Associate Director of Client Initiatives

Cooley is seeking an Associate Director of Client Initiatives to join the Marketing and Client Development team.

Position summary: This role is part of the Client Initiatives Team, which is responsible for advancing client insight, segmentation, and strategic growth initiatives that support business development, strengthen go-to-market efforts, and elevate the client experience. Responsible for designing and leading priority programs, processes, and campaigns to support geographies, sectors, and other parts of the firm. Specific duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following: 

Position responsibilities:  

• Lead Client Listening and Feedback: Lead client listening efforts to gather feedback, identify key themes, and surface new opportunities for the firm. 

• Scale Win/Loss and Market Insight: Scale up the win/loss debrief program and develop deep insight into client needs, market trends, and emerging growth areas. 

• Translate Insight into Action: Translate findings from client and market research into clear, actionable steps for Business Development, Marketing, and firm leadership. 

• Design and Manage Strategic Programs: Design and manage national programs and initiatives, including priority account programs and account development frameworks, that support growth and client development. 

• Establish Governance and Focus: Establish the processes, tools, and governance required for consistent execution across the firm, helping to focus effort and investment on the greatest opportunities. 

• Create Repeatable Processes and Tools: Create the templates, playbooks, and processes used across regions and teams to bring consistency to how client insight, segmentation, and growth initiatives are executed. 

• Optimize Program Deployment: Clarify and manage the balance of strategic programs, determining which elements should be centrally managed versus locally deployed for maximum impact. 

• Monitor Impact and Refine Strategy: Track participation, adoption, and outcomes of all initiatives to assess performance and refine tools, processes, and priorities based on feedback and results. 

• People Leader:  

• Serve as direct supervisor and mentor to direct reports 

• Provide day-to-day supervision of direct reports, ensure compliance with assigned work hours and monitor for compliance with all firm and department policies. Manage staffing coverage, review and process time logs/time off requests 

• Support business professional development and continued educational opportunities 

• In collaboration with immediate supervisor and central HR, participate in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination and other employee lifecycle events  

• All other duties as assigned or required 

Skills and experience:  

Required: 

• After orientation at Cooley LLP, exhibit proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, iManage and other firm applications 

• Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours, as required 

• Ability to travel, as required 

• 8+ years of directly relevant exempt-level experience (e.g., marketing or business development, preferably with an emphasis working in a client initiatives function), with 4+ years of management experience in relevant roles 

• Demonstrated experience building executive-ready dashboards in data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI) 

• Strong proficiency in data manipulation to evaluate both quantitative metrics and qualitative sentiment analysis 

• Strong working knowledge of enterprise CRM ecosystems (e.g., Salesforce) 

• Advanced, hands-on experience administering enterprise feedback and surveying platforms (e.g., Qualtrics) 

• Proven track record of effective leadership 

• Bachelor’s degree 

Preferred: 

• Previous legal industry or professional services experience  

Competencies:  

• Entrepreneurial by nature 

• Excellent attention to detail  

• Approaches tasks through a lens of quality and consistency  

• Approaches tasks through a digital first lens 

• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with ability to facilitate and solve problems 

• Ability to organize, prioritize and coordinate multiple activities often under tight timelines 

• Takes a consultative approach to set goals, drive projects, and achieve outcomes  

• Strong judgment 

• Team-player with collaborative spirit 

• Unwavering ability to handle and maintain confidentiality regarding  firm information, projects, client data  

• High level of professionalism at all times 

• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and develop talent  

• Proactive, analytical mindset 

• Effective presentation skills