Business Affairs Assistant in London

We are looking for an exceptional individual with flawless administrative and organisational skills for the position of Business Affairs Assistant. Based at our busy production office in Covent Garden, this exciting role will report into the Business Affairs Manager and Head of Investment. The position sits within the Business Affairs team, which is responsible for all major contractual negotiations, including rights agreements, play commissions, senior creative team agreements, theatre agreements and financial contracts with investors and co‑producers, and has an overview of the business management of the company.

The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate discretion, diplomacy and a keen eye for detail. They should be able to manage a large and diverse workload with the ability to prioritise tasks and projects. Previous experience as an administrative assistant and/or a background in contracts or business affairs is desired but not essential. A proven track record in either a production office, talent agency, or in administrative work gained in a creative environment is preferred. We are looking for someone friendly and passionate about theatre with a “can‑do” attitude who’s highly numerate and competent in Excel and Word.

• Support the Legal, Commercial and Business Affairs teams at Sonia Friedman Productions.
• Communicate directly and on behalf of the Business Affairs team with staff, production personnel, co‑producers, investors and other stakeholders, on matters related to the Business Affairs team’s work.
• Assist the Business Affairs team with diary management, scheduling meetings and making travel arrangements, where necessary.
• Prepare paperwork for meetings and minute meetings, as required, ensuring that minutes are both accurate and distributed promptly.
• Assist the Business Affairs team in monitoring the status of a range of creative and commercial deals, ensuring deadlines are met and activities are on track.
• Manage the contract logging database.
• Ensure that rights database is regularly updated, logging licence requests and forthcoming productions.
• Ensure that investor records and databases are regularly updated as well as logging investor and co‑producer interest in forthcoming productions.
• Liaise with and supply information to investors, as required.
• Draft investment agreements and other investment paperwork, as necessary.
• Liaise with the Business Affairs team and Development team to issue invoices and to ensure that invoices are accurate and allocated to the correct account codes.
• Reconcile business credit card and expense receipts, as required.
• Draft other forms of standard contracts for the Business Affairs team.
• Create and analyse financial, royalty and salary illustrations, as required.
• Maintain an appropriate level of confidentiality in handling the work of the department, in particular ensuring that confidential documents are appropriately and securely filed.
• Keep paper and electronic filing up to date.
• Keep abreast of current union agreements, trade agreements and statutory legislation which may impact on SFP’s producing activity.
• Proactively deal with internal and external matters on behalf of the Business Affairs team, ensuring any action required is clearly communicated.
• Undertake general administrative and research assistance as necessary.
• Be present at SFP performances, events and meetings as required (which may include some evening and weekend work).

We are a Disability Confident Committed Employer, which means that we are taking action to ensure people with disabilities and long‑term health conditions feel supported, engaged and able to fulfil their potential in the workplace. We will offer an interview or recruitment event to disabled candidates who tell us they wish to participate in the scheme and who demonstrate in their application that they best meet the essential criteria for the role. Where we receive more applications than we are reasonably able to interview for any given role, we will retain applications for the next available interview opportunity wherever possible.