Senior Legal Counsel

Job Description

Universal Products & Experiences is seeking a talented, highly collaborative and experienced in-house commercial lawyer with significant intellectual property licensing experience to partner with our Consumer Products business across EMEA and APAC.  As a member of the Business & Legal Affairs team, you will provide end-to-end contract and legal support and advice to category, retail and creative teams and work collaboratively with other lawyers based in London, Los Angeles and Sydney.  The role will also focus on drafting and negotiating contracts related to consumer product licensing agreements, retail/marketing campaigns, design/asset creation and other services and commercial agreements.  The role will report to the Director, Business & Legal Affairs based in London.

Key Responsibilities

• Effective collaboration and engagement with cross-functional teams and divisions, including theatrical promotions, category management, product development, creative, and finance stakeholders. Your role will involve identifying and resolving business and legal issues, providing guidance to eliminate or mitigate risks and deliver ongoing, high quality counsel and legal support.
• Draft and negotiate a substantial volume of intellectual property license and service agreements associated with the licensing, distribution, promotion, and marketing of toys, apparel, books and other consumer goods.
• Draft and negotiate, and provide strategic advice in connection with, theatrical promotion agreements supporting the marketing of new theatrical movie releases across EMEA and APAC.
• Supervisory responsibilities and review of work product of more junior members of the team.
• Partner closely with internal corporate teams, including tax, compliance, IP/trademark, privacy, and litigation on a wide range of business and legal issues.
• Offer insightful guidance to internal stakeholders on unique business propositions and underlying rights; undertaking legal research and advising on issues/risks as required.
• Respond to the dynamic needs of the business by creating and/or tailoring ad-hoc contracts and legal documents to meet evolving business requirements.
• Proactively managing legal communication with external partners to ensure swift resolution of any outstanding issues.
• Embrace additional duties and projects as the need arises.

Qualifications

Essential Skills and Qualifications

• UK-qualified solicitor (Minimum 5 years PQE but candidates below 5 years’ PQE may be considered depending on breadth of relevant licensing skills and experience).
• Significant commercial/transactional legal experience; ideally within a global entertainment studio or a multinational toy, apparel, FMCG or media company handling inbound or outbound licensing matters.
• Excellent drafting skills with meticulous attention to detail.
• Exceptional time management and organizational skills, coupled with a proactive and self-driven approach.
• Adept at providing practical, accurate and timely legal advice.
• Collegial, dependable and responsive team-player with strong interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Solid understanding of intellectual property, contract and commercial law.
• Strong relationship-building and influencing abilities across various departments, countries and time-zones.
• Sharp commercial acumen with effective problem-solving skills.
• Experience of managing, supervising and/or mentoring legal colleagues.
• Familiarity with legal software and tools (DocuSign, DMS, Salesforce etc.)
• Adaptable and capable of excelling in a fast-paced environment.

Additional Requirements:

• Hybrid: This role will generally be contributing from the office a minimum of four (4) days per week (Mon-Thurs).

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].