Head of Business and Legal Affairs, Natural History Unit Head of Business and Legal Affairs, Natural History Unit

The role is to be based in Bristol and will report into the Director of Business & Legal Affairs, Factual.

This role will be responsible for the provision of expert, proactive and highly proficient tactical and strategic business and legal affairs advice on all matters relating to the Natural History Unit, makers of - amongst many other successes - Prehistoric Planet, Frozen Planet, Mammals, Planet Earth, Springwatch and Deadly 60.

Day to day

• Leading a team in the provision of first-class business and legal affairs support to production and commercial teams on a range of programmes for BBC and other commissioners (such as Netflix, NatGeo and Apple) across the NHU slate.


• Work closely with relevant internal and external teams to ensure the best possible outcome for the business is achieved.


• Lead or oversee negotiation of a range of agreements across NHU ensuring a co-ordinated approach to negotiation of deals with the market and trouble-shooting on more challenging deals to support the best business outcome.


• Provide inspirational leadership and support career development and talent retention for the NHU and BLA team. Play an active role as a key part of the NHU and BLA Factual leadership teams. Acting as a sounding board on a range of legal and non-legal issues, generating ideas and improvements to develop and deliver against wider strategy., Confidently forge excellent relationships at senior level across BBC Studios Factual Productions. Represent BLA at the most senior level with authority, credibility, tact and diplomacy. To be a recognisable and vocal ambassador and advocate of the strategy/growth plan and deal effectively at senior leadership level.


• Work closely with the Director of Business & Legal Affairs, Factual to encourage good team work and togetherness across all BLA teams. To develop the skills of the team reporting in delivering a first class professional support function for the whole of BLA. To live, embrace and role model the BBC Group values and help develop and support a culture of trust, empowerment, collaboration, creativity and diversity.


• Work with other senior lawyers across Factual to judge, set and promote policies and standards in a way that encourages innovation and a commercial approach while at the same time ensuring the BBC Group is not exposed to unacceptable risk. To advise on and lead the team on managing production risks effectively. To mitigate legal, contractual and business risk, resolve disputes and protect the BBC's brand and reputation.


• Ensure applicable governance, policy and compliance frameworks are followed in Factual (including all BBC Group rights frameworks) and work with the Director of BLA, Factual in litigation, legal and compliance issues across Factual, engaging with appropriate experts internally and externally to resolve and reporting upwards as appropriate.
  
  Qualified lawyer significant experience within the media industry.


• As an expert in thefield, providing professional leadership and act as a role model to their teams and colleagues across the NHU.


• Deep understanding of the way in which programmes are commissioned, financed and produced.


• Adept at managing numerous, diverse senior and executive level stakeholders, often operating under tight timescales and managing numerous competing priorities.


• A convincing and persuasive communicator, required to modify beliefs and opinions of teams, as well as senior stakeholders, able to establish effective and collaborative relations across departments, and external agencies/stakeholders where required.


• Highly business-oriented operating with a commercial approach which enables a quick response to market changes.


• Confidence managing and developing a high performance team.


DESIRABLE

• Adapt at dealing with conflicts and helping devise solutions where trade-offs involved. Help others resolve issues dispassionately.
  
  BBC Studios is a world-renowned content studio and channels & streaming business, powered by British creativity, with a reach that touches audiences in every corner of the globe.


We work with outstanding creative talent who are responsible for platform-defining shows from Strictly Come Dancing to Bluey, Prehistoric Planet to Planet Earth III.

The range and quality of our content is unsurpassed, creating critical and commercial successes and global phenomena.

From BAFTAs to RTS Awards, BBC Studios is Britain's most awarded production company and the only producer with three of the top ten shows on IMDB; we're the home of bbc.com, the widest-read English language news website in the world; and the UK's largest distributor of British content.


• Flexible 35-hour working week for work-life balance


• 26 days holiday (plus an additional day which is a Corporation Day) with the option to buy an extra 5 days


• A defined pension scheme and discounted dental, health care, gym and much more


• Excellent career progression - access to courses, webinars, workshops and the opportunity to work in different areas of the organisation