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Job Title
Client Operations & Strategic Growth Manager
Office Location
London
Department
Marketing and Business Development
We have a well‑established global Marketing and Business Development (M&BD) team that supports the firm on a wide range of business development, client relationship management and reputational activities. The team is divided into several key areas including Practice M&BD, Client Development and Industry M&BD, Corporate Communications (Public Relations, Brand, Design, Events, and online), Pitches and Pursuits (strategic global pitches), and Campaigns and Projects (firm‑wide profile building initiatives).
Working Hours
35 hours per week, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm but additional hours may be required. We are happy to consider agile and flexible working patterns. Our hybrid approach 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.
Role Overview
Legal departments are transforming rapidly, driven by rising expectations for efficiency, transparency and the strategic use of technology. Clients are seeking innovative ways to manage risk, control costs and unlock greater value from their legal services. At Hogan Lovells, we meet this moment by investing in stronger client partnerships, smarter operations and new capabilities, including responsible use of advanced technologies to help our clients achieve their goals.
As a Client Operations & Strategic Growth Manager in the global Marketing and Business Development team, you will play a central role in that strategy. You will manage one of the firm’s most significant client relationships, helping to shape and drive our business development priorities. This role sits at the intersection of relationship management, operational excellence and client service innovation – empowering our teams to deliver consistent, high‑quality experiences while deepening client engagement.
You will work alongside a highly collaborative global team that is recognised across the firm and by clients for its proactive, strategic approach to managing major accounts. You’ll partner closely with senior lawyers, sector leaders and business services colleagues and you will have opportunities to contribute to firm‑wide initiatives such as our key client program, relationship‑driven business development efforts and client feedback strategy.
At Hogan Lovells, you will join a culture that values continuous learning, diversity of thought, thoughtful collaboration and professional excellence. We offer opportunities for career growth across regions and practice areas, exposure to sophisticated clients and access to modern tools and methodologies that support impactful client work. This role offers the chance not only to contribute to the success of major client relationships, but also to help shape how we deliver value in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.
Key Responsibilities
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.
Client Management
- Manage the firm’s relationship with a major client in the Life Sciences and Health Care sector, acting as a key point of contact both internally within the firm and directly with the client.
- Partner with internal stakeholders to develop, maintain and execute a strategic client plan.
- Identify opportunities to deepen the client relationship and propose creative, strategic approaches to expand engagements.
- Serve as a central communicator for the Client team – sharing updates, guiding meetings and organising agendas, notes and action items.
- Plan and execute internal and external client meetings, client‑facing events, CLE programs, sponsorships and other initiatives that strengthen the client relationship.
- Assist with panel management and formal and informal pitch opportunities, including preparing teams for pitch presentations and ensuring that pitch documents reflect key messages for developing the client relationship.
- Support client service excellence through reporting, client feedback and collaboration with internal teams on billing, guidelines, conflicts and operational needs.
Billing and Budgeting
- Partner with internal stakeholders to develop detailed plans for legal matters, including timelines, milestones, budgets and resource requirements.
- Track budgets including, but not limited to, deliverables, assumptions, generating reports and escalating activities when there are material changes in scope or status.
- Monitor internal teams for adherence to client billing guidelines when opening new matters, processing client invoices, reviewing time entries for accuracy and compliance with billing guidelines.
- Work with the client’s Billing department to ensure compliance, transparency and predictability.
- Ensure consistency across matters and proactively seek solutions for issues and improvements.
AI Enablement and Billing Compliance
- Oversee firm’s AI engagement with the client, including approval process for new tools, billing, notification and time‑entry requirements and internal licensing needs.
- Communicate and train internal teams on applicable AI tools and track firm’s commitments around usage of AI.
- Serve as primary point of contact internally for the firm’s AI commitment, including tracking issues, identifying resolutions, process improvements and reporting.
Pricing and Fee Arrangements
- Coordinate and monitor work on matters performed against specific fee arrangements with the client, including tracking work, ensuring it stays inside the scope and coordinating supplemental bills or credits when work is outside the arrangement.
- Centrally coordinate fee tracking across client projects to ensure compliance.
- Engage with a core internal working group on pricing negotiation.
Skills & Experience
Required Skills
- Strategically and commercially‑minded with the ability to translate emerging business issues and developments into opportunities to drive client growth.
- Experience coordinating budgets for a multi‑matter portfolio and partnering with Finance.
- Familiarity with outside counsel guidelines and time‑keeping standards that drive billing compliance.
- Ability to troubleshoot and analyse data.
- Pragmatic, diplomatic and resourceful, with the ability to adapt quickly to different situations and personalities.
- Ability to build strong relationships with all levels of lawyers and client contacts.
- Confidence to pursue best practices and continuous improvement.
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and complete simultaneous projects with minimal supervision.
- Experience working independently, as well as within cross‑functional teams in a collaborative, professional environment.
- Proactive and persistent in engaging busy stakeholders, with a strong commitment to following through on agreed goals and deadlines.
- Excellent writing and presentation skills with an exacting attention to detail in all work product.
Education, Certificates & Experience
- 7+ years of relevant experience within legal / professional services preferred.
- Account management / PMO experience, with advanced knowledge of project management methodology.
- A project management qualification is desirable.
- Experience of client‑facing project management.
- Experience with scoping, budgeting, project planning, workflow management and post‑matter reviews.
- Technical skills desired include advanced Excel, PowerBI (or comparable), HighQ Collaborate and Smartsheet (or Planner).
- Deep knowledge of law firm management metrics and how day‑to‑day legal practice interacts with those metrics.
Equal Opportunities Employment & Agile Working 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.
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.
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