Senior Manager, Digital Legal & Business Affairs

The Role 

The Senior Manager Digital Business Affairs will provide essential legal and business affairs support for Universal Music’s Global Digital Strategy group. Based in London, but working in an international team located primarily in Santa Monica and London, you will negotiate, advise on and execute a high volume of commercial transactions, partnering closely with business counterparts to deliver Universal Music’s digital strategy across a wide range of service providers and platforms.  The role demands a strong interest in, and aptitude for, understanding and navigating fast-moving technological developments – such as advances in artificial intelligence – that are reshaping how music is distributed, discovered, and experienced, together with the ability to translate these changes into practical legal and commercial solutions. You will have a busy and varied workload and will be interacting and building relationships across multiple internal teams as well as with external business contacts, in multiple jurisdictions. You will manage your own deals and supervise and train more junior members of the team. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Draft and negotiate digital licence agreements, including those with complex commercial structures, applying a strong understanding of underlying technical requirements and their commercial and legal implications  

• Undertake a broad range of other drafting and negotiation responsibilities, such as live performance agreements, digital merchandising agreements and other general commercial contracts 

• Advise local and regional operating companies on Universal Music’s digital strategy   

• Provide strategic advice and support to business counterparts, senior executives, local and regional legal and business teams on a broad range of legal and commercial matters, including complex content and technology-related legal issues 

• Develop and maintain an in-depth understanding of technological developments impacting the music industry – including emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence – alongside new digital music products and services, as well as the evolving legal and policy landscape affecting digital music distribution in the UK, the US, Europe and internationally 

• Identify and mitigate legal, ethical and reputational risks 

• Work cross-functionally with other Universal Music teams to provide advice, and to execute and advance Universal Music’s digital strategy  

• Liaise and develop relationships with key individuals within local and international Universal Music teams, and with external business contacts 

• Contribute to team processes, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement initiatives 

• Develop and train more junior team members, providing real-time feedback and opportunities for growth and career progression 

Skills and Experience Required  

• Qualified solicitor with at least 3 years relevant post qualification experience in commercial, media, or technology law 

• Experience drafting and negotiating complex, multi-territory, digital licensing agreements, ideally with or for digital music service providers, social media or other technology companies  

• Excellent understanding of music copyright, and legal and regulatory issues in the area of digital music licensing 

• Excellent commercial judgement, with the ability to balance legal risk against business objectives in a pragmatic, solutions focused way  

• Demonstrated understanding of the digital music ecosystem, including digital service providers, rights structures and revenue models  

• Strong understanding of, and interest in, emerging technologies impacting the music industry 

• Ability to understand and engage with technical concepts and translate them into clear legal and commercial advice 

• Highly motivated with a strong sense of personal accountability.  Results driven, detail oriented, proactive with a creative approach to problem solving 

• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-volume transactional environment, with the ability to prioritise and manage multiple matters simultaneously 

• Intellectually curious, able to adapt quickly and embrace new concepts  

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal, and ability to effectively collaborate and build relationships with a wide range of stakeholders at all levels within the organisation and with external partners