Sophie Bowkett is the Chief Marketing Officer at international law firm Bird & Bird, where she leads the firm’s global marketing, business development and client relationship strategies that underpin the firm’s focus on helping organisations being changed by the digital world.

A passionate advocate for a human-first approach to brand and client engagement, Sophie has driven strategies that bring this philosophy to life. Under her leadership, the firm has delivered a global brand refresh, launched a compelling employer brand and introduced a programme to empower individuals across the firm to amplify both through their own personal brand-building activities. Each initiative reinforces the firm’s commitment to authentic, people-centric client service.

All the firm's marketing and business development initiatives share a data-driven approach, and Sophie encourages her team to be curious about leveraging new technologies to turbocharge their initiatives.

Sophie is one of the few CMOs in the industry that started out from a public relations background. She worked agency-side supporting a range of international and national law firms and alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) in getting their stories out into the world, before moving in-house. She was previously the Head of Marketing and Communications at Bird & Bird, before being appointed as global CMO in 2020.

Sophie holds an MBA from Imperial College London. She is particularly interested in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and sits on the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Group.