Manager, Business Affairs

Job Description

The Role

Manager, Business Affairs ー Japan

As a company, we challenge industry norms by challenging one another to think creatively about challenging problems. Our content legal team is no exception. We think critically about the range of legal issues that face our productions. We act in a manner consistent with our business culture of freedom and responsibility, one marked by a bias toward action, leaning into smart risks, and taking ownership of bold decisions.

The Opportunity:

This is an opportunity to be part of a global entertainment company with a great consumer brand and to help Netflix shape the future of television. The legal team at Netflix is focused on collaborating with its business partners to help foster innovation.

The successful candidate will structure, negotiate and draft agreements necessary to commission, develop and produce local content with local partners, license content from producers, studios, networks and distributors, and should be extremely comfortable counseling business partners and making decisions that have both legal and business impacts. Furthermore, the candidate will counsel and advise business partners on a wide range of legal issues that arise from the creation, streaming and marketing of our content.

The successful candidate will know or be passionate about learning the entertainment and media industry generally, and the production of film and television content more precisely. They will understand, or have the ability to learn and manage, the nuanced dynamics among show-runners, executive producers, line producers, finance, post-production, marketing and creative, and how to align the appropriate teams when legal issues arise.

The position will be based in Tokyo.

Requirements:
• 5+ years of experience drafting licensing, rights acquisition and production agreements both in English and Japanese. Entertainment experience is a plus.
• The ideal candidate will have regional production and operational background, plus a real understanding of the Japanese entertainment industry and international television distribution (including digital distribution).
• A law degree (JD, LL.M) and experience as a practicing attorney (in-house or registered attorney) with bar qualification and common-law jurisdiction is preferred. Experience providing in-house support is a plus.
• Experience with Japanese intellectual property law is a plus.
• Rapidly respond to production clearance issues and queries of the production houses and the creative team.
• Develop and implement production clearance strategies for Japanese content.
• Collaborate with the marketing legal team to advise on IP-related issues in marketing and promotional content.
• Work on creating innovative workflows/projects between cross functional teams to drive efficiency.

Candidates must:
• Thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, possess a high level of intellectual curiosity, focus on generating results, be comfortable evaluating risk with imperfect information, have the confidence to make quick decisions, and exhibit the highest personal and professional standards of integrity and ethics.
• Be self-motivated, disciplined, highly organized, and able to prioritize multiple tasks.
• Understand and align with our unique culture.
• Possess strong written communication skills, with a passion for drafting language that is clear, precise, thoughtful, direct, and refined.
• Exhibit strong analytical capabilities and judgment, even when the rules are unclear, and the issues are of the first impression.
• Fluency in Japanese and English

We are an equal opportunity employer and celebrate diversity, recognizing that diversity of thought and background builds stronger teams. We approach diversity and inclusion seriously and thoughtfully. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, color, place of birth, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military service status or disability status.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gqwv1z-3-145-10-68-42 in your application.