Head of Legal - Maternity Cover

Acamar Films

Acamar Films is an award-winning independent film & television production company. Founded in 2005, Acamar is the creator of the global hit pre-school series ‘Bing’ – which has been carefully crafted to support the healthy development of young children. Over the last 10 years, Acamar has grown into a specialist independent studio with its own award-winning, dedicated, global distribution and licensing organisation.

Since its debut on the BBC in 2014, Bing has won an International Emmy, a Writers Guild Award, and a BAFTA nomination and many other awards. Bing is a highly ranking title on the BBC iPlayer, having been streamed over one billion times, has gained over seven billion lifetime views on YouTube and is now available in over 100 territories. Bing is now watched for over 1 million hours each day on YouTube, and the Bing ‘Watch, Play & Learn’ app has had over 4m downloads in four countries since launch in 2019. 

This is a hugely exciting time to join Acamar,  with active plans to accelerate its global reach, based on a proven track record in Europe, with launches in the USA & Canada, LATAM, Japan, China, India, South East Asia and the Arab world planned over the next 24-36 months.

There are now more than 4,000 licensed Bing products and attractions, including toys, games, books, clothing, theme parks, live events and digital products.

Purpose of the role

The Head of Legal will act as our legal principal in all deal making across a broad range of legal matters including UK and international broadcasting agreements, streaming and VOD licences, talent and other production agreements, merchandising and brand licensing, and general procurement and corporate work (including commercial leases and IT licences). 

This role will sit on our Executive Management team and report to our CFO.  This is a fixed term role, for a maximum period of 12 months.  

Our ideal candidate will be an entrepreneurial, commercially and strategically minded UK qualified Lawyer. They will need to have proven deal making authority and gravitas within all negotiations, backed up with a meticulous eye for detail, sound judgement and a deep practical understanding of the current legal landscape and future legislative changes relevant to the business. Most importantly, the most qualified candidate will be strongly aligned with Acamar core values, which include: Collaboration, creativity, curiosity, courage, diversity, kindness, leadership and integrity.

Experience would ideally include in-house legal and business affairs exposure in a UK TV production environment, or relevant media experience within a reputable law firm. Legal experience within a quickly expanding global start up would be advantageous. 

Key Responsibilities  

• Responsible for all legal and compliance aspects of Acamar’s business.

• Work with the CEO, CFO, Executive Director of Global Licensing and the Executive Director of Sales & Distribution to formulate the best deal terms for key revenue generating agreements, including national and international linear broadcasting, streaming and VOD deals. 
• Actively participate in business strategy meetings.

• Manage all commercial agreements (draft, review, negotiate and complete) with the support of the business. 
• Ensure first class business processes are adopted for contract generation and Rights Management and ensure Acamar’s legal templates are up to date and fit for purpose, and provide training to internal teams and third party partners as required.

• Provide advice and support to the business in relation to applicable laws (in particular relating to intellectual property, data protection, competition law and ethics).

• Ensure that trademark protection and counterfeit policies/processes are robust and effective to protect IP both within the UK and in advance of International expansion.

• Provide expertise and opinion to Acamar’s Senior Management Team and Board of Directors in relation to key legal issues affecting the business as and when they arise.
• Work collaboratively across the entire company to gain a deep understanding of creative and commercial drivers, and develop a 360 degree view of Acamar’s business and structure to ensure all legal documents align with our strategy for growth.

• Provide solutions-based advice to the business, in a practical and commercially focused way on all relevant compliance and legal matters. 
• Provide legal support for shared services such as HR, Operations and Corporate Finance. 

Person Specification 

• Proven Board level negotiation skills, and an experienced and effective negotiator with a track record of agreeing deals in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• A structured thinker and leader with a robust approach to creative decisions 
• Qualified Lawyer with at least 6 years PQE.
• In-house and/or media experience (specifically in TV licensing, VOD and digital platforms deals), an advantage.
• Team player who is willing to support others whilst managing a variety of matters.
• Versatile commercially-minded lawyer.

• Excellent drafting skills with meticulous attention to detail; taking instructions on a wide variety of contracts and producing working drafts (both with and without reliance on precedent) to meet business requirements.
• Experience in IP, media sales, broadcasting, licensing and digital law with a broad understanding of commercial law. Corporate law experience would be an advantage. 
• Experience in commercial environments is imperative, with a natural aptitude for the interactivity between the creative, commercial, production and corporate worlds.
• Experience working internationally on a multinational, cross jurisdictional basis.
• An excellent communicator who can develop and maintain effective internal and external relationships.
• Ability to work proactively, independently and reliably under tight time frames in a fast‐paced environment.
• First class presentation and influencing skills.
• Uncompromising energy and drive. 
• Unafraid to challenge the status quo.
• Solutions-orientated, able to translate intricate deals for non-legal teams. 
• Has emotional intelligence and professionalism and is genuinely communicative and dynamic, entrepreneurial and strategic.
• Is highly organised and efficient - presents clearly and gets to the point.
• Autonomous and readily assumes responsibility - is self-motivated, a starter-finisher, with persistence. 
• Enjoys solving commercial and corporate problems - learns quickly and has clarity of thought. 
• Most importantly, the best qualified candidate will be strongly aligned with Acamar’s Core values, which include: Collaboration, creativity, honesty, diversity, inclusion and kindness.