Deputy General Counsel

Deputy General Counsel

Reporting to the General Counsel, the Deputy General Counsel will help protect JALC's legal interests while ensuring best practices. This role is responsible for identifying and analyzing legal issues, tracking the status of open matters, drafting multiple types of documents, maintaining confidentiality, presenting clear recommendations, and ensuring compliance. The Deputy General Counsel will perform a variety of complex tasks for which a wide degree of creativity and initiative is expected. This person must possess a high level of judgment, discretion, diplomacy, and communication skills, along with a genuine respect for the arts, and must be exceptionally well organized. The curiosity to tackle new matters, the nimbleness to shift priorities quickly, and the ability to work under tight deadlines are all essential.

Legal Counsel & Contracts

• Advise internal clients on legal issues in content licensing, intellectual property, trademarks, social media, marketing, promotions, real estate, tax, and compliance matters.
• Structure, draft, review, interpret, and negotiate contracts, including production, license, artist, tour, consultant, contractor, vendor, sponsorship, publishing, distribution, software, technology, media, event, residency, and lease agreements.
• Advise on rights and intellectual property matters, ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
• Review creative materials with a focus on intellectual property, fair use, music clearance, publicity, and privacy. Advise on production legal issues.
• Stay current on legal developments and regulations related to AI, intellectual property, and governance, ensuring compliance with all relevant laws.
• Create, review, and update standard agreement templates for day-to-day operations.
• Support the process of maintaining JALC's registered trademarks.

Strategic & Organizational Partnership

• Collaborate closely with business partners to gain a thorough understanding of their respective departments and help develop strategies that align with legal requirements.
• Act as a valuable resource for the organization by providing legal support, guidance, and recommendations to various departments and stakeholders.
• Work with the General Counsel and other colleagues on major projects with long-term organizational implications.
• Take initiative on other legal and board governance matters as needed.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Directly supervise the Associate Counsel and JALC's legal interns and externs, investing in their growth as legal professionals and as mission-driven contributors to the organization.
• Serve as a genuine mentor: share institutional knowledge generously, provide active guidance on professional development, and build a department culture defined by intellectual curiosity and high standards.
• Track all incoming and outgoing requests to the Legal Department, delegating thoughtfully to develop the next generation of arts lawyers while maintaining the quality the organization expects.

Qualifications

Required

• Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school. Admission to the New York Bar.
• At least seven years of relevant legal experience, preferably with an emphasis on nonprofit or entertainment industry matters. In-house experience preferred.
• Demonstrated integrity and adherence to high ethical values in decisions and dealings with others.
• Ability to build rapport and effectively liaise with internal clients, outside counsel, constituencies, and adversaries at all levels.
• Flexible working style; responds calmly when under pressure.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills.
• Results-oriented team player with a capacity to work in a fast-paced, creative, multifaceted business environment.
• Handles confidential information using discretion, professional sensitivity, and sound judgment.
• Superior verbal and written communications skills, with the ability to create and lead presentations.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to structure and draft agreements independently and efficiently.
• Demonstrated ability to approach complex legal scenarios in a positive and practical manner.
• Attention to detail and ability to multi-task, prioritize, and schedule work effectively without compromising interpersonal skills or optimal results.

Preferred

• Expertise advising creatives on copyright, fair use, publicity, and privacy matters.
• Experience with digital distribution, content licensing, websites, and social media accounts.
• Experience with legal issues related to nonprofits, public charities, and fundraising.

Working at Jazz at Lincoln Center

The music is present here, literally and philosophically, and the people who thrive are the ones who feel that and lean into it. They are Fans, Advocates, Musicians, and Educators who know that you cannot shape what comes next without first honoring what came before — who ask why something is the way it is before they presume to know what it should become. They find their own work more meaningful because of its proximity to something larger, and they understand that excellence in any role, regardless of function, is connected to what happens on stage and in classrooms and communities around the world. The passion that runs through this organization can be felt on your first day, and it is the thing people miss most when they leave.

We are a live-events organization, and our schedule reflects that energy: we expect full presence when the work and the art call for it. Within that, we strive to create real flexibility for our people. Flex Mondays give staff the freedom to work from wherever suits them best, and Tuesday through Friday our teams come together in person, with the understanding that the work and the art will sometimes ask for more. We trust our people to know the difference, and we build around that trust.

Benefits reflect the same investment in our people: comprehensive health, retirement, and a seat inside the life of this organization. Staff have access to the breadth of JALC programming—from live performances to access at Dizzy's Club to world-class jazz education through Swing University and beyond—because we believe the people who do this work deserve to experience it, not just support it.

How to Apply

Click the button above to apply. Please include a cover letter and salary requirements with your application.

Jazz at Lincoln Center is an equal opportunity employer that affords equal opportunities to all applicants, employees, contractors, and other covered persons, and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Jazz at Lincoln Center is committed to creating an inclusive, open, and respectful culture that reflects and embraces diversity.