Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL) is a Nigerian law firm providing legal services to businesses, institutions and other clients. We are looking for a commercially minded, relationship-driven professional to expand the firm’s client base, develop strategic business relationships and drive revenue growth.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Client Relationship Lead - Business Development, Sales & Revenue Growth
Location: Lagos Job type: Full-time (Hybrid)
The Role
The Client Relationship Lead will drive new business development and client growth for OAL. The successful candidate will identify prospective clients, build relationships with key decision-makers, develop qualified opportunities and work closely with Partners to convert those opportunities into legal instructions.
This is a target-driven role for someone who can identify opportunities, engage senior decision-makers, build a sales pipeline, and turn relationships into business.
The role will also focus on deepening existing client relationships, identifying opportunities for additional legal services and building a disciplined, measurable business development process.
Experience working in the legal sector, professional-services environment or another regulated industry will be an advantage, particularly where it has provided an understanding of legal services, client confidentiality, professional ethics, law-firm operations and the needs of corporate or institutional clients.
Key Responsibilities Business Development & New Client Acquisition:
Identify, research and prioritise prospective corporate and institutional clients across OAL’s target sectors.
Develop and execute targeted approaches to prospective clients through direct outreach, referrals, professional networks, industry associations and strategic events.
Build relationships with senior decision-makers, including C-suite executives, General Counsel, company secretaries and other relevant stakeholders.
Qualify prospects, understand their business needs and identify potential legal service opportunities.
Lead initial commercial conversations and coordinate with relevant Partners to develop pitches, proposals and client-specific solutions.
Use knowledge of the legal sector to communicate credibly with prospective clients and understand how legal needs arise within businesses and institutions.
Client Relationship Management & Revenue Growth:
Build and maintain strong relationships with existing and prospective clients.
Identify opportunities to expand OAL’s engagement with existing clients through cross-selling and appropriate introductions to other practice areas.
Work with Partners to develop client account plans for priority relationships.
Maintain regular contact with key clients, understand emerging needs and identify opportunities for repeat business.
Support client retention and strengthen OAL’s position as a trusted legal adviser.
Ensure that client engagement is handled with appropriate discretion, professionalism and respect for confidentiality.
Pipeline Management & Commercial Reporting:
Build and maintain a structured pipeline of prospective clients and business opportunities.
Track leads, meetings, proposals, follow-ups, conversion rates and the status of prospective instructions.
Maintain accurate records in the firm’s CRM or designated business development tracker.
Provide regular reports on pipeline value, new opportunities, conversion progress, client growth and revenue contribution.
Recommend practical improvements to the firm’s business development and client acquisition processes.
Strategic Business Development:
Work with Partners and the Business Development and Communications functions to identify priority sectors, target accounts and growth opportunities.
Translate the firm’s practice-area strengths and expertise into compelling client propositions, in collaboration with Partners.
Identify relevant conferences, roundtables, industry forums and networking opportunities that can generate qualified commercial relationships.
Support pitches, presentations, credentials documents and other business development materials.
Work with Communications to follow up on opportunities arising from thought leadership, media visibility, events and other firm activities.
Monitor developments in the legal and business environment that may create opportunities for OAL’s practice areas.
Team Leadership:
Lead, supervise and develop the Client Relationship Officer.
Establish clear activity priorities, performance expectations and reporting routines.
Promote a disciplined, collaborative and commercially focused approach to client acquisition and relationship management.
Desirable Experience:
Business development or sales experience in a law firm, legal-services business, financial-services firm, consultancy or other professional-services organisation.
Experience working with lawyers, Partners, General Counsel, company secretaries, compliance teams or senior corporate decision-makers.
Experience selling complex, high-value B2B services.
Familiarity with the Nigerian corporate and institutional landscape.
Experience with CRM platforms and sales reporting.
A law degree, legal-sector experience or experience working with legal-service providers.
Knowledge of how businesses procure and engage external legal advisers.
How Success Will Be Measured Performance will be assessed against agreed targets, including:
Qualified sales opportunities generated.
Introductory meetings with relevant prospective clients.
Proposals and pitches progressed.
New client instructions secured.
Revenue generated from new clients.
Growth in revenue from existing clients.
Pipeline value, conversion rates and accuracy of reporting.
Development and performance of the Client Relationship Officer.
Quality of collaboration with Partners and the ability to translate client needs into appropriate legal-service opportunities.
The Ideal Candidate:
You are commercially driven, confident in building relationships with senior decision-makers and motivated by turning opportunities into measurable business results.
You can work independently, collaborate effectively with Partners and build a repeatable business development process that contributes to OAL’s growth.
Experience in the legal space will be an advantage, particularly if you have worked in a law firm, legal-services business or professional-services environment. However, candidates from other sectors may also be considered where they can demonstrate strong B2B sales performance, sound commercial judgement, an understanding of client confidentiality and the ability to build trust in a professional-services context.