Ben Webb - From Recruitment to Management

Transitioning into Leadership at Ambition: Ben Webb’s Journey

At Ambition, we believe in creating clear pathways for our people to grow — whether that’s developing as a top-billing consultant or stepping into leadership.

In this video, Ben Webb, Divisional Manager for the Legal BD & Marketing recruitment team, shares his personal journey into management and what it’s really like to build a career with Ambition.

Having joined us as a Senior Consultant, Ben made it clear from day one that management was something he aspired to. With the right support, flexibility, and mentorship, he’s now leading a successful team of five — all while maintaining a healthy work-life balance as a parent.

In this video, Ben talks about the importance of open communication, learning your market, and how Ambition provides the trust and flexibility for our people to thrive — both professionally and personally.

If you’re ready to take the next step in your recruitment career, find out more about life at Ambition here.

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Transcript

There's always opportunities for good managers. I think as long as you make it clear that that's the route you want to go down.

Hi, my name is Ben. I'm the Divisional Manager for the Legal BD and Marketing recruitment team here at Ambition. I’ve been with Ambition now for just over three years.

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Describe your background and why you chose to join Ambition?

I started here as a Senior Consultant for senior level appointments within BD and Marketing. And just over two years ago, I was promoted to Divisional Manager, where I took on the management of a team of five people.

I've been working in recruitment for just over 15 years now. I've recruited across various sectors including banking, dentistry and charity sectors.

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How has Ambition supported you in progressing from Senior Consultant through to Divisional Manager?

So, when I first joined Ambition, I made them aware that I was always interested in going down the management route, but I was quite keen to come in and learn the market first as I had although been in recruitment for a long time before joining Ambition, this was a new sector for me.

So, I wanted to understand the clients and the candidate base before I took on any management responsibilities.

Ambition was really great with this because when I did feel like I was ready, they gave me the opportunity to manage just one person to start with to see how I enjoyed it, and if it was a route that I definitely wanted to go down.

When I was comfortable in that side, they then gave me the wider team to pick up.

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How would you describe the team culture and collaboration within your team?

My team in particular are absolutely brilliant at team collaboration. We've actually got three part-timers on my team, so, collaboration is really key for each of us to cover the non-working days.

We also split the team out across different levels that they work with, so everyone knows each other's candidates and clients.

When it comes to holidays or non-working days, you genuinely get to switch off and know that your work's being looked after by someone else.

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How has Ambition helped you balance leadership responsibilities with being a parent?

So, Ambition has always been really good with offering flexibility to working parents. It's one of the things that actually attracted me to work in here.

I've got two kids myself and being able to do the odd school drop offs and being able to attend parents’ evenings and sports days.

Also, balancing that off with being flexible with the way that I work around those hours as well has been fantastic.

It was always a management style I wanted to pick up. I've actually got three working parents on my team as well, so, knowing that flexibility that was offered to me was always something very important for me to be able to then do the same with my team.

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What do you enjoy most about working at Ambition?

So, what I really enjoy about working at Ambition is how specialist we are.

We don't try and recruit across every market. We purely specialise in professional services.

It means we’ve become subject matter experts, which is really beneficial when we're talking to our candidates and clients as we really know our markets inside out.

The other thing is, of course, the people that I get to work with, we've got a really great culture here at Ambition, and I genuinely enjoy coming into the office to see everyone.

How does Ambition create an environment of High Performance?

We also have lots of incentives to keep everyone motivated. So, we have quarterly High Achievers lunch for the top billers for every quarter.

We are also running a High Fliers trip which would involve a trip to Spain next year.

We also run monthly PRIDE breakfasts, which is an incentive where colleagues can nominate each other for going above and beyond for our core values.

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What advice would you give to someone joining Ambition who wants to progress into leadership?

Definitely have that conversation early on. There's always opportunities for good managers.

I think as long as you make it clear that that's the route you want to go down, a plan would be put in place for you and as was the case for me, you would get the opportunity to manage, maybe start off with one or two people, and then build out to a bigger team when you're ready to do that.

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About Ben Webb

Ben is a Divisional Manager of Ambition's Legal BD, Marketing & Communications team and specialises in recruiting permanent Manager to Director level roles across Marketing & Business Development within the top 200 law firms in the UK and Europe.

View Ben's profile >

Inspired by Ben's story? Join us!

Whether you’re starting out in recruitment, an experienced consultant ready for your next challenge, or a professional from the wider services industry looking for something new - we’d love to hear from you.

At Ambition, you’ll find the support, flexibility, and opportunity to grow your career - including clear pathways to progress into management and leadership.

Join us and discover a place where you can develop, thrive, and truly be yourself.

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