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Package Description
Band: D
Contract type: 12 month FTC
Location: London based role with some flexibility - i.e. hybrid working
Job Title: In-house title is Commercial, Rights and Business Affairs Manager
Salary: anticipated salary up to £68,000p,a, (this is inclusive of London Weighting £5,164), depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.
We’re happy to discuss flexible working. Please indicate your choice under the flexible working question in the application. There is no obligation to raise this at the application stage but if you wish to do so, you are welcome to. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.
Excellent career progression – the BBC offers great opportunities for employees to seek new challenges and work in different areas of the organisation.
Unrivalled training and development opportunities – our in-house Academy hosts a wide range of internal and external courses and certification.
Benefits - We offer a competitive salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance and 26 days annual leave (1 of which is a corporation day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more.
Job Introduction
We are looking for a Commercial Rights and Business Affairs Manager to join the Digital, Consumer Tech and Innovation legal and business affairs team in the Commercial Rights and Business Affairs department. This is a maternity cover role (12 months) based in London.
What Commercial Rights And Business Affairs Does
* Manage and connect the BBC’s intellectual property, strategic, and business interests.
* Expert negotiation, contracting, and commercial deal-making across the entire BBC Group.
* Make sure intellectual property rights are managed, deals are negotiated in the BBC’s best interests, and business affairs are conducted legally and efficiently.
About Our Team
* We are the Digital, Consumer Tech, and Innovation team, specialising in legal and business affairs for BBC’s audience-facing digital products and consumer technology.
* We support BBC Digital Products like BBC iPlayer, Sounds, BBC News app, BBC Online, connected TV, BBC Bitesize, and Children’s apps.
* Our role involves procuring digital services and providing legal and business affairs support for digital and technology innovation activities.
* We help the BBC innovate and experiment in areas like AI, generative AI, new immersive and personalised formats, early prototype user testing, research and development, tech development collaborations, and tech transfer licensing.
* Additionally, we support one of the world’s largest multimedia archives, BBC Archive.
Why Join Us?
* This is an exciting opportunity at a pivotal time for the BBC. You will be instrumental in helping the BBC experiment, innovate, and keep its digital products competitive.
* Work in a dynamic environment with cutting-edge technology and innovative projects.
* All Commercial Rights and Business Affairs colleagues are 'agile workers’ and our expectation is that you will work an average of 2-3 days per week in BBC buildings in London.
Key Responsibilities And Accountabilities
As Commercial Rights and Business Affairs Manager, you will:
* Provide proactive legal and business affairs support to the BBC’s Product Group, which includes the data, design and engineering teams, Digital Distribution, BBC Archive Technology & Services, archive editorial, and innovation teams. You'll work on procurements for the business areas we support.
* Advise internal stakeholders on key legal issues and risks in contracts and projects, making sure our agreements reflect BBC internal standards and strategy. You'll also provide legal guidance on digital product offerings, innovation initiatives, research and development, and strategic projects.
* Draft and negotiate various agreements, including licensing BBC digital content and assets to external educational, cultural, and technology organisations.
* Shape and develop legal commercial strategy to protect BBC’s intellectual property in two key areas: safeguard our digital product offerings and innovation activities and protect our content when used with generative AI.
* Collaborate with other internal teams as needed, such as editorial, fair trading, information rights legal, brand protection, procurement, and other Commercial Rights and Business Affairs colleagues.
* Lead and support team initiatives to improve and develop streamlined, efficient, and scalable contracting processes, helping the team prioritise work and move quickly.
Knowledge, Skills, Training & Experience
We're looking for a mid-level lawyer who:
* Is enthusiastic about technology and innovation.
* Understands the UK digital market and BBC’s digital output.
* Has experience advising on digital matters.
* Has the right to work in the UK.
* Can help our team transform contracting processes.
Essential Skills And Experience
* Commercial contracting experience: You have experience in procuring digital services (e.g., SaaS, social tools, learning tools, e-analytics, cloud storage).
* Strong negotiating and contracting skills: You can balance deadlines and short-term contract requirements with the long-term business vision.
* Practical and Commercially Focussed Advice: You provide legal, rights, and business affairs advice in easy-to-understand language, effectively applying corporate policy and strategy.
* Legal knowledge and drafting skills: You are knowledgeable about data protection law, consumer protection law, general contract law, and have strong legal drafting capabilities.
* Broad understanding of intellectual property rights: You understand copyright in content, commissioning/production of content, and handling content use requests.
* Enthusiasm for digital, consumer technology, and innovation: You understand the sector and its competitive, regulatory, and policy factors.
* Improving contracting processes: You can lead efforts to make team contracting processes more efficient and scalable.
* Support and Teamwork: You won't be working alone. You'll have full support from the team, and you'll also need to be ready to support them. You'll help others understand issues and risks, know when to seek more information or advice, and escalate when necessary. Additionally, you'll be open to peer review to make sure our output maintains high professional standards and manages legal risks effectively.
Qualifications
* Legal qualification (2-4 PQE)
Desirable Skills And Experience
* Proactive and Creative Problem-Solving: You have a willingness to roll up your sleeves, clear blockers, and think creatively.
* Open-Source Licensing Knowledge: You are familiar with open-source licensing.
* AI Transactional Experience: You have experience involving AI tool procurements.
* Rights Clearance and Copyright Licensing: You have experience in rights clearance and copyright licensing for digital and consumer technologies.
* Public Authority Procurement: You have experience supporting purchases of cloud-based and digital services for public authorities.
* Knowledge of Current and Emerging Technologies: You're knowledgeable about technologies such as generative AI, content personalisation, web games and apps, streaming video services, and social media.
Seniority level
* Mid-Senior level
Employment type
* Full-time
Job function
* Legal
* Industries
* Broadcast Media Production and Distribution
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