BD Senior Manager, M&A

About us: 

Linklaters is a global law firm, providing legal services in 20 countries and through 30 offices.

Linklaters is a people business. Being best in class in the eyes of our clients means that our people must be exceptional.

We look not only for brilliant minds, but for people who will thrive in our environment: people who love working collaboratively and demonstrate the innovative, efficient, agile, entrepreneurial, and responsible mind-set we aim to bring to every interaction.

Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere.

We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.

The Role:
We are looking for a Senior Manager to drive the development and execution of Business Development strategies that support growth across the M&A practice and align with both firmwide and Client & Sectors priorities. You will assess opportunities using strong product insight and data-led intelligence, ensuring effective cross‑selling and contributing to a strategy that delivers profitable revenue growth. Working closely with colleagues across the local and wider BDM function, you will play a key role in fostering collaboration, supporting strategic initiatives, and contributing to a high‑performing environment.

Your Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and deliver Business Development strategies for the M&A practice, ensuring alignment with global growth priorities and firmwide objectives.

• Build strong working relationships with partners and stakeholders, facilitating regular collaboration to support strategic and go‑to‑market goals.

• Lead the implementation of BD initiatives, monitoring progress and adapting plans to achieve agreed outcomes.

• Establish and review targets and KPIs to evaluate the effectiveness of BD activity and identify opportunities for improvement.

• Use product insight, market intelligence and client feedback to inform decision‑making and identify opportunities for growth.

• Create and execute targeted M&A sector and client growth plans, driving cross‑selling initiatives across global product teams.

• Provide guidance on win strategies and oversee high‑quality pitch submissions in partnership with Pitching teams.

• Collaborate closely with BDM teams, including Clients & Sectors, to deliver sector‑focused growth initiatives and compelling go‑to‑market campaigns.

What we’re looking for:

• Extensive experience in business development within legal services, ideally with a strong focus on M&A.

• A solid understanding of M&A transactions, deal structures and market dynamics across a range of industry sectors.

• A proven ability to design and deliver effective BD strategies that support growth and wider firm objectives.

• Strong relationship‑building skills, with experience engaging senior stakeholders and managing key client relationships.

• Demonstrated leadership capability, with the confidence to guide teams and influence across practice areas.

• A data‑led approach, using insights, KPIs and market intelligence to identify opportunities and drive performance.

What's on offer:

This role can be based in our London offices, with a hybrid working model available.

Joining Team Linklaters will see you qualify for a range of benefits designed to reward the vital contribution you'll be making to our success. These include:

Health & Wellbeing

• Private Medical Insurance

• Free in-house fitness centre and subsidised health club memberships

• Free onsite GP service and periodic health assessments

Finance

• Pension and flexible savings options

• Income protection and life assurance

• Mortgage advice and will-writing services.

Family & Lifestyle

• Electric car and cycle to work schemes.

• Emergency family care

• Additional holiday/birthday leave.

• Maternity/paternity/shared parental leave.

• Travel insurance and season ticket loan

• Option to join sports and social clubs, as well as our employee networks groups (such as our Gender Equality, With Pride, or Social Mobility Networks)

If you think this role would suit you, please click apply below. We look forward to hearing from you!

Technical Skills

This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive.  It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.

Application Policy

Applications and CVs (direct or via agency) are only accepted online via the portal. Queries related to our roles must be directed to the relevant recruitment team and not the partners, practices or stakeholders ([email protected] for legal roles or [email protected] for business team roles).