Director, Sync Licensing Administration

Kobalt; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

Job summary

Kobalt in London is seeking a Director to lead the UK Sync Licensing Administration function and partner with US teams to enforce global standards. You will drive end-to-end licensing administration, contracts, and governance while reducing bottlenecks and embracing automation and AI to improve speed, accuracy, and scale.

You will work with Creative, Legal, Business Affairs, Data and Technology to evolve licensing administration into a data-led, technology-enabled function and build meaningful

Qualifications

• Experience in music publishing sync licensing administration and licensing practices.
• Ability to manage complex licensing and contractual matters with commercial judgement.
• Proven track record of improving operational processes and workflows.
• Curious, solution-focused mindset with interest in automation and data-led improvements.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to work with large datasets.
• Experience with SQL or similar querying tools (e.g., Tableau) to interrogate data.

Responsibilities

• Lead the UK Sync Licensing Administration function and align with global standards.
• Oversee end-to-end administration of publishing sync agreements, ensuring accuracy and governance.
• Provide escalation support on complex licensing and contractual matters.
• Collaborate with Business Affairs and Legal on negotiation principles and risk.
• Identify bottlenecks and opportunities to simplify workflows and automate tasks.
• Design and implement more efficient workflows and automated processes.
• Explore AI and agentic solutions to reduce manual work.
• Work with data teams to query operational data and build dashboards in Tableau.
• Define KPIs and monitor licensing volumes, turnaround times, risks, and improvements.
• Partner with Creative, Sync, Copyright, Royalties, Legal, Finance and Technology.

Skills

Sync licensing administration

Licensing management

Data analysis

SQL

Tableau

AWS Athena

Automation & AI

Stakeholder management

Tools

SQL

Tableau

AWS Athena

Job description

Director, Sync Licensing Administration & Operations

Department: Sync
Location: London, UK
Hybrid Working: 3 days in your local office
Full-time | Permanent

The Role

We’re looking for a Director, Sync Licensing Administration & Operations to oversee our UK sync licensing administration function.

You’ll be responsible for ensuring sync agreements move efficiently from deal through contracting and administration, providing expertise on complex licensing matters and maintaining the contractual and operational standards that protect Kobalt and our creators.

But this role is about more than running the process as it exists today.

We’re looking for someone with a curious, solutions-focused mindset who wants to understand how work gets done, challenge unnecessary complexity and find better ways of doing things. You’ll look for opportunities to streamline workflows, use data more effectively and introduce automation and AI where they can improve speed, accuracy and scalability.

You’ll work closely with our US team and colleagues across Creative, Business Affairs, Legal, Copyright, Product, Technology and Data to help evolve licensing administration into an increasingly data-led and technology-enabled function.

What You’ll Do

• Lead the UK Sync Licensing Administration function, working closely with US counterparts to deliver consistent global standards and ways of working.
• Oversee the end-to-end administration of publishing sync agreements, ensuring licensing activity is accurate, commercially responsive and appropriately governed.
• Provide expertise and escalation support on complex licensing and contractual matters.
• Work closely with Business Affairs and Legal on negotiation principles, contractual approaches and appropriate commercial risk.
• Get close to existing processes and workflows, identifying bottlenecks, repetitive tasks and opportunities to simplify how work gets done.
• