Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery... the stuff dreams are made of.
Who We Are...
When we say, "the stuff dreams are made of," we're not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD's vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what's next...
From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.
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General Summary:
This role will primarily support Australia and New Zealand markets but may also cover other territories. WBD seeks an enthusiastic, and motivated team player to work within all commercial and legal aspects of (i) WBD's content commission, co-production, acquisition and talent deals for WBD's products across the ANZ and Pacific Island market and (ii) corporate/commercial legal work which includes pay TV distribution, streaming partnerships, advertising, consumer law and general issues relevant to a content provider, broadcaster and the WBD streaming service / ThreeNow service in the ANZ region
Key Responsibilities:
Business & Legal Affairs:
- Negotiate commercial and legal terms relating to the acquisition, commissioning and co-production of content for WBD's platforms and channels across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific including "ThreeNow" in New Zealand.
- Establish, maintain and develop close working relationships with key internal clients including but not limited to the New Zealand content and production teams, acquisition and digital teams.
- Format, draft, and negotiate programming agreements such as development, acquisition, commission, co-production, format and licensing agreements and associated agreements such as distribution agreements, talent agreements, location and participant release agreements
- Advise and support local content teams in working with local industry bodies and government agencies (eg. "NZ on Air")
- Revise and update WBD's "Deal" content database and such other information tracking mechanisms in use within the company
Corporate/Commercial Legal:
- Draft, review and advise on channel and program distribution contracts with traditional platform operators for carriage of WBD channels and content in ANZ, and distribution of content across new delivery technologies/platforms (mobile telephony, VOD and digital online platforms).
- Draft, review and advise digital partnership contracts, marketing contracts and other related transactions for Threenow service in ANZ and any future streaming service to be launched in ANZ;
- Draft, review and advise on advertising sales contracts on traditional and digital platforms, advertising sales representative agreements for ANZ and other related territories (in the instance of international ad sales).
- Draft, review and advise on broadcast origination, transmission & uplink technology (traditional and digital), IT, research, marketing, inter-company and administrative services related agreements.
General:
- Support broader initiatives in the market for global projects as and when required;
- Review and clearance of programming and content requiring legal vetting;
- Manage dispute resolution and support external litigation matters;
- Advise, support and update the business on regulatory matters and changes across ANZ, including in relation to the Broadcasting Standards Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority and actively engage with relevant regulators;
- Work with APAC legal to provide general legal advice on matters related to the company
- Other support to the APAC team, where required.
Experience required
- Technically proficient lawyer - needs to have excellent understanding of contract and media law and excellent drafting skills. Must be Australia or NZ (or comparable jurisdiction) qualified lawyer - excellent academics; training and experience at top law firm or in-house team an advantage.
- Must have at least 5+ years of relevant experience.
- Understanding of New Zealand and/or Australian production practices.
- Knowledge of government funding model for production an advantage.
- Ability to work autonomously on complex deals and to own key internal commercial relationships.
- Good negotiation skills.
- Flexible and pro-active approach to work.
- Excellent interpersonal skills - ability to work effectively at all levels within the company.
- Clear and concise communicator (both orally and written).
- Well organised and attention to detail: this role requires focus and energy.
- Good commercial knowledge and common sense essential.
- Professional: calm under pressure, clear thinking, well organised, proactive and grasps concepts quickly.
- A good team player, and have flexible, hands on approach.
- Has the maturity and foresight to keep the Legal Director informed on workload and escalating issues to them where risk is high in deals being worked on.
- Ability to manage own time judiciously and deal effectively with competing interests.
- Confident, sociable and ability to interact with clients from different cultures and backgrounds.
Competencies we are looking for:
- Relationship management
- Commercial - curious about the business and actively contributes to discussions
- Willing to challenge and debate issues that matter
- Clear thinking - willing to make sound and prompt decisions
- Credible and Results Driven - able to lead non-complex projects and change programmes.
- Role models WBD values
How We Get Things Done...
This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.
Championing Inclusion at WBD
Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society and the world around us. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law.
If you're a qualified candidate and you require adjustments or accommodations to search for a job opening or apply for a position, please contact us at recruitadmin@wbd.com.