Business Development Specialist
Leading advisory firm
London
Competitive salary & bonus
My client is an independent international corporate finance advisory firm looking for a bright, commercially minded Business Development Specialist who can make an impact from the outset.
Working directly with the CEO, Partners and senior stakeholders across the UK, Europe, the US and Asia, this is a hands-on role for someone who already has a strong grounding in business development and is ready for more autonomy. You will be expected to identify opportunities, build meaningful pipelines, interrogate market and client data and contribute ideas about where and how the firm should be targeting new business.
The firm advises CEOs and management teams through private equity transactions and has built a strong reputation and solid network of clients, supported by relationships with private equity houses, banks and law firms. This creates a varied and commercially interesting BD environment spanning clients, intermediaries, sectors and international markets.
The culture is collaborative and non-hierarchical, but this is not a role for someone who wants to wait for direction. The firm is looking for someone proactive, curious and commercially switched on, who can work confidently with senior people, make sense of information quickly and turn it into useful action. In return, the role offers considerable breadth, visibility and scope to make a tangible contribution to how the firm approaches business development.
Key responsibilities
- Work with the CEO, Partners and country and sector leaders to identify and develop business opportunities across the firm’s international markets.
- Build and maintain structured pipelines across priority countries and sectors, using client, market and transaction data to identify relevant targets and opportunities.
- Support collaboration and cross-selling between regions and sectors by improving visibility of relationships, activity and opportunities across the business.
- Research target companies, private equity-backed businesses, transactions and market developments, turning relevant intelligence into useful insight for senior stakeholders.
- Produce regular market intelligence, identifying developments and potential opportunities that warrant further action.
- Work with the Marketing Manager to develop targeted campaigns and activity around priority clients, prospects and markets.
- Support Partners and Directors in developing relationships across the firm’s client and introducer network, including private equity houses, banks and law firms.
- Monitor pipeline activity and performance, using conversion data and wider market insight to inform future targeting and business development activity.
- Maintain high-quality CRM, deal and credentials data, ensuring senior stakeholders have accurate information to support pitches, campaigns and new business activity.
About you
- You will have at least 3 years’ relevant experience gained within corporate finance or professional services and will already have demonstrated that you can operate with a good degree of independence, manage senior relationships and take ownership of your work.
- Commercial instinct matters. You should have a genuine interest in private equity and financial markets, enjoy researching businesses and transactions and be able to identify what is commercially relevant rather than simply collating information. You will be confident forming a view, contributing ideas and explaining the rationale behind them.
- You will be comfortable working with senior stakeholders and able to build credibility through the quality of your work, judgement and follow-through. Strong written communication, organisation and attention to detail are essential, as is the ability to manage several priorities without losing sight of the commercial objective.
- Confidence using CRM systems and Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, is required. Experience of HubSpot, Mergermarket, Gain or similar research platforms would be advantageous, as would experience developing partnership or ecosystem programmes. Practical experience using AI tools to improve research and day-to-day activity is also expected.
Equal Opportunities
As a responsible business, it is important that we represent the diversity of our people, our clients and our communities. We believe that the firms that thrive are those with the most diverse team; that's why we work so hard to source the best talent from the broadest pool possible. As an equal opportunities employer we strive to accommodate anyone who may have specific needs. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the selection process, please talk to a member of the recruitment team so that any required adjustments can be made in advance.