Senior Practice Development Specialist

About Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List for eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com's UK A-List twice in the past three years - rankings that honor the "best of the best" law firms. The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring. Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer.

Overview

The Senior Practice Development Specialist (SPDS) will serve as a trusted advisor to the Senior Practice Development Manager (SPDM), Practice Development Manager (PDM) and other practice development team members in support of the Practice Group Leaders (PGLs), Specialty Group Leaders (SGLs) and partners in the Alternative Asset Opportunities Practice Group and the Tax, Employment and Employee Benefits Department.

The SPDS, in coordination with their team, will act as an advisor and liaison on behalf of their practice group with other practices, attorneys and business support departments at the firm.

The SPDS will work directly with the SPDM, and sometimes take the lead, to support the implementation of the overall strategy, work with partners to drive pieces of the strategy, and ensure the operational efficiency within the assigned practice group (PG). In this role, the SPDS will report to the SPDM and work closely with other departments (e.g., Business Development, Finance, Marketing, Knowledge Management, Attorney Development, etc.) to support elements of the practice’s strategic vision, business operations, financial profitability, resource management, and goals of the Alternative Asset Opportunities Practice Group and the Tax, Employment and Employee Benefits Department.

The ideal candidate will have experience working in a large law firm or other professional services environment; exceptional project management abilities; strong organizational and communication (both verbal and written) skills and attention to detail; innate bias to take initiative; can-do attitude; demonstrated ability to use technology, database, presentation, spreadsheet, document management and other software applications.

Responsibilities

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Work alongside SPDM, PDM and practice group leadership to support development and implementation of strategic group priorities. Manage select work streams and initiatives in support of the strategy and practice priorities.
• Serve as the point of contact for daily operations of the assigned practice group, including the preparation and design of (and in certain cases, managing) PG substantive meetings that maintain focus on PG priorities.
• Identify opportunities for improvement, innovation, and efficiency in business operations, matter management, infrastructure and methodologies. Make strategic recommendations and work with PDM and PDM to develop solutions and plans for corresponding actions.
• Partner with SPDM, PDM SGLs and PGLs with the onboarding and integration of lateral partners and counsel into the practice groups, including preparation and execution of integration plans and tracking onboarding progress.
• Working with the Business Development, Public Relations, Communications and Events teams, contribute to planning of external marketing opportunities that raise the profile of the practice and partners, including identification of speaking opportunities, conferences, sponsorships, and writing opportunities to enhance knowledge marketing efforts.
• Coordinate and prepare legal ranking submissions in collaboration with the Public Relations/ Marketing Communications team; work with SPDM and PDM and PGLs to determine rankings strategy for each submission, draft and finalize submissions accordingly.
• Under the supervision of the SPDM and PDM, collaborate with Finance colleagues to analyze practice group performance metrics and identify actionable themes that support the growth and goals of the practice. Support preparation and tracking of practice group budgets.
• Monitor trends and market developments relevant to Alternative Asset Opportunities Practice Group and the Tax, Employment and Employee Benefits Department; share relevant developments with key stakeholders.
• Act as a mentor to junior team members (specialists, co