Business Affairs Manager in London

Who We Are in the UK? Spark Foundry, the Acceleration Agency. We help brands to identify, learn and respond to opportunities faster than the competition. Every client has an area of their business they need to accelerate, from short-term goals to long-term transformation. We have proven our approach during the most difficult year on record. Now we are using it to provide a launchpad for their future. Come be an accelerator with us.

How we accelerate:

• Planning: an approach that works in practice rather than theory, arming planners with the ability to create cutting edge campaigns.
• Intelligence: a suite of tools that give definitive answers to big questions, and uncovers actionable insights about real people.
• Trading: a model built on flexibility and trusted relationships, underpinned with bold guarantees.
• Relationships: a culture of asking challenging questions to better understand the brief - we are not a 'yes' agency.
• People: a strong history of recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds and accelerating their careers.

Our Commitment: We are diverse through our experience, people and the clients we look after - and we celebrate that diversity. Our people hold us accountable to our beliefs and via regular surveys and our grass roots D&I team, The Collective, and internal next generation board, Firestarters, we hold regular events and work continually towards generating ideas, initiatives and educating our people to ensure we are a diverse and inclusive agency. As part of our dedication to create an inclusive and diverse workforce, Spark Foundry is committed to equal access to opportunity for people without regard to race, age, sex, disability, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, gender identity or religion.

About Publicis Media Content (PMC) and the Partnerships team: PMC is the content service for Publicis Media which works across Publicis agencies, Spark Foundry, Starcom and Zenith providing clients with content strategy & planning, creative, production, social, influencers and partnerships. As part of PMC, the Partnerships team consists of around 32 individuals who produce media partnerships and sponsorship deals between clients and media partners across a large range of sectors and media channels. They work with global and household name brands including Spotify, Nando's and Adobe. This is a pivotal role where you will be working with a friendly and vibrant team and supporting them with media partnership and sponsorship contracts, and in doing so, supporting the Legal and Business Affairs Director and the wider partnerships and Publicis Legal team. You will play an important part in the team's partnership and sponsorship contract review process and negotiations in liaison with your manager and the Publicis legal team and ensure this is as fluid as possible balancing priorities within tight timescales. We are looking for someone with experience working across contract review, management and negotiation, ideally in a media environment.

What you'll do:

• Review commercial and usage terms with the partnerships team, ensuring necessary content usage rights are acquired.
• Review and revise commercial and usage provisions in contracts, working with the Publicis Legal team as needed.
• Manage and mitigate risks associated with media partnerships and sponsorships, working with the Publicis Legal team as needed:
• Highlight and identify issues and risks to the media agency or the client, depending on whether the agency is acting as agent or principal.
• Liaise with the Publicis Legal team to ensure full understanding of risk and potential risk mitigation for clients and/or Publicis agencies.
• Manage a large volume of correspondence and contracts and prioritise based on lead times, client requirements and complexity.
• Draft statements of work and agency authorisation letters for client approval.
• Build trusted relationships with the Partnerships team, media owners and the Publicis Legal team.
• Escalate contractual risks to decision makers for review and approval.

What you'll need:

• Solid experience reviewing and negotiating contracts, ideally media contracts and with a full understanding of principal / agent relationships.
• Working knowledge of media landscape (media channels or media production).
• Understanding of difference between contracting as principal or agent.
• Awareness of on and offline advertising regulations, particularly around creation of content.
• Excellent communication skills to present contract issues in a clear and concise manner.
• Ability to build and develop relationships with key stakeholders.
• Good negotiation skills and with strong ability to represent the client and media agency in contractual matters in a firm but amicable manner.

PMC has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Plans we also offer:

• WORK YOUR WORLD: opportunity to work anywhere in the world, where there is a Publicis office, for up to 6 weeks a year.
• REFLECTION DAYS: Two additional days of paid leave to step away from your usual day-to-day work and create time to focus on your well-being and self-care.
• BENEFITS: 24/7 helpline to support you on a personal and professional level. Access to remote GPs, mental health support and CBT. Wellbeing content and lifestyle coaching.
• FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES: We provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity, Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental Leave.
• FLEXIBLE WORKING, BANK HOLIDAY SWAP & BIRTHDAY DAY OFF: You are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday, from your first day of employment.
• GREAT LOCAL DISCOUNTS: This includes membership discounts with Soho Friends, local restaurants and retailers in Westfield White City and Television Centre.

Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us! Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full time employees being office-based three days during the working week. We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances (such as neurodiversity, physical or mental impairments or a medical condition) that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness. Rest assured, disclosing this information will not impact your treatment in our process.