Specialist, Directories & Awards

Ranked a Best Employer in Canada for 23 years, Bennett Jones is one of Canada’s premier business law firms and home to 500 lawyers and business advisors.

With deep experience in complex transactions and litigation matters, and offices in Calgary, Edmonton, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and New York, the firm is well equipped to advise businesses and investors with Canadian ventures and connect Canadian businesses and investors with opportunities around the world.

Serving clients since 1922, we are proud to be the firm that businesses trust with their most complex legal matters.

We are currently recruiting for the following role in our Toronto office :

Specialist, Directories & Awards

Summary :

The Specialist, Directories and Awards works as part of the experience management team, reporting to the Director of Business Development Operations and managing the tasks and performance of a Coordinator, Business Development. The Manager will be :

• responsible for creating, developing, and facilitating the completion of submissions to targeted legal directories (such as Chambers, Lexpert and Legal 500), and select awards and publications deemed of value to the firm, with support from the business development team;
• responsible for disseminating new information collected through the submission process to our experience management database and support the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of our matter data; and
• working closely with lawyers, legal assistants and other members of the business development team on process improvements with respect to directories, data collection, tracking and reporting

Essential Functions :

Rankings & Recognitions (75%; seasonally to 100%)

• Act as project manager for significant legal directory submission processes (i.e. : Chambers, Legal 500, Benchmark, Lexpert and selected practice-specific publications), including development of workback schedules, allocation of selected practices among the department, and managing outreach and internal communications with the department and firm
• Writing, editing and proofreading a portfolio of submissions for legal directories, and acting as a training, coaching and quality control resource to others responsible for submissions, to achieve and improve legal rankings for the firm and its lawyers
• Scheduling and preparing for legal directory interviews with researchers
• Provide support for relevant awards submissions supporting the firm or its clients (Canadian Law Awards, Rising Stars, Canadian General Counsel Awards, etc.

including, as appropriate, project managing, writing, editing, and proofreading

• Maintain a calendar of relevant directories and awards and act as the initiator of these processes with relevant stakeholders
• Advise and collaborate with marketing colleagues for internal and external communications of rankings & awards, including social media, website and profile
• Maintain metrics to evaluate the efficacy of our directory and awards engagements, and make thoughtful recommendations on where we allocate resources
• Maintain a repository of relevant rankings, client testimonials and awards for promotion and inclusion in pitches and proposals
• Act as point person for all communications with international directories and select legal industry publications

Experience Management (20%)

• Working with the team that oversees Foundation, the firm’s experience management tool :
• Generate first drafts of directory submissions from existing database information;
• Ensure any new experience information gathered from various practices and lawyers as part of the directories process is captured and described accurately;
• Entering and tagging experience information data from various sources in the database, as required;
• Liaising with practice and industry team leads and the business development team to enhance and implement internal processes for gathering experience information from our lawyers, particularly during off seasons from directory processes; and
• Act as the secondary source of knowledge for utilization of the Foundation software

People Management (5%)

Manage performance, skill development and work allocation for a Coordinator, Business Development, who supports Directory and Awards processes, Foundation database processes and matter collection processes

Qualifications :

• 5+ years’ professional experience, preferably in legal or professional services in a similar role. Experience developing and producing submissions to Chambers, Legal 500, and other publishers' award rankings is a significant asset
• Post-secondary education in Business, Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, English, Law or related field
• Passionate about consistently improving content management processes and the quality of firm content
• Experience with databases, or content management software is an asset
• Demonstrated project management and critical thinking skills
• Ability to build relationships and credibility with lawyers and different departments in the firm
• Strong writing, editing and proofreading skills
• Excellent time management skills and capable of handling multiple projects simultaneously
• Experience documenting and communicating processes and workflows
• Solid judgment in making decisions and / or escalating issues to management
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Knowledge of Foundation and / or other experience database programs an asset

A hybrid working arrangement is available for this role. We have a preference for candidates in the Toronto market, however we will consider qualified applicants in Calgary as well.

Apply To :

All offers of employment are conditional upon the satisfactory verification of a Canadian criminal record check. Determination of the factors that constitute satisfactory verification is within the sole discretion of Bennett Jones.

This position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.

Bennett Jones is committed to providing accommodations throughout the recruitment process in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act, 2005.

If you require accommodations, please notify us and we will work with you to meet your needs. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

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