Disputes Pursuits & Directories Manager

Summary

As a member of Business Development’s Pursuit team, the Disputes Pursuits & Directories Manager is responsible for assisting the Firm win new business by developing compliant, on‑time, best‑in‑class and client‑centric formal RFP responses and pitch responses. The position supports pursuit activities across Litigation, Regulatory & Government Affairs, Intellectual Property & Technology, and Labor & Employment, collaborating with stakeholders to create compelling deliverables that position the firm for new work.

Hybrid work schedule; can be based in Austin, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Short Hills, or Washington, DC.

• Act as project manager throughout the pitch and proposal lifecycle: conduct opportunity assessments, track opportunities, develop project plans, organize and conduct kick‑off calls with lawyers and colleagues, gather and draft relevant content, coordinate with client pricing, BD, and other business professional colleagues.
• Incorporate competitive intelligence to tailor responses and ensure high‑quality, error‑free proposals are submitted.
• Facilitate conversations with attorney teams and use client intelligence to identify, create, and update information that differentiates DLA Piper from competitors with clear value propositions and win themes.
• Ensure follow‑up on opportunities to ascertain win/loss status.
• Supervise junior members and instill substantive practice knowledge as key criteria for success.
• Own maintenance of standard materials in conjunction with BD and Marketing colleagues, ensuring materials are updated consistently post‑pitch.
• Collaborate with BD & Marketing colleagues to coach lawyers on in‑person/virtual presentations related to business development opportunities.
• Utilize and instill discipline in AI among team to improve both process and content creation.
• Draft, edit, format, and review proposal documents and ensure final submission adheres to requirements.
• Prepare unique content and graphics to enhance proposal and pitch meeting documents.
• Work closely with other business development and marketing staff to identify creative ways to enhance proposal and presentation products.
• Ensure the experience database is populated with accurate, updated, tagged pitch‑ready descriptions; provide tailored and formatted experience lists or facilitate curated self‑service lists.
• Work with relevant stakeholders to draft Chambers and Legal
  500 directory submissions; project manage individual submissions end‑to‑end.
• Proactively extract pitch trends to identify potential BD opportunities and assess and scale the pipeline.
• Ensure projects managed by direct reports are well executed and best practices are shared.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Proven track record managing multi‑practice, multijurisdictional, complex RFP responses and building pitch documents from the ground up in a client‑centric manner. High professionalism, good judgment, and ability to maintain collaborative relationships with attorneys, staff, BD and marketing professionals, and pricing staff. Demonstrated project management experience, including deadline setting, pursuit team management, and ensuring projects are compliant and completed on time. Strategic thinking, problem‑solving, decision‑making, and strong communication and organizational skills.

Ability to prioritize multiple tasks under tight deadlines. Superior writing, editing, and proofreading skills. Strong PowerPoint skills, flexibility to adjust hours for client‑driven deadlines, strong people‑management skills, and a growth‑mindset conducive to overall department projects and needs.

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communication or a related discipline with general understanding of business development within a law firm environment.

• 8 years of relevant experience directing project management and development of RFP responses in a professional services environment, managing several concurrent projects under tight deadlines.

• Effectively communicate verbally and in writing with clients, lawyers,…