Freelance Senior Business Affairs Manager

REPORTS TO: Director of Business Affairs

TYPE: FL

LOCATION: Remote

POSITION SUMMARY

We’re looking for a Senior Business Affairs Manager to join our team. This is a remote role supporting Pereira O’Dell, our clients, and our sister company, Silverside, across the business, legal and rights-management facets of production.

This person will work closely with teams across Production, Creative, Account, Finance and Legal on a broad range of work - from traditional advertising and content production to AI-enabled and emerging production models.

The ideal candidate brings deep advertising Business Affairs experience, strong production knowledge and a solutions-oriented mindset. They should be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple workstreams and priorities, and navigating both established production practices and the evolving considerations surrounding AI, talent, licensing and intellectual property.

NOTE: This is a part-time, freelance opportunity with varied hours per week.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Help to manage the Agency’s Business Affairs process to ensure an efficient, reliable and accurate workflow across productions.
• Work closely with producers, creatives, account teams and agency leadership throughout all phases of production.
• Partner with our sister agency, Silverside, and our internal teams on Business Affairs needs across traditional, AI-assisted and AI-generated production.
• Identify, manage and communicate legal, rights, talent, licensing and Business Affairs considerations throughout the production process.
• Review creative concepts, scripts and production approaches to identify potential Business Affairs issues early and provide practical solutions.
• Work closely with the Business Affairs Coordinator on purchase orders, invoicing and reconciliation.
• Conduct preliminary trademark searches for proposed taglines, names and other creative assets as needed.
• Actively manage client budgets and provide solutions that help teams stay within budget while supporting the strongest creative work.
• Prepare estimates for non-union (and occasionally union) talent session and usage fees.
• Negotiate, prepare and review a variety of agreements, including talent and celebrity contracts, music licenses, production agreements and other production-related agreements.
• Manage talent-related Business Affairs, including contracts, usage, renewals, expirations and applicable union requirements.
• Manage music, stock and other third-party licensing, including usage terms, renewals and expirations.
• Advise teams on AI-related rights and usage considerations, including talent and likeness, voice, digital replicas, music, intellectual property, third-party assets and client-specific AI requirements.
• Partner with Production and Legal, as needed, on agreements and releases involving AI-generated assets, synthetic media, digital replicas and emerging production technologies.
• Stay current on evolving SAG-AFTRA requirements, industry standards, platform terms and client guidelines related to AI and emerging production technologies.
• Ensure compliance with client guidelines, SOWs, contractual requirements and approved production parameters.
• Proactively identify potential Business Affairs risks and work with teams to develop solutions before they impact creative, production, budget or timing.
• Maintain accurate records and tracking across talent, music, stock, licensing and other production-related rights and usage.
• Communicate clearly and effectively with internal teams, clients, production partners, talent representatives, licensors and other external partners.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• BS/BA degree or equivalent relevant experience.
• At least 7 years of Business Affairs experience at an advertising agency or within a closely related advertising production environment.
• Strong knowledge of union and non-union talent contracting, session and usage fees, renewals and expirations.
• Strong knowledge of music, stock, licensing, intellectual property and production agreements.
• Experience negotiating and reviewing talent, celebrity, music and production-related agreements.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted and AI-generated production and the associated Business Affairs considerations, including talent rights, likeness, digital replicas, licensing, IP and usage.
• Ability to understand new production technologies and approaches and assess them through a practical Business Affairs lens.
• Strong negotiation, problem-solving and communication skills.
• Highly organized with excellent attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines and priorities simultaneously.
• Comfortable working independently in a remote environment while staying closely connected to teams across locations and time zones.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment where priorities and production needs can shift quickly.
• Collaborative and solutions-oriented, with the ability to work effectively across Production, Creative, Account, Finance, Legal and client teams.
• Ability to balance creative ambition, production realities, client needs, legal considerations and budget.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

• Experience supporting a broad range of advertising production, including broadcast, digital, social, content and emerging production models.
• Direct experience with AI-assisted or generative AI production and the evolving Business Affairs considerations surrounding talent, synthetic voice, digital replicas, AI-generated imagery/video, intellectual property and licensing.
• Experience working with AI studios, emerging technology partners or new production models is a plus.
• Experience supporting multiple offices, teams and clients in a remote or hybrid agency environment.

Pereira O'Dell is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participant in the US Federal E-Verify program. At this time, we are not accepting resumes or candidates from third-party vendors.