Director of Marketing and Business Development - Maternity Cover

Carson McDowell is seeking an experienced marketing and business development professional to provide maternity cover for the role of Director of Marketing and Business Development. This key senior one-year contract will commence in December 2026 and offers an exciting opportunity to join Northern Ireland’s largest independent law firm during a milestone year, as the firm celebrates its 175th anniversary.

The successful candidate will oversee the delivery of marketing campaigns, PR plans, events and hospitality, brand management, stakeholder engagement, sponsorship activity, digital marketing, tender writing and internal communications. They will also support ongoing reporting and evaluation of marketing activity, ensuring that priorities continue to be delivered to a high standard.

This maternity cover position will involve regular contact with Partners and lawyers across the firm, as well as line management of a Marketing Assistant. We are looking for someone who can quickly build strong working relationships, provide confident marketing and business development advice, and contribute ideas with energy, professionalism and sound commercial judgement.

The role requires solid experience in delivering marketing projects and managing the implementation and reporting of marketing activity. The successful candidate will provide leadership and continuity within the marketing team, manage people, processes and projects, and help progress marketing and business development plans and objectives during the maternity cover period.

The ideal candidate will be an experienced, commercially astute individual who can step confidently into a senior marketing role, manage competing priorities and work collaboratively with colleagues across the firm during a busy and high-profile year.

Main roles and responsibilities during the maternity cover period include:

• Work with the Senior Partner and Heads of Teams to deliver marketing and business development plans for the firm and each practice area, monitoring the implementation and reporting on activity of those plans.

• Support strategic business development activity, including sector growth initiatives and cross- selling activities to strengthen relationships and generate new work.

• Manage the firm’s bids and proposals process, including coordinating responses, drafting high-quality submissions, managing uploads and overseeing related communications.

• Manage the firm’s legal directories process, including providing guidance on best practice, coordinating submissions and supporting follow-up activity.
• Expand, develop, and manage the firm’s social media presence across all relevant platforms to improve the firm’s profile and drive traffic to the website.
• Event management from invitation, through to on the day execution and completion.
• Supervise and oversee the creation and production of marketing materials, such as brochures, client guides, team packs, contact sheets, newsletters, tenders, etc.

• Develop content strategies for specific practice areas, identifying key audiences, defining messaging and supporting the production of content including PR, blogs, news, videos and podcasts.

• Use analytics data to understand the effectiveness of our engagement, identify opportunities for improvement and introduce appropriate changes.

• Manage the marketing budget, including planning, tracking spend, overseeing third party consultants and agencies, and evaluating return on investment.
• Manage all firm sponsorships and partnerships.
• Progress issues proactively, meet deadlines and provide updates to colleagues where necessary.
• Work proactively and collaboratively with teams across Carson McDowell to ensure a high level of service.
• Have excellent IT skills and working knowledge of content management systems, Canva, Adobe and Google Analytics.
• Communicate professionally and effectively both verbally and in writing
• Effectively and constructively manage performance by giving timely and constructive feedback to encourage personal and career development of team members.

Essential Criteria

You will have a third level qualification in Marketing or a related discipline and significant experience operating at a senior level, ideally within a professional services environment. Experience managing, supporting or mentoring a team would be desirable, along with the ability to provide confident leadership and continuity during a period of maternity cover.

You will be able to demonstrate clear leadership, strong marketing and business development expertise, and the ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders to maintain engagement, profile and awareness of the firm.

You will have demonstrable experience managing marketing campaigns across multiple channels including digital content and distribution, social media, PR, sponsorship (team and events) and brand management. You will be a strategic thinker with strong analytical skills and attention to detail. You will be knowledgeable in the commercial benefits of marketing and understand how to analyse ROI of marketing activity.

You will have proven experience working on simultaneous marketing projects meeting tight deadlines, as well as excellent organisation skills and the ability to work on your own initiative. You must have excellent communication skills and enjoy working as a team player in a fast paced environment.