Your Role
and What You'll Be Doing
Reporting to the Technical Director in Technical Client Services, you will serve as the Head of Practice Development, combining strategic leadership with hands-on delivery as a Senior Practice Development Lawyer (PDL) within a designated business unit. This dual role involves managing the Legal Practice Development team, aligning legal excellence with business priorities, and driving firmwide knowledge initiatives.
What You Will Be Doing
Leadership & Strategy:
1. Lead and coordinate the Practice Development function
2. Manage Lead PDLs and their sub-teams across the firm
3. Collaborate with Managing Partners, Heads of Departments, and Technical Leads
4. Align development activity with business strategy and legal excellence
5. Support the implementation of the Technical Client Services (TCS) strategy
PDL Responsibilities:
6. Develop and manage legal technical knowledge within your practice area
7. Lead initiatives on precedents, guidance, and legal training
8. Provide horizon scanning, commentary, and analysis
9. Ensure knowledge is accessible to support legal work, client relationships, and business development
10. Contribute to cross-practice consistency and firmwide knowledge sharing
About You
11. A senior qualified lawyer with deep expertise in legal technical knowledge
12. Proven leadership experience, ideally managing teams of PDLs or PSLs
13. Strategic thinker with strong collaboration skills across departments
14. Passionate about legal excellence, innovation, and client service
15. Skilled in developing precedents, training programs, and knowledge systems
16. Comfortable balancing high-level leadership with hands-on delivery
We’re proud of our values, and we’re looking for people who share them:
17. To be pioneering with an imaginative outlook
18. To be approachable and caring
19. To be tenacious in the pursuit of our objectives
20. To be efficient in the provision of our services
21. To work with a foundation of integrity.
Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You
22. 28 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
23. Private medical insurance – single parent or couple
24. Generous and flexible pension schemes.
25. Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
26. Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.
27. Car parking in regional offices
We also offer a wide range of well-being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives our colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working subject to role, team and client requirements.
We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024!
Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.
Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands: Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono