Partner, Schillings Communications

London, England, United Kingdom

12/17/2024

Schillings Communications, founded by Schillings, Victoria O'Byrne and George Pascoe-Watson, makes the group the first of its kind in the market offering clients a multi-disciplinary model of legal, intelligence, investigations, digital, security, strategy, and communications all under one roof.

Our objective is to support clients with complex challenges and opportunities and to bring together mixed specialists to solve those problems as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Schillings Communications provides senior counsel during high-stakes situations, rather than steady-state PR. You will work alongside our legal, intelligence, investigations, and security practices to offer clients world-class counsel.

The Role

We are seeking an accomplished senior leader in the strategic communications field to further enhance Schillings' ability to handle our clients most critical problems and realise the exceptional growth potential of the Schillings Communications business. You will be working with a broad client base often with challenging, complex and ambiguous problems and side by side with professionals at the very top of their game.

The potential for Schillings Communications is huge. The rapidly growing team is supporting Schillings' existing clients through expanding existing mandates, as well as generating their own client opportunities which is representative of the reputation the team already enjoys in the market. This opportunity is likely to be of interest to candidates that are looking for something new and exciting, something that draws on all their experience to date but is a bit different. We think that the right candidate will want the thrill of being a significant player in a start-up business but with the security of a highly profitable parent company behind them.

Our ideal candidate

• A strategic thinker who assesses client problems with a broad perspective, displaying high levels of intellectual rigour.
• Highly commercial – someone who loves both the craft and the business of strategic communications.
• Experience in government, in-house corporate teams or in agency dealing with stakeholders who are challenging and exacting in their approach, often facing complex or ambiguous problems.
• Experience in dealing with multi-jurisdictional, high-pressure crises.
• An extensive network and is a thought leader within their own field. You are a 'connector' and self-starter with strong commercial and entrepreneurial skills, evidenced by a proven ability to develop and win new business.
  
  

Key qualities

• Exceptional communicator, able to build, develop and maintain strong relationships internally and externally.
• Manages a high degree of risk and uncertainty with the ability to flex and adapt positively to frequently changing situations.
• A thought-leader and influencer across internal and external audiences, possessing a high degree of experience and knowledge of working with our client base.
• Natural/instinctive collaborator, treats relationships across all levels as genuine partnerships, working towards the same goal.
• Inspires and motivates individuals and teams to be the best they can be; winning and delivering profitable chargeable work for the team(s) to grow the business
• A role model, demonstrating confidence and self-belief, consistently acting with integrity and naturally trusted by others.
  
  

Partner Accountabilities

At Schillings you will work collaboratively with your fellow Partners to develop new client relationships through your contacts and network, as well as leveraging existing relationships and expanding current client mandates.

Partners fulfil three key areas of responsibility: Client Relationship Management, Delivery of Services and Strategic Business Development:

Client Relationship Management

At the top level, this is all about the ability to take a strategic view of a client portfolio and develop relationships which will bring long-term value to the business. Specifically, you will:

• Build and leverage relationships with existing and new clients and with colleagues, potential partners and contacts.
• Identify clients' requirements and develop continuous improvements to client service.
• Deliver independent and objective client advice.
• Deal with challenging client situations and resolve them satisfactorily.
  
  

Delivery of Services

For each client, you will:

• Recruit and develop the most effective multi-functional team to meet the client's requirements.
• Design the best delivery plan, including the optimum range of services.
• Lead and manage the delivery of those services to the client's satisfaction.
• Achieve a profitable outcome for the firm by adhering to the firm's Terms of Business in the delivery of services.
  
  

Strategic Business Development

Proactive in searching out opportunities for new and profitable client work, nationally and internationally. You will lead development of the business, achieving sustained value by targeting and originating clients, building a high-quality portfolio, cross-selling and introducing clients and referrers to others in the business. You will:

• Develop the firm's client base to become and remain highly competitive.
• Build marketing visions and strategies which are long-term, compelling and market focused.
• Understand the wider market opportunities, the competition and how to gain competitive advantage.
• Capitalise and anticipate market changes and plan accordingly by developing leading edge solutions that set a benchmark for the sector.
  
  

Life at Schillings

Given our audacious (and successful) business strategy, it is not surprising that Schillings has a very strong culture. The atmosphere is highly collaborative and focused on excellence. We have worked hard over the years to develop a coaching culture and are remarkably non-hierarchical, especially given our roots as a law firm. Schillings has adopted a set of values to put at the heart of this change and they reflect the intention and tenor of our ambitious plans. They are: 'Innovative; Bold; United; and Excellent'. Our client list speaks for the outstanding results that have been delivered over many years and the task now is to grow without losing any of the commitment to delivering for clients or the service ethos. Finding people who share our values and can thrive in this environment is key to our success.

It takes a unique mix of people to create something truly great. We appreciate that diversity of thought, background and culture creates the best environment to truly innovate, solve problems and achieve our goals. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds – if you are driven and want to achieve your best then we will give you the platform and support to succeed.

Please let us know if there are any extenuating circumstances we should consider, or any adjustments we may need to make to our selection process, when making your application

Find our candidate privacy notice here, Candidate Privacy Notice (schillingspartners.com)