LEGAL ADVISOR, 2-5 PQE in City of London

Location: London/Remote Hybrid

Salary: £60,000-£75,000 per annum

Length of Contract: Permanent

Company Profile

The BPI champions the UK’s recorded music community, safeguarding the rights of its members and of the artists, performers and label members of collecting body PPL. The BPI’s membership consists of hundreds of independent music businesses and the UK’s three ‘major’ record companies – Universal Music UK, Sony Music Entertainment UK and Warner Music UK. Its total membership taken together accounts for around 85 per cent of legitimate domestic music consumption and 1 in 10 streams around the world. The BPI promotes British music at home and overseas through its trade missions, the Music Exports Growth Scheme and The BRIT Awards, which it owns and organises. It administers The BRIT Certified Platinum, Gold and Silver Awards Programme, co-owns the Official Charts Company with ERA, and is home to The Mercury Prize. The BPI encourages and supports innovation and technology, and additionally provides insights, training and networking with its extensive free masterclasses, networking events, Insight Sessions and reports alongside its communications and public affairs work. The BPI is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. In support of this, the BPI is working closely with its members and industry partners, as well as its Equity and Justice Advisory Group (EJAG). The BPI’s community engagement, focussed on education & wellbeing through the power of music, is directed through The BRIT Trust.

The Opportunity/Job Description

This is an exciting and demanding full-time position in the business legal side of the recorded music industry. You could be a qualified solicitor with at least 3 years PQE commercial legal experience, or a very experienced paralegal. Either way, you must be someone who enjoys legal work in a small in-house environment with a variety of legal work, often with multiple and often complex deadlines. The successful applicant will report to the BPI’s Senior Legal Advisor whilst working closely day-to-day with the five-person Legal team and General Counsel as they provide integrated legal services for the BPI’s interrelated Communications, Content Protection, Digital, Events, Finance, Innovation, Membership, Public Affairs and Research departments.

The BPI follows a hybrid work structure where employees can work remotely, or from our office (in the creative Tileyard hub, King’s Cross, London), based on task requirements or personal work preferences. We anticipate that you will work from our office at a minimum of approximately one day per fortnight. You may be asked to work more from our office during certain periods and you can choose to work from our office at any time you prefer. BPI may assign you to work outside London at various locations where the BRIT Awards and Mercury Prize etc are to be held. Whilst the BPI strives to offer employees flexibility and a good work life balance, in the run-up to the awards shows, and at other intense periods such as litigation, you may be asked to work longer or unsociable hours to assist the Legal team in meeting deadlines.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing commercial contract review, sponsorship and supplier agreements, drafting, negotiation, renewals.
• General support to all arms of the business including BPI Events (BRIT Awards and Mercury Prize), Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS), Music Climate Pact, BPI Innovation Team, BPI’s Data Protection Officer and others.
• Helping to manage the BPI’s licensing programmes and agreements, acting as day-to-day legal lead with agents and licensees; drafting and negotiating trademark licences, and approving product concepts against brand guidelines and legal risk.
• Drafting, maintaining and liaising with news media in relation to new media releases (film and photography) for each of the BPI.
• Implementing BPI’s asset monetisation business plan including protecting and growing the BPI group’s trademark portfolio.
• Working with the Content Protection Unit (CPU) team to assist with the implementation of BPI’s content protection and enforcement strategy including assessing matters for escalation and coordinating evidence capture and preservation.
• Facilitating BPI’s ongoing corporate good governance through collaboratively drafting new policies for employees and members and reviewing and updating governance documents when required, preparing board and committee papers and taking minutes at meetings.
• Flagging potential disputes/problems/content protection issues as early as possible to the General Counsel; preparing clear briefing notes and memos to the General Counsel in that regard; and assisting further where needed.

Ideal Experience

• Experience of working on significant contractual matters with a media and entertainment industry focus, including IP licensing.
• Advantageous but not essential to also have business development experience relating to the innovation and exploitation of rights.

Key Skills

• Understanding of intellectual property as it relates to the commercial elements of the media and entertainment.
• Understanding of IR35, GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018; and the ability to draft data processing agreements and clauses as required.
• Professional written and oral communication skills, including an ability to crystalize and explain complicated detail in simple, practical terms.
• A clear, diplomatic and articulate communicator, confident in being able to exercise sound judgement to candidly advise colleagues across the business and make relevant decisions.
• The ability to adapt and work inclusively with colleagues who have a wide range of expertise and working styles.
• The ability to work calmly, diplomatically and successfully to competing multiple and often complex deadlines in high pressure situations where they occur.
• Excellent self-management able to manage busy workload and ability to multi-task, prioritising and reliably managing effectively deadlines from sometimes competing needs in the business.
• Proactive problem-solving skills and ability to react and adapt to changing priorities and new information in a dynamic legal environment.
• Ability to absorb complex information, perform in-depth legal research, and find relevant precedents and legislation.

Salary and Benefits

Salary of £60,000- £75,000 per annum depending on experience. Performance-related bonus. Three days of personal volunteering time per annum. Private Medical Insurance. Permanent Health Insurance. Life insurance. Annual Wellness Allowance. A hybrid work environment with flexible working policies. 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.

Equal Opportunities & Diversity

The BPI welcomes applications from suitably qualified candidates of all social backgrounds, including across all genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and those who identify as Deaf, disabled or from neurodiverse backgrounds. The BPI is an equal opportunity employer and any decision to appoint will be made solely based on candidate merit and business need. We actively encourage the best possible candidates to apply, regardless of their gender, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or political belief. We believe that representation matters, and we are passionate about developing a diverse workforce at all levels of the organisation. We warmly encourage applications from historically under-represented groups, including but not limited to candidates from Black, Asian or ethnic minority backgrounds; members of the LGBTQIA+ community; people who identify as non-binary or gender nonconforming; people with a disability; and people who are neurodivergent.

If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation during the process of application and selection, please do not hesitate to let us know when applying. Reasonable adjustments we can make include, but are not limited to, extra time during tasks, using a different video conferencing application, providing a British Sign Language interpreter or holding the interview at a specific time of day. The BPI is proud to be a Disability Committed and Living Wage employer. The BPI is committed to offering an interview to Deaf and or disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job.

Application Process

We know that applying for a new job can be full of uncertainties and we look to provide upfront information where possible. Our process for recruiting this role will comprise a minimum of four and maximum of five stages. After each stage, we will contact you as soon as possible to inform you if you will be progressing to the next stage. The closing date for applications is 26 February 2026.

• Stage 1: Submit a CV and cover letter each totalling no more than one side of A4 here. We ask all candidates to complete the BPI’s Equal Opportunities monitoring form, which can be found. Equal Opportunities monitoring forms are anonymous and are processed independently to your application by members of the team not involved in the hiring process. Your application will be considered on a name blind basis by our recruiters. Following your application, you may be invited to a pre-screening call with our recruiters. Calls will take place on a rolling basis until 27 February 2026.
• Stage 2: 45-minute virtual interview with members of BPI legal team to be held the weeks commencing 2 March 2026. Interviews can be scheduled flexibly if needed.
• Stage 3: A written task, comprising some practical legal work similar to what would be expected of you once in the role, conducted in a controlled environment. The BPI legal team will arrange test directly with candidates week commencing 9 March 2026. 1 hour in-person interview with BPI’s General Counsel and members of BPI legal team to be held the week commencing 16 March 2026, part of which will be to discuss your written test.
• Stage 4: Employment offer, subject to reference.