Senior Business Development Manager at Katten in Charlotte, North Carolina

Job Description:

Katten is a full-service law firm with approximately 700 attorneys in locations across the United States and in London and Shanghai. Clients seeking sophisticated, high-value legal services turn to Katten for counsel locally, nationally and internationally. The firm’s core areas of practice include corporate, financial markets and funds, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, structured finance and securitization, transactional tax planning, private credit and private wealth. Katten represents public and private companies in numerous industries, as well as a number of government and nonprofit organizations and individuals.

Senior Business Development Manager

With exceptional client service at the heart of our mission, the Marketing and Business Development team at Katten crafts and implements innovative solutions that not only enhance our brand but also accelerate the sales cycle and fuels revenue growth for the firm. With trust and a people-first mindset at our core, we remain agile, welcoming change and fostering a culture of growth and intellectual curiosity.

Remaining true to our firm’s founding principle, we champion diversity and inclusion, believing that varied perspectives and experience ignite creativity and drive effective solutions to both challenges and opportunities. We are a dedicated team of marking and business development professionals, united in purpose, working collaboratively to propel the firm forward. Together, we are not just building a brand; we are fostering meaningful relationships that lead to lasting success for the firm.

The Senior Business Development Manager (Senior Manager) will focus on several firmwide initiatives, including lateral integration, attorney business development coaching and training, and the execution of the firm’s Client Service Team and Client Feedback Programs. This position also serves as a resource for business development requests emanating from practices, including partner and pitch opportunity coaching, client or industry targeting, and business development planning, and contributes to the implementation of business development skills training. The Senior Manager will have significant experience providing attorneys at all levels with coaching on practice and individual business development plans and their implementation.

The Senior Manager works collaboratively with the Marketing and Business Development Manager/Specialist (MBDM/S) practice support and core Business Development teams. This position will be responsible for proactively driving business development activity across the firm and for maintaining an understanding of (and providing input on) marketing efforts that are being directly handled by other members of the Marketing and Business Development Department (Department) that impact business development efforts. Essential duties are performed individually or in conjunction with other members of the Department. The Senior Manager exercises discretion and independent judgment and maintains professionalism and strict confidentiality in all client and firm matters.

Katten offers a hybrid work model, allowing the flexibility to work both on-site and remotely on a regular basis (KattenFlex).  This position may be located in either our Chicago, Charlotte, Dallas, New York, or Washington, D.C. office.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include, but may not be limited to, the following.  Other duties may be requested and/or assigned. Essential functions are primary job duties that an individual must be able to perform successfully with or without a reasonable accommodation.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Develop and maintain a thorough and specific understanding of the capabilities of Katten’s practices, including prior experience, clients and industries served, and distinguishing characteristics of practices.


• Partner with Business Development and MBDM/S teams to identify opportunities for cross-selling across the firm’s practices. Vet these opportunities and facilitate their pursuit in a coordinated manner.


• Work with individual attorneys to develop and implement business development plans and provide ongoing one-on-one business development coaching/training to attorneys.


• Lead the firm’s lateral partner integration program working together with the Business Development and MBDM/S teams and under the general direction of the Director of Client Intelligence.


• Participate in the firm’s Client Service Teams program and manage assigned Client Service Teams. Maintain a deep knowledge of program and assigned clients, client contacts, industry, and client strategic priorities. Monitor new developments at assigned clients and communicate regularly with key stakeholders on significant client developments and resulting opportunities. Maintain and track industry and client-level issues facing organizations and apply those findings to the sales strategy for assigned clients.


• Contribute to the implementation of business development skills training for attorneys.


• Contribute to implementation of the firm’s Client Feedback program, including securing buy-in of Principal Attorney(s) for client inclusion in the program, assist in management of interview follow-up and action items, and ongoing program enhancement efforts.  


• Contribute to the implementation of a targeted attorney internal education program to ensure lawyers across the firm are aware of and able to articulate the full breadth of firm services for cross-selling and co-selling purposes.


• Support other firm-wide efforts focused on client development and expansion.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, or related field, and 10 or more years of related experience are required; or equivalent combination of education and experience.  Significant business development experience is required. Prior experience working in a large legal or professional services firm is preferred as is experience in managing client teams and providing consultative business development coaching and skills training to lawyers.


• Must possess strong business and client development acumen with the ability to effectively articulate value proposition and practice/attorney differentiation.


• Must be a highly motivated self-starter. Thrive in a fast-paced organization, maintain a growth mindset, intellectual curiosity and be agile in an ever-changing environment and maintain a positive attitude as a contributor to that change.


• Knowledge of services and capabilities of legal practices. Must develop credibility by building upon that knowledge, specific to the practices supported at Katten. Understanding of the business of law firms and client relationship management.


• Must possess strong independent judgment to establish and manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a demanding, fast-paced, deadline-driven, detail-oriented work environment.


• Outstanding interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills are essential. Attention to detail and precision in both thinking and written work product are important.


• Excellent project and time management skills to develop project plans, coordinate projects, communicate changes and progress, complete projects on time and manage project team activities.


• Facility with general business research tools. Ability to utilize firm databases to synthesize and effectively present client data and financial metrics.


• Ability to understand and support the firm’s goals, services, culture, and strategy in order to represent the firm in a positive, professional manner.


• Ability and availability to occasionally travel to other firm locations.


• Work occasionally requires more than 37.5 hours per week (35 hours per week in New York) to perform the essential duties of the position.

We offer an outstanding benefit package which includes: medical/dental/vision, 401k with employer contribution, parental leave, transportation fringe benefit program, back-up care option, generous paid time off policy, and long-term and short-term disability policies.

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

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