Partnerships Manager

Partnerships & Business Development Manager (LegalTech) Hours: 3 days a week Contract: 6 month fixed-term contract Location: Remote, UK Salary: £55,000 to £60,000 FTE (£33,000 to £36,000 pro rata) About the organisation Above and Beyond Recruitment are partnering with a purpose-driven organisation working where law and climate action meet. They help organisations build climate commitments into their legal agreements, using digital tools and infrastructure to make that knowledge easier to access, apply and build into commercial relationships. About the role You will drive the adoption and active use of the organisation's tools across the legal sector. In the short term, the focus is a new AI-native benchmarking tool the team is developing. Over time you will also support a wider, evolving set of tools and approaches. You will identify who could adopt or amplify the organisation's work, work out how best to engage them, and take opportunities from first contact through to agreement, implementation and active use. Your targets will include legal technology providers, knowledge providers, law firms, in-house legal teams, corporate procurement, supply chain and ESG teams, NGOs and other relevant organisations. Responsibilities

• Identify, prioritise and engage prospective partners and adopters, focusing on the routes with the greatest potential to convert.
• Build and maintain strong relationships across the legal ecosystem, and represent the organisation in external meetings and sector forums.
• Develop and run tailored partnership and adoption approaches for each audience, reflecting their needs and how they make decisions.
• Own and manage the pipeline from first engagement through to agreement, implementation and active usage, with clear priorities and next steps.
• Develop and negotiate partnership and adoption arrangements, setting clear expectations, commitments and responsibilities.
• Work with partners and colleagues to find and fix barriers to adoption. With the Head of Communications, test and refine messaging and partnership propositions based on what drives the most engagement and usage.
• Feed market insight, usage data and partner feedback back into the team to shape product development and priorities, and stay up to date on developments in legal technology and legal knowledge.
• Track and report on partnership activity, pipeline, adoption and usage, giving the product and leadership teams a clear view of progress, risks, opportunities and lessons learned. What success looks like
• A qualified, actively managed pipeline of partnership and adoption opportunities, with clear next steps and measures of success.
• Strategic partnerships taken through to implementation and active use, especially with organisations that can drive real reach.
• Measurable growth in the adoption and use of the organisation's tools, including MCP and benchmarking.
• A prioritised partnership and adoption plan, and a tested, repeatable approach to partnership development. What we are looking for Essential
• A strong background in business development, partnerships or ecosystem development within legal technology or legal services, or demonstrably strong partnership experience across the legal sector.
• A good understanding of legal markets, law firm structures and/or the legal technology landscape, and the ability to find the right stakeholders and routes to adoption in complex organisations.
• Experience driving the adoption of products, services, tools or initiatives through partnerships, from first identification through to agreement, implementation and active use.
• Experience building relationships with, and influencing, senior stakeholders across law firms, in-house legal teams and technology platforms.
• Experience negotiating partnership or collaboration arrangements and agreeing responsibilities and commitments between organisations.
• Experience managing and prioritising a pipeline, using evidence and insight to decide where to focus.
• Experience working with product or service teams and turning external feedback and market insight into practical recommendations.
• Strong strategic judgement, and the ability to adapt your approach based on evidence.
• The ability to quickly understand technical products and explain their value clearly to legal, technical and non-technical audiences. Prior knowledge of MCP is not required.
• Confidence working independently in a newly defined role where approaches need to be tested and refined.
• Strong organisation, and the ability to collaborate across product, communications and other teams.
• A genuine interest in climate, nature and the role of law and contracts in driving positive outcomes, and a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Desirable
• Existing knowledge of, or networks within, the UK legal technology ecosystem, law firms, in-house legal teams or legal knowledge providers.
• Experience supporting the adoption of a new or early-stage product, service or digital tool.
• Experience with API-based, developer-facing, data or other technical products.
• Experience in a mission-led, climate, sustainability or not-for-profit organisation.