Contracts Executive

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Package Description

Band: C
Contract type: Permanent
Location: London based role with some flexibility - i.e. hybrid working
Salary: £28,000-£38,000 (plus 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 Purpose

We are looking for a Commercial Rights and Business Affairs Executive to join the Digital, Consumer Tech and Innovation legal and business affairs team in the Commercial Rights and Business Affairs department. This is a permanent role based in London.

What Commercial Rights and Business Affairs Does:

1. Manage and connect the BBC's intellectual property, strategic, and business interests.
2. Expert negotiation, contracting, and commercial deal-making across the entire BBC Group.
3. 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:

1. 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.
2. We support BBC Digital Products like BBC iPlayer, Sounds, BBC News app, BBC Online, connected TV, BBC Bitesize, and Children's apps.
3. Our role involves procuring digital services and providing legal and business affairs support for digital and technology innovation activities.
4. 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.
5. Additionally, we support one of the world's largest multimedia archives, BBC Archive.

Why Join Us?

1. 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.
2. Work in a dynamic environment with cutting-edge technology and innovative projects.
3. 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 Executive you will:

1. Work with existing templates to draft and negotiate contracts for digital services including call-off contracts under Framework Agreements, tech licensing and collaboration agreements. Collaborate with the business to understand their needs and clarify contractual requirements.
2. Identify issues and risks in contracts. Discuss and negotiate contracts details with external companies. Work with the business to make sure that contracts have the necessary protections. Summarise issues and risks in clear, easy-to-read language.
3. Prepare and issue Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for technical and business discussions with external companies. Also, you will explain NDA terms to external companies clearly. Negotiate amendments to NDAs acceptable.
4. Carry out general administrative duties: help keep our team worklist up-to-date, input into the wider team weekly updates, get contracts signed, file contracts and other legal documents, draft cover letters and correspondence, co-ordinate and arrange internal and external meetings.
5. Maintain the online contracts database for the entire team, making sure it's always up to date. Organise shared folders and emails to align with our team's shared file structure.
6. Handle straightforward day-to-day legal issues. Escalate complex issues to Commercial Rights and Business Affairs Managers in the team or the Senior Lawyer, or other BBC internal departments when necessary. Get feedback on your output from your team colleagues to make sure your advice is accurate and aligns with what really matters to the business.
7. Give support to your team including assisting team members with complex procurements, doing legal research, reviewing contracts and documents and giving advice on them.

Knowledge, Skills, Training & Experience

We're looking for a law graduate who:

1. Is enthusiastic about technology and innovation.
2. Understands BBC's digital output.
3. Has the right to work in the UK.
4. Can help our team transform contracting processes.

Essential Skills and Experience:

1. Commercial contracting experience: You have a law degree and hands-on experience working in commercial contracts, either in a law firm or tech company.
2. Legal knowledge and drafting skills: You are knowledgeable about general contract law and intellectual property, and you can draft documents in clear, easy-to-understand language.
3. Microsoft Word Skills: You're skilled in formatting complex documents in Microsoft Word, including tables of contents, cross-references, headings, and auto-numbering. Experience with Microsoft SharePoint is a plus.
4. Process Improvement: You can identify and implement ways to make our contracting processes more efficient and scalable.
5. Attention to Detail: You excel at spotting key information in large, sometimes unclear documents.
6. Organisational Skills: You have strong organisational and administrative abilities, can work quickly and accurately, and manage a high volume of contracts within tight deadlines and shifting priorities.
7. Enthusiasm for digital, consumer technology, and innovation: You understand the consumer digital sector and are interested in the regulation and policies affecting it.
8. Collaborative Attitude: You're flexible, positive, and eager to learn. You enjoy working as part of a team to get the job done.
9. Knowledge Sharing: You are always ready to share knowledge with your colleagues, communicate ideas clearly, and make sure everyone understands.
10. Support and Teamwork: You'll have full support from your colleagues and be ready to support them in return. You'll help others understand issues and risks, know when to seek more information or advice, and escalate when necessary. You'll also be open to peer review to maintain high professional standards and manage legal risks effectively.

Qualifications:

1. Law Degree

Desirable Skills and Experience

1. Proactive and Creative Problem-Solving: You're ready to roll up your sleeves, clear blockers, and think outside the box.
2. Strong Negotiating and Contracting Skills: You can juggle deadlines and short-term contract needs while keeping the long-term business vision in mind.
3. Rights Clearance and Copyright Licensing: You have experience in rights clearance and copyright licensing, especially for consumer digital technologies.
4. Database and Spreadsheet Proficiency: You're comfortable using database and spreadsheet software.
5. 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.