Senior Lawyer, Distribution Legal

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: E

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent Full-time.

DEPARTMENT: BBC Legal Distribution Team

LOCATION: Role based in Londons Broadcasting House with some hybrid working. Our in-office team days are currently Mondays and Tuesdays with additional days as required.

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: 104000 - 114000pa plus London weighting (5441pa) depending on relevant skills knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

Were happy to discuss flexible working. If youd like to please indicate your preference in the application. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior Lawyer to join the BBC Distribution Legal team which currently consists of the Head of Distribution Legal two Senior Lawyers and twoLawyers. Trainees rotate into the team periodically.

As a Senior Lawyer youll play a key role in supporting the BBCs public service distribution activitiesensuring BBC channels content and products reach audiences across a wide range of platforms and devices including Pay TV Smart TVs streaming devices mobiles smart speakers in-car systems and social media.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

You will work in a fast-paced environment supporting a strategy-driven client team responding to changes in Media and Technology regulation and ensuring the BBCs own distribution policy is consistently applied there is always something new to consider and advise on. You will have the opportunity to grow your experience within supportive friendly and collaborative legal and client teams.

You will advise on negotiate and draft a wide rangeof BBC distribution agreementsincludingsignificant carriage agreementson pay TV platforms and agreements for access to BBC services on Smart TVs set top boxes and streaming sticks. You will manage contractual arrangements with Big Tech which facilitate BBC content iPlayer and BBC Sounds on mobile devices and in car as well as agreements which relate to podcasts radio and audio distribution on third party services and smart speakers. You will also provide legal advice and support in relation to innovative social media platforms.

You will also advise on and support BBCdistributionpolicy and strategy worksuch as engagement with DCMS Ofcom and industry bodieson issues such as the future of TV distribution anddigital transition.

You will work with a wide range of internal teams and BBCs external and joint venture distribution partners.

The role sits within thewider BBC LegalDivision which is responsible for providing legal advice and assistance acrossthe BBC and for developing and implementing the BBCs legal strategy. The Legal Division is led by the BBCs General Counsel. It is made up of the following departments: General Counsels Office Litigation and Information Rights Intellectual Property Employment ProgrammeLegal Advice Commercial Data Protection and Technology Distributionand Competition and Regulatory Law.

On one of our in-office days we are co-located with the client team. Being embedded with the client team means you have the opportunity to be closely involved with their projects from the very beginning.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT:

• You will provide expert legal advice on complex distribution arrangements across multiple platforms including broadcast digital and streaming linear and non-linear for TV and audio.
• You will negotiate draft and conclude a wide range of agreements to support the BBCs distribution activities.
• You will anticipate and assess risk and propose suitable practical and contractual mitigations.
• You will liaise with stakeholders across the BBC to support strategic projects.
• You will assist and support the development of junior lawyers and trainees in the team.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

• A qualified lawyer with a minimum of 5 years PQE with substantial experience in broadcast media or technology gained with a leading law firm and/or specialist IP Commercial or technology team.
• Significant experience in handling IP commercial or technology issues in the media sector.
• Substantial experience in reviewing drafting negotiating and concluding carriage and distribution agreements and other ancillary legal documentation.
• Demonstrable experience in providing practical and commercially focused legal advice.
• Excellent communication skills and experience of building relationships with clients and colleagues.

DESIRED BUT NOT REQUIRED:

• A high level of technology literacy including familiarity with Smart tv interfaces streaming video services social media IPTV mobile media and related functionality.
• In-house experience.
• Experience of regulatory and data protection law.
• Knowledge of media rights and industry practices.
• Experience of dealing with artificial intelligence.

If you can bring some of these skills and experiences along with transferable strengths wed love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

Before your start date you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges in line with our Contracts of Employment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.

BPS25