Client Relationship Manager

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Job Title

Client Relationship Manager

Department

Marketing & Business Development

Office Location

London

Reports To

Marketing & Business Development Director - EMEA

Working Hours

35 hours per week, 9:30am to 5:30pm but additional hours may be required. We are happy to consider agile and flexible working patterns. Our approach to hybrid working allows for up to 40% of time working from home and 60% working in the office, please contact a member of the recruitment team to discuss further.

Firm Description

Hogan Lovells is one of the leading global law firms. Our distinctive market position is founded on our exceptional breadth of our practice, on deep industry knowledge, and on our 'one team' global approach. Formed through the combination of two top international law firms, Hogan Lovells has over 40 offices in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 

With a presence in the world's major financial and commercial markets, we are well placed to provide excellent business-oriented advice to our clients locally and internationally.  Our people are the key to our success, which is why we seek to recruit and retain the most talented individuals in all regions of our global practice.

Department Description

We have a well-established global Marketing and Business Development (M&BD) team, which supports the firm on a wide range of business development, marketing and client relationship management activities.

The team focuses on a number of key areas, all of which this role interacts with:

• Clients & Sectors, covering Client Development and Sector M&BD

• Practice M&BD

• Pitches & Pursuits

• Campaigns & Projects

• Corporate Communications, which comprises PR, Brand, Design, Events, Digital Business Management, which focuses on the coordination of major ”Whole-Of-Firm" M&BD priorities

• Strategic Initiatives, a team dedicated to managing and driving forward firm wide profile building and content-driven campaigns

• There are also regional M&BD teams in the Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA

ROLE OVERVIEW

The firm's relationship UK Government is hugely valuable, and closely aligned with the firm's brand position as operating at the intersection of business and government. This is an exciting opportunity for a Client Relationship Manager to work alongside senior stakeholders within the firm to help shape the strategic direction of this expanding and important relationship, and make a direct contribution to taking it to the next level.

In summary, the Client Relationship Manager for UK Government:

• Provides complete and dedicated client relationship management to the firm's relationship with UK Government, acting as a key point of contact both within the firm and for the client, and leads on aspects of the relationship beyond legal work

• Proactively works with Client Relationship Partners (CRPs) to develop the overall strategy for relationship development, looking for ways to strengthen and expand, and setting and implementing a strategic client plan based upon a deep understanding of the client. Including engaging with wider client team on relationship development objectives for various government departments

• Has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the relationship across the multiple entities that comprise our overarching UK Government relationship. The role is client facing, and involves managing the interface between the firm and Crown Commercial Services and Government Legal Department (the Government departments who oversee law firm panel relationships)

• Leads the program of internal CRP and client team meetings. Facilitates the smooth-running of the team, helping to build a dynamic and inclusive team spirit

• Contributes to the delivery of various, often complex, client reporting requirements (including leading on the preparation of some reports) in collaboration with members of our Finance team, and Legal Project Management teams. The role requires a good understanding of financial aspects, such as Management Information Reporting e.g. fee values and details of matters, pricing mechanisms, and monitoring of volume based discounts, etc

• Acts as M&BD lead on panel pitches for UK Government; and contributes strategic input into specific matter pitches for UK Government (as appropriate), which are produced by practice areas M&BD colleagues. Promotes a best approach to the firm's delivery of UK Government pitches, and helps to coordinate the firm's assessment of pitching opportunities for the client.

• Strives to bring new ideas and improved ways of working to the management of the relationship, including value added services and promoting innovative products and solutions

• Develops a thorough understanding of the structure of UK Government as a client, and acts as the internal voice of the client within the firm

Key Responsibilities / Accountabilities

Client team engagement

• Works closely with the CRPs to build an effective and diverse client team. Helps to identify potential new team members and leads onboarding processes

• Plans and leads client team meetings, and ensures that actions are completed

• Creates a robust internal communication infrastructure to share opportunities, information and intelligence

• Acts as the key point of contact for those involved in the client relationship on day-to-day queries across a broad range of areas

Client planning

• Identifies opportunities for new business by monitoring and analysing client news and needs and ensuring that information is shared with the client team, and other relevant parties

• Is proactive and makes considered recommendations to the client team for ways to enhance the relationship

Client relationship development

• Ensures that relationship meetings with our key contacts across the client's business and legal teams happen frequently

• Plans and prepares for client meetings with client team members Attends and actively participates in meetings as appropriate

• Pitch and opportunity management:

  • Leads and project manages legal panel reviews for UK Government in conjunction with the Global Pitches and Pursuits Team

  • Provides consultative input on formal and informal pitch opportunities and ensuring submissions reflect key relationship messages

Reporting and managing financial performance

• Monitors and analyses financial performance, and brings this information to the attention of the CRPs and client team

• Supports the CRPs in ensuring compliance with client requirements, such as secondments, volume based discounts, financial reporting, adherence to panel engagement terms, etc

• Oversees the preparation of reports required by the (including leading on the preparation of some reports) in collaboration with members of our Finance team, and Legal Project Management teams

• Understands the drivers for profitability, and associated challenges, for the client

• Identifying areas for improvement and building processes and systems to promote efficiency across the relationship, and ensuring all internal processes are continuously fit for purpose

Adding value to the relationship

• Proactively develops ideas for engaging with clients in a more innovative way through the provision of value added services - including HL innovations/tools, and client products/tools, secondments, training, alternative legal services delivery, pro bono, responsible business, and diversity and inclusion initiatives and collaborations

• Connects with other client account managers at the firm, sharing ideas and best practices

Client feedback

• Helps drive client feedback for the client, identifying candidates for client service reviews, post matter reviews, and post pitch debrief interviews. Conducting interviews directly. Ensures that all feedback is acted upon appropriately by the client team

Specific duties or responsibilities may be reviewed from time to time to reflect changes in personnel and management structure, staff location or services.

All members of the firm participate in our Responsible Business program.

Person Specification

Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Essential

• Candidate must be educated to degree level or equivalent

• Previous experience in working in a Client Development environment, preferably a law firm

• Experience of, and comfortable in, a partnership or equivalent professional services environment

• Excellent understanding of Client Development, Business Development and Marketing processes

• Good knowledge of Management Information reporting, and is confident dealing with issues relating to billing and financials

Desired

• Knowledge and experience of working with clients within the Government sector, would be highly advantageous

• Deep knowledge of law firm management metrics, and how day-to-day legal practice interacts with those metrics

General Attributes

• Ability to build relationships and networks internally and externally, at all levels within the firm

• Creates a positive impact with colleagues, peers, partners and clients and is able to demonstrate diplomacy, listening and influencing skills

• Strong written and verbal communication skills with an excellent eye for detail and the ability to write compelling propositions.

• Proactive and takes initiative

• Commitment to excellent client service delivery, and highly developed organizational skills

• Understanding of the firm's business and marketplace

Agile Working Statement

Our goal is to embed flexibility across our business by giving everyone the opportunity to work in an agile way, whether as a regular pattern or on an ad hoc basis, and we will be happy to discuss this further.

Equal Opportunities Employment Statement

It is the policy of Hogan Lovells to provide equal opportunities for all employees in relation to recruitment, training and promotion. Decisions in these areas will be made only by reference to the requirements of the job and shall not be influenced by any consideration of racial or ethnic origin, religion, sex , gender and gender identity, age, sexual orientation, marital and civil partnership status, pregnancy or disability.