Business Affairs Manager

Who We Are

We are a fiercely entrepreneurial ad agency that blends creativity and performance to build great brands. We call this approach Soul Science. With offices in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Seattle, we serve as collaborative business partners to some of the world’s best brands including Ben & Jerry’s, Jose Cuervo, Alaska Airlines, Charles Schwab and Amtrak, among others.

Being a Mekanista requires a rare combination of being a weird, fearless and wonderful person who enjoys birthday cakes, well behaved dogs, and shared sensibility of respect and not taking ourselves too seriously.

Mekanism has been named to Ad Age’s A-List and twice to their Best Places to Work list. Most recently, Mekanism was named Independent Agency of the Year by The Drum and a Top 10 Most Effective Independent Agency in the US by the Effie Index. We have been profiled by The New York Times, Fast Company and ABC’s Nightline. Our campaign methodologies are studied by Harvard Business School.

The Role

This role will have experience in all facets of Business Affairs, including providing high-level legal feedback, managing talent payments (Union and Non-Union), negotiating contracts, and problem-solving to mitigate risk while protecting creative integrity. This role is a member of a close, dynamic and collaborative production team but is also expected to be able to work independently. The Business Affairs Manager will work closely with creatives, producers, and brand managers to ensure all campaign work is legally sound, offering solutions-oriented problem-solving for contract negotiations and IP issues. The ideal candidate is highly organized and detail-oriented.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Review creative in the initial stages of concepting, as well as throughout production to advise on any potential legal issues, third party materials and talent considerations.
• Perform preliminary ™ searches for taglines, designs, etc.
• Work closely with the producers to draft necessary paperwork for productions including bid specs, estimates, production contracts, client SOWs, and insurance declarations, ensuring that all documents align with client agreements.
• Prepare talent session and residuals estimates for both SAG & non-union productions, updating as necessary through creative development.
• Track client billing and in-house funds with the finance team and brand management to ensure timely vendor payments.
• Work with the Director of Business Affairs to negotiate celebrity and influencer agreements, as well as rates for non-union talent and special provisions for SAG scale talent.
• Oversees the talent hiring process from prepping talent contracts ahead of shoots, reviewing executed contracts and submitting to payroll vendors on a timely basis.
• Help with managing SAG claims as needed.
• Attend shoots when possible and advise of any legal or talent issues that may arise during filming.
• Assist producers with music specs and negotiate music agreements & licenses as needed.
• Secure any other 3rd party rights as needed (stock footage, logos, etc.)
• Partner with external legal counsel to align on risk assessments and contract negotiations as needed.
• Manage multiple usage/rights trackers.
• Work with producers to close jobs out, ensuring all traffic, talent and licensing costs are accounted for.
  
  

Embody the Mekanism Values

• Believe in bold
• Bring your weird
• Practice optimism
• Have each other’s backs
• Pursue what’s next
• Give a sh*t
  
  

Core Requirements:

• Three to five years of BA Manager experience
• Experience with SAG-AFTRA, non-union talent and AFM
• Excellent negotiation skills
• Understanding of industry standards and regulations
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Detail oriented and highly organized
• Ability to work in a fast paced environment
  
  

Salary: $90,000