Head of Licensing & Relationship Management

Job Description

Job Description

Position Overview

The Head of Licensing and Relationship Management is a senior leadership position responsible for the commercial relationships, licensing policies, and pricing frameworks that DataCT administers on behalf of the CT Plan. The role leads a multidisciplinary team at full operating state consisting of Account Managers (3 FTEs), Pricing & Policy Management (1 FTE), Business Development (1 FTE), and Business Analysis (1 FTE). The Head of Licensing and Relationship Management is the public face of the CT Plan Administrator and directs the teams responsible for the commercial activities of the CT Plan.

This is a high-visibility leadership role that interfaces daily with CT Plan customers, the CT Plan Operating Committee and its Members, internal and third-party technology teams, Legal, Finance, Operations, and the DataCT executive team. The Head of Licensing and Relationship Management is expected to uphold the highest standards of transparency, consistency, and fairness in the application of CT Plan licensing policies, and to navigate ambiguous or novel use cases — including AI and machine learning training rights, redistribution, federated usage, embedded services, and downstream sublicensing — with clarity, rigor, and audit-ready documentation.

DataCT operates under the independence, governance, and transparency framework established in the CT Plan and the Administrator RFP. All staff are expected to uphold the independence of the Administrator function, avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest, and support the governance reporting obligations of the Operating Committee of CT Plan LLC.

Core Responsibilities

Account Management - Client Success and Licensing Compliance

• Build, lead, and coach a team of Account Managers delivering proactive, consultative service to CT Plan customers.

• Ensure the team can translate customer business practices into contractual obligations under the CT Plan licensing framework.

• Establish standards and playbooks for onboarding, renewals, entitlement changes, and exception handling.

• Develop ongoing training to maintain deep expertise in CT Plan policies, product-usage guidelines, and industry norms.

• Personally manage a small portfolio of strategic accounts (highest complexity or impact).

• Implement structured account planning, QBRs/EBRs, and satisfaction/NPS feedback loops.

• Escalate and resolve policy-interpretation disputes, working cross-functionally with Legal, Finance, and Operations.

Pricing and Policy Management

• Own the translation of the Consolidated Tape Plan's industry requirements into clear, enforceable licensing policies and pricing models.

• Lead and mentor Pricing & Policy Specialists who meet with the CT Plan Operating Committee to gather objectives, propose design options, run impact analyses, and author final policy documents for publication.

• Facilitate policy governance: RFC cycles, stakeholder reviews, approval workflows, and version control.

• Guide discussions on edge cases (e.g., derivative works, redistribution, model training, federated usage, embedded usage, and downstream sublicensing).

• Ensure policies are internally consistent, auditable, and technically implementable across DataCT's systems.

• Maintain a public-facing policy library with clear change logs and effective dates.

Business Development and Industry Engagement

• Identify and pursue growth opportunities aligned with DataCT's mission (new segments, bundles, compliant expansions, partnerships).

• Represent DataCT at industry events, client roundtables, and standards bodies; deliver presentations and thought leadership.

• Supervise a Business Development contributor responsible for pipeline tracking, event cadence, and outreach.

• Partner with the Communications Manager to produce collateral: policy explainer decks, licensing guides, case studies.

Business Analysis and Technology Partnership

• Oversee a Business Analyst who captures and prioritizes requirements for internal tooling (license provisioning, entitlements, compliance analytics, CRM integrations).

• Direct the Business Analyst to build business intelligence for leadership covering adoption trends, policy exceptions, renewal risk, pricing elasticity, and account health.

• Partner with Technology Operations, Product teams, and DataBP LLC on feature roadmaps, testing, and change management for policy-adjacent systems.

• Define and track KPIs (see below) and lead quarterly performance reviews.

Operating Committee Engagement

• Serve as a primary operational liaison to the CT Plan Operating Committee for commercial, licensing, and pricing matters in coordination with the CAO.

• Support formal voting, meeting coordination, and documentation requirements consistent with CT Plan governance obligations.

• Provide feasibility, risk, and impact analysis on proposed policy or pricing changes.

