Senior Legal Counsel- Central Team

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients, and communities.

Working at WPP means being part of a global network of more than 100,000 talented people dedicated to doing extraordinary work for our clients. We operate in over 100 countries, with corporate headquarters in New York, London and Singapore.

WPP is a world leader in marketing services, with deep AI, data and technology capabilities, global presence and unrivalled creative talent. Our clients include many of the biggest companies and advertisers in the world, including approximately 300 of the Fortune Global 500.

Our people are the key to our success. We're committed to fostering a culture of creativity, belonging and continuous learning, attracting and developing the brightest talent, and providing exciting career opportunities that help our people grow. 

Why we're hiring:

The role is to act as in-house legal counsel to the UK business supporting their commercial and client teams and to support the Global General Counsel as part of the wider GroupM Legal Team.

The successful candidate will not only provide the expected legal expertise in drafting and negotiating contracts and policy, but to also understand how to support commercial negotiations in line with best practice and group guidance, and be keen to understand and learn in a fast paced environment.

The ideal candidate will be legally astute and be a qualified lawyer who has worked in a well-recognised UK commercial law firm and preferably with inhouse experience. They should have significant experience in drafting and negotiating commercial contracts ideally in a media and/or technology context. Knowledge of intellectual property and/or data privacy desirable.

Travel may be required from time to time.

What you'll be doing:

Responsibilities 

As well as working closely with the commercial team, the key areas of responsibility for this role are:

• Drafting, negotiating and advising on a range of media services, creative content, IT supplier agreements, technology licences, data processing agreements and non-disclosure agreements
• Drafting and negotiating talent/influencer agreements
• Advising on regulatory and policy compliance
• Supporting the business on deal making in relation to complex and innovative projects
• Keeping abreast of industry regulation, providing legal advice on governance and law change developments across social, media, ecommerce, data privacy and security issues, the transfer, use and storage of data and ePrivacy
• Training and advising the business on risk, compliance, protection matters and relevant aspects of law
• Working with other key stakeholders in the business to set strategy and policies for managing risk in new and emerging products and services
• Helping to create a high profile of the legal resource throughout the business and encouraging active legal involvement in operational decision making
• Responsibility for legal aspects of pitch responses and client renegotiations
• Managing relationships with internal group counsel (WPP/GroupM) & external law firms and other professional advisors (notably auditors)
• Development of user friendly contract templates that can be utilised across the business
• Managing capture and storage of contracts
• Coordinating the implementation of GroupM level legal initiatives
• Implementing data privacy good practice and assisting the business with data privacy compliance issues
• Managing & preventing client litigation
• Advising on reputation management
• IP and copyright

What you'll need:

Experience and Qualifications

Essential criteria:

• 7 years post qualification experience
• Excellent communicator - ability to explain legal issues clearly without jargon to commercial teams and clients
• Ability to draft from precedent and from scratch
• Ability to prioritize, solve problems and provide business solutions to legal issues in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to manage fast-paced workload and escalate issues as appropriate
• Commercial thinker – ability to understand the tensions between commercial objectives and legal requirements, and resolve those tensions
• Operational / commercial experience, must be able to add-value, support / enable / facilitate change
• Collaborative team player, relationship builder with a can-do attitude, lots of energy and drive required with a well-structured and precise way of working
• Fluency in English

Desirable criteria:

• Media / advertising contract experience desirable but not essential

 

 

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

WPP is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

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