Director of Business Development - New York - D3 Search

Description

D3 Search is actively seeking a Director of Business Development candidate for a well-established and highly respected CA-based law practice with a thriving office in New York, NY

Position Title

Director of Business Development

Important Note: 5+ yrs. relevant LAW FIRM Marketing/Business Development experience is REQUIRED/MANDATORY.

Location

New York, NY

Employment Status

Full-time employment opportunity ~ exempt role.

Employer Work Model

Position Summary

The Director of Business Development is a senior leadership role responsible for setting, executing, and governing the firm's business development strategy in support of revenue growth, client expansion, and industry positioning. This role ensures that the firm's business development investments are disciplined, strategically aligned, and tied to a credible path to business across priority practices and industries.

The Director works closely with senior leadership, practice leaders, attorney originators, and the Director of Communications & PR to align business development strategy, marketing execution, and budget allocation with firmwide objectives. The Director will also partner with attorneys to strengthen the firm's ability to pitch, position, and differentiate its services in competitive situations, including new business pursuits and cross-selling efforts.

Key Responsibilities

Firmwide Business Development Strategy

• Develop, implement, and continuously refine the firm's business development strategy in alignment with firmwide priorities.
• Serve as a senior advisor to partner-originators on business development planning and client expansion.
• Lead individualized BD plans for key partners with defined revenue and pipeline objectives.
• Drive disciplined opportunity development by helping partners identify targets, prioritize prospects, and build actionable pursuit strategies.

Governance of BD Investment & Spend

• Own and administer the firm's BD investment and approval framework.
• Evaluate BD spend requests based on strategic alignment, access to decision-makers, engagement strategy, follow-up plans, and revenue opportunity.
• Educate attorneys on best-in-class BD investment principles.
• Coach attorneys on the commercial rationale behind BD investments, including how to convert engagement into business and sustain momentum through follow-up and relationship advancement.

Client Development & Industry Positioning

• Advance industry-focused initiatives that place attorneys in front of senior decision-makers.
• Prioritize conferences and sponsorships that provide leadership roles and controlled engagement.
• Support authority-building initiatives tied directly to practice growth.
• Support attorneys in translating market positioning into business conversations, including outreach scripts, prospect messaging, and direct engagement strategies.

Client Expansion & Cross-Selling

• Lead initiatives to deepen existing client relationships.
• Collaborate with relationship partners to identify cross-selling opportunities.
• Support client expansion strategies that increase share of wallet, strengthen retention, and uncover actionable new matters.

Marketing Operations, Analytics & Technology

• Oversee BD and marketing operations.
• Establish KPIs to measure ROI, pipeline development, and client growth.
• Lead CRM and client intelligence platform implementation.
• Track and report on opportunity progression and conversion (e.g., prospect-to-meeting, meeting-to-proposal, proposal-to-engagement), ensuring business development efforts translate into measurable outcomes.

Leadership & Budget Management

• Lead and develop the marketing and business development team.
• Manage the BD and marketing budget with firm leadership.
• Collaborate closely with the Director of Communications & PR.
• Partner with firm leadership to strengthen the firm's approach to pitches, proposals, and pursuit strategy, including competitive differentiation and value articulation.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success in an AMLAW or comparable professional services environment.
• Credibility with partners and senior leadership.
• Strategic, analytical, and commercially oriented mindset.
• Proven experience leading high-performing teams.
• Sound judgment, discretion, and business maturity.
• Demonstrated ability to help professional services teams pursue, pitch, and win new business through structured opportunity development and consultative selling skills.

Education and Experience

• Minimum of five (5) years of progressive law firm business development experience (REQUIRED/MANDATORY).
• Experience with CRM systems and data-driven BD practices.
• Experience supporting attorney-led sales processes, including targeting, pipeline management, pitch preparation, and conversion strategy.

Salary/Compensation/Benefits

Annual comp./salary is 180K+/- (DOE/DOQ) plus a comprehensive and robust health benefits package, generous PTO, flexible hybrid work model (4/1), onsite parking, pet insurance, 401K, referral program, annual salary reviews/increases and lucrative bonuses, and many other notable employee-centered perks, etc.

If interested in the Director of Business Development role in New York, NY (10158), and you meet the above qualifications/requirements, please do not hesitate to contact the following D3 rep.:

Don Moser | D3 Search

D3 Legal Search LLC (aka D3 Search), and its clients are equal opportunity employers. Pursuant to local ordinances, we will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance.