Director of Legal & Commercial Affairs

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world, with a significant presence in the UK and throughout Europe (trading as AEG Europe). This includes such iconic and large-scale music arenas as The O2 arena, Uber Arena in Berlin and Barclays Arena in Hamburg. AEG Presents, which is part of AEG, is one of the UK’s leading concert promoters, festival producers and, in the UK, also owns/operates smaller-sized venues such as the Eventim Apollo and Indigo at The O2 in London, the University of Wolverhampton at The Halls in Wolverhampton and the Watford Colosseum.

We are seeking a pro-active, energetic and confident Director of Legal & Commercial Affairs with 10-12 years post-qualification experience to join our legal team and help manage the day-to-day legal requirements of AEG Europe and AEG Presents’ business activities, providing general legal advice and support in all areas of commercial contracting and operations. Based in the European head office in central London, the successful candidate will report to the SVP & General Counsel and will line manage a Legal Counsel while supporting the wider AEG Europe and AEG Presents legal team. They will have strong technical, drafting and communication skills as well as excellent leadership and mentoring capabilities, together with the ability to thrive in a challenging, fast paced and exciting environment.

ROLE AND DUTIES:

• Assist the legal team with all aspects of the legal function within AEG Europe and AEG Presents, including involvement in a diverse range of commercial and legal matters across venues and businesses in the UK and Europe as well as touring activities and festival properties.
• Drafting, reviewing, negotiating and finalising a range of commercial agreement-types, including sponsorship agreements, joint venture arrangements, venue hire agreements, agreements relating to hospitality offerings at AEG venues and events, ticketing and hospitality agreements, major artist performance contracts and co-promotion and sell-off contracts with partners throughout Europe.
• Building constructive working relationships with AEG’s promoter, festival and venue teams and other senior staff to facilitate regular communication of deal terms and to support their legal requirements across the full breadth of the AEG Presents’ business areas.
• Managing a wide range of varied commercial deals across AEG’s music festivals and outdoor concerts.
• Supporting venue operations, including third party hires, filming agreements, premises licence applications/variations, service provider agreements, and real estate and development-related agreements.
• Providing general support and legal advice to the business, including compliance, data protection/GDPR, insurance, company secretarial, health and safety, IP/trademarks, litigation, employment, NDAs, CAP code/ASA compliance, consumer rights, ticketing terms and conditions and website terms and policies.
• Assisting with the compilation, maintenance and updating of Legal department know how and assisting with the review and preparation of precedent agreements.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE:

• A diligent, qualified lawyer with a current practising certificate for England and Wales and 10-12 years post-qualification experience.
• A strong track record in commercial negotiations and contracting.
• A demonstrable ability to build good working relationships across diverse business areas and functions.
• Ability, and enthusiasm, to provide support, supervision and developmental guidance to more junior members of the legal team.

DESIRABLE ATTRIBUTES:

• Previous in-house experience as part of a commercial legal team.
• Experience within the venues/music/media industry with a keen interest and knowledge of the industry.
• Experience in corporate matters, including mergers and acquisitions, shareholder agreements, and joint ventures.
• A familiarity with real estate and construction matters such as lease and licence arrangements, and JCT construction contracts.

KEY SKILLS:

• The ability and experience to confidently and proactively lead on high-level commercial negotiations.
• A practical, commercially-focused, problem-solving approach, with the ability to prioritise effectively.
• Proven ability to work effectively as part of a team and establish good professional relationships with colleagues.
• Well-organised, thorough and able to cope with a diverse workload.
• Highly efficient and able to work autonomously, with a high level of independence.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with strong interpersonal skills and high emotional intelligence.
• A flexible and positive attitude to work.
• A good sense of humour and a love of the live music, sports and entertainment businesses!

This is a standout role for a senior commercial lawyer who wants to work at the heart of the live entertainment industry, leading complex commercial deals across music, sport, festivals and major venues across Europe. If you are interested in hearing more about this opportunity, please submit your CV via the apply button.