Business Development Specialist – M&A and Private Equity

Gibson Dunn is a leading global law firm, advising clients on significant transactions and disputes. Our exceptional teams craft and deploy creative legal strategies that are meticulously tailored to every matter, however complex or high-stakes. The firm’s work is distinguished by a unique combination of precision and vision.

Based in Los Angeles or San Francisco, the Business Development Specialist will be responsible for supporting the business development and visibility initiatives and priorities for the M&A and Private Equity practices as well as the Media & Entertainment and Life Sciences industry groups.

For their group of transactional practices, the business development specialist will be responsible for driving the development and maintenance of collateral materials including the creation of bespoke pitch documents, standardized pitch decks, opportunity ready deal lists, matter descriptions and other applicable content. Working closely with the relevant manager and team, the Specialist will also proactively contribute to visibility and client relationship management activities including conferences, sponsorships and client facing events. Support for other transactional practices and lawyers will be assigned as needed.

This role reports to the Manager, Business Development based in Los Angeles.

Responsibilities include:

• Supporting the development and marketing efforts for assigned practices and/or regions as well as providing support for individual partner business objectives with the business development manager.
• Working closely with the BD Manager and Marketing Intelligence team on deal collection to support league table submissions. Liaise with third-party publications to ensure the firm receives proper credit for each submitted deal.
• Supporting relevant legal directory submissions and contributing to relevant industry award submissions.
• Maintenance of master collateral materials including the creation of bespoke pitch documents, standardized pitch decks, opportunity ready deal lists, matter descriptions and other applicable content.
• Supporting related practice and individual lawyer visibility initiatives including conferences, sponsorships, professional association memberships, speaking opportunities and other opportunities.
• Providing guidance and support to client relationship activities including events, relationship reviews, opportunity spotting and other related efforts.
• Collaborating with the CRM team, Market intelligence team and Directories team to ensure high quality client data is maintained for relevant deliverables.
• Collaborating with the broader business development team and the market intelligence team on client targeting efforts and research reports, supporting both individual pitches and practice area strategic projects.

Qualifications:

• Exceptional professional interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with lawyers at varying levels.
• Strong written communication skills.
• Strong project management and time management skills.
• Solid understanding of the needs and expectations of law firms and the ability to work in an environment with shifting priorities and many constituents.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Outstanding problem-solving skills.
• Attention to detail.
• Ability to work outside business hours as needed.

Experience:

• University degree required.
• 3-5 years of experience in professional services.
• Experience creating and developing business pitches.
• Experience with CRM systems preferred.
• Exceptional in Microsoft office (Outlook, Excel, Word PowerPoint).
• Familiarity and comfort with AI tools including ChatGPT, Gemini, Co-Pilot and others.

Gibson Dunn will consider for employment qualified Applicants with Criminal Histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of local law.

Compensation & Benefits:

The annual compensation range for this position is $110-120k. The salary offered within this range will depend upon qualifications and other operational considerations.

Benefits offered for this position include health care; retirement benefits; paid days off, including sick time, and vacation time; parental leave; basic life insurance; Flexible Spending Accounts; as well as discretionary, performance-based bonuses.