Sr. Business Affairs Manager

Description :

• This position supports the marketing organization by ensuring creative deliverables are fully cleared to go-live with permissions documented and licensing/terms contracted.
• The Senior Business Affairs Manager will focus on the various aspects of using talent (non-union, union/SAG, employee) - booking, contracting, payments, etc., rights and clearances for marketing, production and branded content, negotiating asset usage terms, licensing assets and overseeing the various stages of finalizing contractual paperwork.
• This role is a bridge between creative teams and the operational aspects of securing rights and licensing assets and talent
• Assess the desired goals of creative leads and production and offer advice about the best solutions for assets/talent or guide them towards more feasible approaches that are better aligned to project budget or timing.
• Vendor and contract management including negotiation, routing through Procurement, Legal and for signatures, opening POs, ensuring payments and ongoing tracking of all contracts.
• Track expiration dates of assets/talent and proactively report when renewals or relicensing is needed.
• Work with external agencies to manage renewals of expiring content.
• Leverage tools and technologies to make business affairs processes more efficient.
• Introduce new tools and technologies to stay current with industry trends.
• Monitor workload, productivity, and success metrics and make adjustments to defined goals/objectives
• GoFormz, DocuSign: Use of software to capture signatures and finalize contractual documents
• Drafting non-union talent contracts, updating trackers, IP clearances and blur notes, licensing for music, photography, video, negotiating rates with talent agents and suppliers of content, coordinating payments to talent, meeting with creative teams and operations, presenting to leadership and diverse work groups, script, Management of Stock Houses (Music, photo, video, SFX, etc.), Sourcing assets

Qualifications :

• Bachelor's Degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Film/Video Production or related field required
• Has held a Business Affairs role at an external creative agency or in-house creative studio (4 - 7 years)
• Experience with intellectual property, licensing, clearances and usage rights for talent (union/SAG, non-union, employee) and assets.(4 - 7 years)
• Well versed in the creative development process and stages of full-scale video/photo production.
• Must know when business affairs-related milestones need to be addressed. (4 - 7 years)
• Experience developing and implementing creative operations processes and policies; and worked to ensure compliance. (0-2 years)
• Mentorship: Be a lead source of information about business affairs operations/principles and share that knowledge with others.
• Change Management: Identify efficiencies to simplify and streamline the creative development process - and help build new processes and/or implement new solutions.
• Solutions-Oriented: An answer should rarely end with "no, we can't" - think creatively and proactively and draw-up a plan B and C.
• Critical Thinker and Investigative: Ask follow-up questions to truly understand a request or question.
• Ability to research and distill intellectual property, clearance and copyright rules/information.
• Rights Management: Advise creative teams and production by recommending usage terms for assets/talent - including media, term, territory, use, exclusivity, etc.
• Asset Licensing: Familiar with how to source, negotiate terms for and contract various types of assets (e.g. video, photo, music, SFX, broadcast clips, publication headlines, notable individuals, landmarks, etc.)
• Talent Booking: Familiar with how to book, negotiate terms for and contract various types of talent (e.g. union/SAG, non-union, VO, employee, etc.).
• Basic knowledge of union/SAG rules and know when to seek guidance from experts (external signatory or Legal).
• Microsoft Apps, Adobe Workfront + Adobe Apps, Docusign, GoFormz
• 3-5 years of business affairs experience in an agency or in-house studio, 3-5 years of working in creative development for video/photo production
• Experience working with SAG signatories and non-union talent agents, well versed in industry terminology
• Strong attention to detail, Ability to juggle MANY projects at once, Leadership, working with a diverse team of skills, proactive planner for unforeseen circumstances, Can Do mindset, Operations mindset

Benefits:

Healthcare Insurance: Synectics offers eligible employees and their dependents healthcare coverage through BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois. Eligibility begins on the 1st day of the calendar month following 60 days of continuous full time employment with Synectics. Premiums are subsidized by Synectics.

Dental Insurance: Synectics offers eligible employees and their dependents a dental plan through MetLife. Eligibility begins on the 1st day of the calendar month following 60 days of continuous full time employment with Synectics.

Vision Insurance : Synectics offers eligible employees vision insurance through VSP. Eligibility begins on the 1st day of the calendar month following 60 days of continuous full time employment with Synectics.401(k) Plan: The Synectics Inc. Investment Savings Retirement Plan. Synectics offers all employees who are 21 years of age or older the opportunity to invest in the 401(k) Plan on the first enrollment date that is at least 30 days after employment begins. Enrollment dates are each January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st.

Technical Certification Bonus: Synectics is pleased to award its employees a bonus of up to $500 for an approved professional certification. In determining the bonus amount, Synectics will consider the cost of the test(s) for any certification relating to your current position, achieved during your employment with us. Only one Certification Bonus per calendar year may be awarded per employee. Only current, active employees will be eligible to receive this bonus. It will be awarded 90 days after the Synectics office has received documentation confirming the successful completion of the certification.

Synectics is an equal opportunity employer.