Marketing Communications Manager
Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell (WTO) was established in 1998 and currently numbers more than 100 lawyers. The firm represents sophisticated clients in high-stakes civil trials, appeals, and related litigation ranging from complex commercial to class actions to catastrophic torts. WTO lawyers have taken more than 1,100 trials and arbitrations to verdict or award and hundreds of appeals to opinion in 45 states and Washington D.C., with exceptional results for our clients
Summary/Objective:
WTO seeks a Marketing Communications Manager to join its team in Denver. We are looking for a dynamic and creative writer and leader, who also brings critical reasoning and analytical skills to bear for the firm and its lawyers.
The Marketing Communications Manager is the firm’s lead storyteller, supporting the firm and its lawyers in crafting and delivering our most critical business development and marketing messages. The Marketing Communications Manager is often the first contact for lawyers as they prepare to engage with a new client or prospect. The person in this role is uniquely poised to serve as a connector of people and information across the firm. The Marketing Communications Manager is a strategic partner to the lawyers as they prepare to communicate persuasively and effectively to grow the firm’s brand and business.
As a litigation boutique, our partners are aligned and know where WTO is going in the market and how we can best get there. For the marketing team, this means there is very little distraction. We work on projects that stand to make an impact for the firm and its clients. As a result, you can expect to plug into a sophisticated marketing and business development culture where expectations are high, new challenges arise daily, and your work will be genuinely appreciated.
Responsibilities
Business Development
- Lead the response for all pitches and proposals. This ranges from high-touch RFP (Request for Proposal) responses to boilerplate packets, as well as tailored pitch support pieces, such as custom brochures..
- Using the firm’s subscription tools and other resources, conduct research on and concisely summarize findings about clients, prospects, companies, counsel, and WTO’s competitors.
- Connect with lawyers proactively to learn what they are focused on, listen for opportunities, and help them follow through to develop new business with clients and prospects alike.
Marketing
- Strategize, develop, and execute effective marketing campaigns for the firm and individual attorneys.
- Maintain or see to the maintenance of website content - including practice descriptions, bios, case experience, and more - and help draft new content.
- In collaboration with the marketing team and external vendors, serve as the lead author of and project manager for brochures (annual review, general firm information, recruiting, targeted pitch pieces), microsites, and other marketing products.
- Repurpose or help repurpose content for derivative uses, such as press releases, client alerts, and social media.
Public Relations & Social Media
- Assume day-to-day management of the firm’s national PR program.
- Draft and distribute press releases.
- Collaborate with team members and the firm’s outside PR agency to tell firm success stories and promote victories to national and local media and industry outlets.
- Collaborate with marketing team members to craft messages for social media.
Awards & Rankings
- Identify opportunities and lead the firm’s submissions to national and local awards and rankings directories. Examples include The American Lawyer Litigation Boutique of the Year, Chambers USA rankings, Law Week Colorado awards, Denver Business Journal awards, and similar opportunities.
- Interview attorneys to determine whether they and/or the firm have the right experience to be competitive for an award, help make a go/no-go decision, and draft the submission.
Advertising
- Update ads and develop new ad messages according to existing contracts and opportunities.
Internal Communications
- Draft regular internal marketing email (the WTO 360) and seek opportunities to improve it and other marketing/BD-related internal communications.
- Work with departments as needed to apply the WTO voice to internal communications.
Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities, that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
Qualifications
- A Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, journalism, English, or a comparable field is preferred.
- 3 - 5 years of experience working as a writer in marketing, communications, journalism, or business development is required. Strong preference will be shown for candidates coming from law or other professional services.
- 5 - 7 years of professional experience with increasing responsibility is desired.
Desired Characteristics
- You are an excellent communicator. You care as much about client service as you do about telling powerful stories. Your communication skills - not just your writing skills - will be relied upon daily as you build relationships, steer projects to completion, and manage expectations. You appreciate the value of communicating early and often. You put as much care into the emails you send as the web copy you draft - and you also know when not to send another email and instead pick up the phone or connect in person.
- You’ve got touch. You can easily establish rapport with and build trust among the firm’s trial lawyers and litigators. WTO lawyers are deeply thoughtful and process information quickly. They are curious. They are critical thinkers. You appreciate the need to tailor messages to them and prioritize information. You also develop rapport with and cultivate respect among support staff firmwide who will be essential to your success.
- You value collaboration. Lawyers and team members often respond with original questions and may point out weaknesses in ideas in order to create strengths. This doesn’t bother you - in fact, you like it. You know that together, you and they are crafting the best possible messages and products to connect with target audiences.
- You like researching and summarizing. You genuinely enjoy and have a talent for gathering complex information from various sources and bringing the most relevant ideas to bear in persuasive writing.
- You are curious. You appreciate that to be successful in your role, you must be a student of WTO. You will make it a point to learn what different lawyers do, what the firm’s different practice areas are known for, and you’ll always be listening for opportunities to bring potentially valuable new ideas into the mix.
- You are a mimic. You can review prior work product and replicate tone and voice in substance and style.
- As much as you enjoy the drafting process, you also relish revising with others. At WTO, we will always go the extra mile if there is a way to say something better. To you, tireless wordsmithing to find the most apt expression is a game worth playing. The prize is connecting with your audience to win new work.
- When something is not right or is incomplete, you will say so, no matter who needs to hear it. You won’t pass off work product that you know is not up to standard. Similarly, you will push back, respectfully yet firmly, against ideas that are ill-advised or at odds with firm priorities.
Writing Test
Promising candidates will be asked to complete a timed writing exercise and a proofreading test.
Special Projects: Special projects may include assisting with heightened or escalated month-end needs and testing of new software features. On occasion, weekend hours or extended weekday hours could be necessary.
Supervisory Responsibilities: The Marketing Communications Manager will oversee projects and work product from outside vendors including PR consultants, graphic designers, website developers, and other writers or content developers.
Language Skills
- Must have good communications skills (i.e., communicate clearly and effectively in both written and spoken English.
Reasoning Skills
- Ability to interpret and to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form
- Uses the utmost discretion regarding sensitive company and employee information.
- Must be able to coordinate resources and responsibilities and be able to get along well with others
- Must be able to develop a strong rapport with various department staff earning trust and respect
Work Environment
The team atmosphere is fostered not only by the lawyers, but by all members of the support staff. Our firm’s employees are proud of collaborating to service firm clients. Our commitment to teamwork allows us to tap multiple fields of experience from our range of practice areas, ensuring our ability to meet each client’s individual needs. Our team approach enables us to analyze a situation from several points of view until we uncover the advantage that makes the difference for our client.
Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
Regular hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., including lunch hour. This is a full time position working from our Denver office.
Travel
Travel is limited and primarily local during the business day, although some out-of-area and overnight travel may be needed to attend conferences or other professional functions.
Salary Range: $105,000 - $130,000 annually. The final salary will be commensurate with education and experience. Additionally, the firm provides standard benefits including health insurance, 401(k) contribution, and paid time off, with annual bonus potential based on firm performance.
An Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) that values and respects the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of the firm to recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, age, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a driving force in the success of our firm. It is our intention that all qualified applicants are given equal opportunity and that selection decisions be based on job-related factors.
