We examine the current state of the market across all professional services functions.
The business services market remains buoyant, with firms showing no sign of lessening their commitments to recruiting sophisticated business services professionals across all functions. Many of the senior roles we now place are at Board level, sitting right at the heart of firms.
Totum saw a marked increase in the number of searches at Chief and Director in the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year. One notable example is our partnership with Kingsley Napley, with whom we worked to recruit their new Managing Partner/CEO as the firm went into the external market.
Many of the roles we have been recruiting for are newly-created and bespoke to the firm hiring. A good example is the role of Chief Operating Officer – most firms in the top 75 by size already have a COO, but many have different reporting lines and responsibilities. Another is the increase in searches for Heads of Responsible Business – as a BCorp ourselves, it has been pleasing to see this growth.
In terms of priorities, technology continues to be a big focus for firms, particularly around AI, better systems infrastructure and more investment in information security.
Such is the competition for top business services talent that salaries have continued to rise throughout the year. This is further accentuated by many firms actively looking to recruit from outside of the professional services sector, with 50% of the candidates we shortlist coming from outside of legal.
With a continued focus on diversity and inclusion, it can be challenging to create fully representative shortlists, however we are pleased that a quarter of our placements are from Asian/Asian British, Black/Black British or Mixed/Multiple Ethnic candidates. Female candidate registrations and placements have hovered around 50% for a number of year, but our placement percentage increased to near 70% in the past six months, showing what can be achieved with a tangible will client side.
Ross Mackenzie, Head of Practice, Technology
We have seen a surge in Head of IT roles, particularly at smaller firms. Partnerships here are looking for IT professionals who can get to grips with the firm’s entire technology offering, providing innovative solutions to existing challenges and streamlining processes and procedures. Successful candidates are able to provide overarching leadership across the function, not just focus on AI interventions.
Alongside this, we’re seeing a steady stream of security roles at all levels. Firms are continuing to build out their data and architecture teams. Some are starting from scratch with senior hires, while others are developing existing teams.
One trend to watch out for in 2025 is the impact of Microsoft Copilot. A recent PwC survey found that 45% of firms are trialling Copilot at the moment. As Copilot becomes operational, we many see a growth in roles related to the management and implementation of such technology.
Business Development & Marketing
Joanna Milne, Head of Practice, Business Development & Marketing
The market for marketing and business development roles in professional services has shown notable fluctuations in the past few years, particularly since COVID, with early growth superseded by a fall in opportunities through 2023-24. In October we saw caution pre-budget announcement and pre-US election, though opportunities have filtered through since.
Through our analysis, we find that roughly 20% of individuals in the market are actively open to something new. This figure is a third lower than actual hires over the last year – leading us to believe that at least a third of the market is passive or opportunistic in its appetite for career moves. Equally, 50% of new roles in the last year have been promotions, though the majority of Director level hires came from the external market.
There are several recruitment challenges currently. A primary issue is that salaries for new roles are often higher than for existing team members, which can disrupt internal bandings and create disparities. Counter offers and the balance between salary and skill set also pose significant hurdles.
Additionally, recruiting below Manager level is particularly challenging due to the lack of longevity in tenure among candidates. Candidates are primarily motivated by career progression, financial incentives, and cultural changes within firms. At the senior level, changes in firm leadership and shifts in culture are significant drivers, while work/life considerations are increasingly important as firms mandate more in-office days.
Emerging trends include a growing interest in data, research, and insights, client-facing CRM roles, and global opportunities outside of traditional hubs like London. There is also much talk about AI and true client experience roles, though neither are plentiful in terms of opportunities. There is more investment in marketing operations and these roles are becoming increasingly technology focused.
Laura McNair, Director and Head of Practice, People & Operations
This year has been much slower at the senior end of hiring, most likely because the previous two years were so busy. However, we have seen an uptick in senior level recruitment recently. Typically, firms are looking for strategic HR leaders who can focus on commercial objectives by creating a strong culture. Technology is another focus, with firms looking for leaders who are able to understand and implement AI and new tech.
This is reflected in job titles. “HR” is increasingly being replaced with “People” at Chief level, but even at Director level, we’re seeing more roles like People and Culture Director. This shows how the changing image of HR teams post-covid.
A t the very senior end, there have been several newly-created COO roles, particularly in smaller firms. Partners there who have been doing much of the heavy lifting are now at a point where they need to focus on fee-earning. The natural next step is to bring in a COO or Operations Director to take some of the pressure off.
The people agenda has never been higher on the minds of Managing Partners. They understand the importance of recruiting and retaining the right people, and how culture plays a vital role in keeping a firm competitive.
Martyn Draper, Director and Head of Practice, Finance
The final quarter of 2024 saw an increase in CFO and Finance Director opportunities. These came about for various reasons, retirements featuring in a few instances and, for some smaller firms, the creation of a new roles within the business. Regardless of size of firm, the common themes for the briefs for these positions remained the same – commercially-minded individuals with excellent communication and leadership skills who can help steer financial management in a sensible, profitable manner. As ever, these vacancies have proved popular and competitively sought after.
One interesting development we have witnessed is a growing number of senior (often director level) pricing and profitability focused positions being created in the London offices of some of the top tier US firms. There is also a continuation of the commercial finance roles – finance business partners or commercial finance managers – being created in the top 100 UK law firms, something we are seeing spreading into smaller firms more frequently. Clearly financial hygiene and best practice from a commercial perspective remains high on leadership team’s agendas.
Predominant vacancies in legal finance operations remain in the revenue control/billing teams. The ongoing demand in this area has seen salaries move up, this area has also seen the most prominent numbers of counteroffers as firms try to retain their talent via financial incentives.
Responsible Business & ESG
Hannah Leon Soon, Consultant, HR Practice
The priority for ESG senior roles is still very prevalent.
In 2025 we expect there will be an expansion of Responsible Business teams where more junior specialists will be brought on board to support the ESG lead in the delivery of vital ESG strategies.
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