Manager, Client Development - Legal Directories & Rankings

Simpson Thacher serves as a trusted adviser to the world’s most successful and innovative clients. This is a high-impact opportunity to partner with senior attorneys and Client Development & Engagement (CDE) leaders, helping to showcase the Firm’s experience, deepen directories relationships and rankings, and drive strategic growth. You’ll be part of a dynamic team that values initiative, collaboration, precision and intellectual curiosity—and you’ll work closely with colleagues across all practices and our global Client Development & Engagement organization.

The Manager, Legal Directories & Rankings is a critical role within STB’s CDE function, responsible for leading the Firm’s submission content strategy across all major legal directories — Chambers, Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation, IFLR, and others. This role operates at the intersection of the Firm’s practice group CDE leads, Communications and client teams, and partner relationships, showcasing STB’s exceptional matter work into rankings that reflect our leading market position and meet the Firm’s high standard of excellence.

In this capacity, the Manager will report to the Firm’s Senior Manager for Awards & Recognition and work in close coordination with practice-aligned CDE leads across Banking & Credit, Capital Markets, M&A, Private Equity, Funds, Litigation, Energy & Infrastructure, and other core STB practices. This is a high‑visibility, high‑impact role with direct partner interaction and meaningful exposure to Firm leadership.

• Elevate the Firm’s directories content strategy to help build brand recognition and contribute to the Firm’s overall growth strategy.
• Own STB’s full directory calendar end‑to‑end: deadlines, submission drafts, referee outreach, researcher interviews, and results tracking across all ranked practices and geographies — US, Europe, and global.
• Serve as the primary connective layer between CDE’s practice‑aligned leads and the submissions process, ensuring that matter flow, client relationships and market narratives captured day‑to‑day are translated into compelling annual submissions.
• Partner directly with STB partners, practice group leaders and CDE leaders to develop matter narratives, surface the right client referees, and position the Firm’s work in the context of what directories actually reward.
• Manage the researcher interview process for select submissions from prep through debrief — preparing partners for calls, attending where appropriate, and documenting outcomes to inform future cycles.
• Build and maintain a centralized matter and best practices database that functions as a year‑round strategic asset, not a deadline scramble — integrated with CDE’s broader corpus and CRM infrastructure.
• Track and benchmark the Firm’s (and competitors) rankings using Chambers’ BI tool; brief CDE leadership and relevant partners on results and trends; advise and train CDE colleagues and partners on how directories work, what drives movement, and how STB’s work compares to our peers in key practice areas.
• Coordinate with STB’s communications function on results announcements and internal visibility of ranking outcomes.
• Build trusted relationships across the CDE team, practice teams, and firmwide departments to deliver coordinated and effective results.

• 6–8 years of legal marketing, BD, or directory submission experience strongly preferred.
• An in-depth familiarity with Chambers, Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation, IFLR and Law Business Research (L ) methodologies including how submissions are evaluated, what moves rankings, and where firms typically leave points on the table.
• Exceptional writer capable of turning complex, multi‑party matters into clear, differentiated narratives under deadline pressure.
• Good judgment, critical thinking, and the ability to problem‑solve.
• Strong project manager who can run a high‑volume annual calendar across a large, decentralized partner population without losing momentum or quality.
• Credible and low‑ego with partners — able to push back on insufficient matter detail, secure the right referees, and build credibility with senior attorneys, conveying importance…