Organizational Leadership

• Build and scale the L&RM organization toward the full operating state target of April 2027.

• Develop operating rhythms, training, competency frameworks, and career pathways consistent with the DataCT Resourcing Experience and Expertise Classification Framework.

• Foster a culture of customer responsiveness, transparency, and public-market integrity.

Key Performance Indicators

• Policy cycle time: draft-to-approval and publication timelines.

• Policy quality: reduction in exceptions/special terms; fewer policy ambiguities.

• Account health: renewal rate, expansion rate, NPS/CSAT, time-to-value.

• Compliance outcomes: auditable adherence; reduction in usage disputes.

• Operational efficiency: case resolution time, onboarding cycle time, documentation freshness.

• Revenue impact: contribution from compliant expansions, partner growth, and policy-driven monetization.

• Team health: retention, training completion, competency progression.

Qualifications

• Ten or more years in exchange/SIP licensing management, policy/pricing, client success, or related roles, including five or more years leading multi-disciplinary teams.

• Expert understanding of capital markets, market-data usage, and policy frameworks.

• Strong customer-facing acumen: executive communication, influence without authority, and conflict resolution.

• Demonstrated success with external data creators/content owners or IP-heavy environments (data, content, software, APIs, analytics).

• Comfort navigating ambiguous or novel use cases (e.g., AI/ML training rights, redistribution, embedded services).

• Excellent writing and policy-authorship skills: precise, auditable, audience-appropriate.

• Analytical fluency (Excel/Sheets, BI tooling) and familiarity with CRM and contract lifecycle tools.

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (JD, MBA, MS Information Systems/Policy) a plus.

Skills and Competencies

• Strategic policy design: scenario analysis, impact modeling, risk evaluation, change management.

• Leadership and coaching across account management, policy, business development, and analytics.

• Stakeholder management across the CT Plan, customers, executives, and technology teams.

• Commercial acumen: price levers, unit economics, value metrics.

• Operational rigor: playbooks, SOPs, governance, documentation management.

• Communication: executive presence, policy writing, public speaking.

Tools and Systems

• CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot); Customer Success platforms (e.g., Gainsight); Contract Lifecycle Management (e.g., Ironclad, DocuSign CLM); knowledge bases (e.g., Confluence, Notion); Business Intelligence (e.g., Power BI, Tableau); ticketing and project tools (e.g., Jira, Asana).

• Familiarity with entitlement systems is a plus.

• Familiarity with policy-versioning workflows is a plus.

Location Requirement

This position requires regular, in-person physical presence at DataCT's principal offices in New York City. DataCT's core staff, CT Plan stakeholders, SIP Processors, auditors, and principal service providers are concentrated in the New York metropolitan area, and on-site collaboration is essential to the Administrator function.

Compensation and Benefits

• Base Salary Range - $235,000-275,000 (commensurate with experience, qualifications, skills, education, internal equity, and market data).

• Eligible for performance-based incentives consistent with the role level.

• Compensation is set in accordance with the DataCT Resourcing Experience and Expertise Classification Framework.

• Full benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with employer match, life insurance, disability coverage, and paid time off.

Reporting Structure

Reports to: Chief Administration Officer (CAO)

About DataCT

DataCT LLC is a Delaware limited liability company headquartered in New York, New York, formed as a single-purpose, independent, member-owned entity to serve as the Administrator of the U.S. Consolidated Tape Plan (the CT Plan). DataCT LLC is responsible for the unified administration of Tapes A, B, and C under the CT Plan, acting on behalf of CT Plan LLC under the Administrator mandate. DataCT is currently engaged under an Interim Services Agreement and is transitioning to the definitive Administrator Services Agreement with CT Plan LLC. The organization is building toward a full operating state of approximately 25 employees and is expected to be fully operational by April 2027.

Equal Opportunity

DataCT LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. DataCT is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, marital or familial status, citizenship or immigration status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

DataCT LLC is committed to building a diverse, accountable, and independent organization in service of the CT Plan, its Operating Committee, and the broader U.S. market-data community. The Head of Licensing & Relationship Management is a key contributor to that mission.