone who delivers what they promise to a consistently high standard of quality.
• Confident, resilient and pragmatic.
• A supportive and committed team player able to demonstrate experience of building a collaborative environment.
• 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.

ith 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 – 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.