Business Development & Marketing Manager (Ottawa)
Gowling WLG
ABOUT GOWLING WLG
At Gowling WLG, our commitment to excellence begins with our people. As an international law firm with offices in Canada, the U.K., Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, we’re proud to recruit and retain top talent who bring energy, insight, and a singular focus on delivering exceptional experiences – for our clients and each other.
We’re intentional about building a workplace that’s both high-performing and supportive, ensuring that everyone is empowered to do their best work and reach their full potential. Our culture is grounded in our shared values: Raise the Bar, Embrace Differences, and Thrive Together. These values shape how we collaborate, lead, and succeed – across teams, time zones, and career paths.
Whether you’re pursuing a role in law or business services, explore what’s possible and make your mark with Gowling WLG.
ROLE OVERVIEW
The local office BD & Marketing Manager works closely with the Office Managing Partner (OMP) to elevate the Firm’s visibility, reputation, and competitive position in the local market. This includes maintaining a vibrant presence through impactful brand positioning, community and client engagement, and alumni relations. The individual will also support the OMP with office culture, engagement and collaboration initiatives.
This role functions as a strategic two-way connector ensuring: (a) local market intelligence, opportunities, and capabilities are meaningfully integrated into national departments, practice, sector, and international programs and plans, and shared across the Business Development & Marketing (BDM) team for insight, and (b) relevant information, opportunities and capabilities flow from departments, practice groups, sectors and international to the OMP for consideration in the local office, market and community.
As a member of the BDM team, this market-focused role requires a passionate and experienced leader who excels at building meaningful relationships within the Firm and valuable connections with community partners – a can-do champion with business acumen, good judgement, and a strong understanding of both marketing and business development disciplines and best practices. You will act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, a connector across the Firm and BDM team, and a visible ambassador in the local community.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
In collaboration with the Director, BD & Marketing Strategy & Enablement, the BDM team and the OMP, you will drive the Firm’s local market, business and community presence, integrate office priorities into national initiatives, and champion a whole‑Firm approach to growth with responsibilities, including:
Market Visibility and Positioning:
- Lead the ongoing assessment of the local business and legal landscape, sharing and analyzing industry developments, market trends, and competitive shifts to identify opportunities that increase visibility and deepen local influence in alignment with the Firm’s strategic plan.
- Develop and implement an annual and quarterly local market engagement plan with meaningful community participation, outreach, and success metrics.
- Position and strengthen the Gowling WLG brand in the local market through beneficial strategic sponsorships, events, charitable giving, and partnerships.
- Provide strategic guidance and input into the assessment, approval, planning and implementation of market-facing activities, such as sponsorships, partnerships and charitable giving, and events, ensuring alignment with priorities, while collaborating with other offices and national BDM teams for maximum impact.
- Establish measurement frameworks to assess the ROI on sponsorships, partnerships and promotional spend and guide investment decisions.
- Serve as a visible and confident representative of the Firm in the local community.
Client Development and Relationship Management:
- Collaborate with the OMP to strengthen key client relationships through research, insights, and recommendations for collaboration opportunities.
- Shape and recommend high‑impact client events, roundtables, and office-hosted programs that pursue growth, differentiate the Firm, and highlight key strengths and capabilities.
- Provide local market intelligence to support planning and execution across departments, practice groups, and sectors.
- Support and facilitate cross-practice and cross-office collaboration to identify and pursue client opportunities that grow multi-service, multi-office accounts.
- Support local alumni engagement activities in alignment with the national program.
Planning, Budgeting and Go-to-Market Support
- Leverage available financial and CRM data and tools to inform BD, marketing and promotional strategies in addition to providing leadership with actionable insights and recommendations.
- Oversee the development of marketing materials, presentations, and communications in support of the OMP’s leadership and outreach activities; ensure alignment with Firm-wide branding and messa
