Case Study
- Compensation Alignment
- Structure Assessment
- Retention Strategy
Compensation Alignment & Team Elevation Under New CMO Leadership
A newly appointed Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer joined a leading Am Law 100 and inherited their predecessor’s team; one that had supported the firm well historically.
But their charge was distinct.
Firm leadership hired them to not only elevate the Marketing & Business Development function, but also to increase revenue impact, sharpen strategic influence, and reposition the team as a growth engine within the firm. To do so, they needed clarity on three fronts:
- How the team was currently structured and compensated
- How that compared to national peers
- What needed to evolve to align with their new charge and expanded remit
The question was not whether to invest, but how to do so thoughtfully, fairly, and strategically.
Our Approach
We partnered closely with the Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer to conduct a comprehensive compensation and structural alignment assessment, grounded in proprietary data and real-time market insight.
Compensation Alignment
Using our homegrown compensation data and national benchmarking insights, we conducted a detailed review of salaries across all levels.
Importantly, the objective was not to “pay the highest” but to ensure alignment.
We helped the Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer evaluate:
- Market competitiveness across a 20+ office platform
- Internal equity and compression risks
- Future hiring bands aligned with the new mandate
- Retention considerations for high-performing incumbents
We translated market data into practical, real-time guidance — enabling confident decision-making rather than theoretical comparisons.
Structure Assessment
We assessed the inherited team across titles, layers, and functional coverage, while distinguishing between the historical design of the function and the future-state model required under their leadership.
This included:
- Reviewing role clarity and leveling
- Key market prioritization
- Evaluating spans of control and reporting lines
- Identifying areas requiring elevation or specialization
- Ensuring the team design matched the firm’s projected revenue growth expectations
Our goal was not to replace what had been built, but to respect it, refine it, and evolve it.
Retention Strategy
Compensation was addressed as part of a broader talent strategy. We provided guidance on:
- Title architecture and career pathways
- Retention guardrails
- Non-salary enticements and engagement levers
- Positioning the function internally to reflect its elevated role
Strategic Outcome
The Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer gained:
- Clear visibility into how their team compared to national peers
- A compensation framework aligned to both legacy contributions and future ambition
- Defined salary bands to support strategic hiring
- A retention strategy grounded in data and fairness
- Confidence that their team structure matched their growth mandate
Rather than reactive salary adjustments or wholesale restructuring, the firm implemented an intentional, forward-looking compensation and team alignment strategy – one that honored the past while positioning the function for measurable revenue impact.
Our Perspective
When new leadership steps into an inherited team, compensation alignment becomes a strategic lever, not an administrative exercise.
By combining team evaluation, proprietary salary intelligence, and practical retention insight, we help firms design M/BD functions that are aligned, equitable, and built to deliver on ambitious mandates.
Gain confidence in your pay structure with compensation alignment built around your people and priorities.
Compare compensation against market benchmarks to ensure pay reflects scope, experience, and responsibility.
