The role
The Business Development Manager (Northern Region) is a newly created role focused on driving growth across our northern offices by building strong intermediary relationships, identifying and progressing new business opportunities, and supporting partners and fee earners with targeted business development activity. You'll be a confident relationship builder with the ability to engage effectively with stakeholders at all levels, provide commercially focused guidance, and manage day‑to‑day BD initiatives that support the firm's wider growth objectives. A key part of the role will be supporting the growth of our regional offices in Leeds, Manchester, Edinburgh and Inverness by strengthening intermediary relationships and generating opportunities for our tax, audit and advisory teams across our key sectors.
The Responsibilities
Strategic business development
Work closely with partners and senior stakeholders to develop, implement and maintain strategic business development plans that align with the firm's priorities.
Use market, sector and client insight to shape BD priorities, inform targeting activity and identify areas for growth.
Support the growth of our key sectors, including Landed Estates, Sports & Entertainment, Film & TV, Not-for-Profit, Private Wealth, Real Estate, Financial Services, Professional Services, Manufacturing & Resources and Travel, Leisure & Hospitality.
Intermediary relationship management
Lead the coordination and management of the region's key intermediary relationships, ensuring a structured and consistent approach across offices and service lines.
Support partners and fee earners in strengthening existing relationships and proactively develop new connections that generate quality opportunities.
Maintain visibility of activity and outcomes, ensuring follow‑up actions are completed and relationships progress.
Ensure central intermediary relationships are joined‑up across offices and service lines by coordinating activity with the wider BD team.
Client targeting and cross-selling
Manage and coordinate client and intermediary targeting programmes, including identifying prospects, building target lists and driving follow-up.
Work with partners and client teams to spot cross‑selling opportunities across service lines, ensuring actions are tracked and progressed.
Support the development of tailored engagement plans for priority clients, prospects and intermediaries.
Pipeline and opportunity management
Proactively manage and respond to potential issues or crises, working closely with the Head of Marketing and Marketing & Business Development Director,
Compile and update media relations crisis response playbook, in collaboration with senior stakeholders.
Pitches and tenders
Work closely with the tenders team to support the development of high‑quality documents, ensuring that key messages and win themes are clearly articulated.
Relationship and stakeholder engagement
Build strong relationships with partners, fee earners and wider business services teams to ensure BD activity is well‑coordinated and effectively delivered.
Act as a trusted adviser to partners on BD best practice, providing coaching, challenge and support where needed.
Champion best practice in client relationship management and help embed a more proactive, commercial BD culture.
Work with the wider marketing and BD team to ensure activity is joined‑up, consistent and aligned with firmwide priorities.
Reporting, insight and ROI
Maintain oversight of BD budgets and track return on investment across campaigns, events, partnerships and relationship activity.
Report on progress, outcomes and pipeline development, ensuring partners have clear visibility of impact and priorities.
Use data and insight to evaluate the success of BD initiatives and make evidence‑based recommendations.
The team
We are a friendly, busy Marketing & Business Development Team, based across our offices throughout the UK. We support fee earner colleagues across our UK office network and overseas, providing an outstanding service to our internal clients. We offer support and advice on a wide range of activities relating to external marketing communications, internal communications and business development activities, and we support nine varied National Practice Groups via which the firm goes to market, from Private Wealth to Sports & Entertainment.
You
A minimum of five years' experience in business development within a professional services or financial services environment, ideally with exposure to intermediary management, targeting or client relationship development.
Strong experience working with partners and senior stakeholders, with the confidence to influence, challenge and secure buy‑in.
Proven ability to identify growth opportunities, develop commercial initiatives and support fee earners in progressing pipeline.
Willing to travel regularly to our northern offices and occasionally to London as part of the role.
Experience coordinating business development activity across multiple teams or offices and ensuring consistency of approach.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to translate insight and strategy into clear, actionable plans.
Strong relationship‑building skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with colleagues across marketing, BD, partners and service lines.
A proactive, organised and solutions‑focused mindset, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and drive activity forward.
High attention to detail, particularly when managing follow‑up actions and reporting.
Strong IT skills, including databases and targeting tools.
Reward And Benefits
A 35-hour working week with flexibility around the core hours of 10am-4pm.
Agile working policy giving you the option to work from home for up to 3 days per week.
Excellent benefits including; contributory pension scheme, 25 days annual leave, Life Assurance cover and great flexible benefits and family friendly policies.
Eligibility for the firm's Profit-Sharing Plan. Paid in December.
Eligibility for the discretionary bonus scheme.
About Us
Saffery LLP is an adviser to individuals and businesses across a range of sectors, providing market-leading accountancy, audit, business advisory, tax and VAT services. Founded in 1855, we are the UK's 15th largest accountancy firm.
When you work with us at Saffery, you work with people who know your name, not just a job title. We're a place shaped by friendly, intelligent people who are individually excellent and collectively exceptional. We're committed to our clients, but also to our greatest asset – our people.
As a proud member of Nexia, a leading, international network of independent accounting and consulting firms, we've got access to local insight on a global scale.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
Equality, diversity and inclusion is a top priority for us. With our ED&I strategy, Everyone Belongs, we are building on our positive work culture and implementing initiatives to improve diversity and strengthen our equitable culture of inclusion, led from the top.
We hope you will apply to us, whatever your background, ethnicity, gender, age, sexuality, disability or neurodivergence, because individual differences equal collective strength. Built on values of excellence, integrity, enthusiasm and collegiality, Saffery is where Potential meets Personal.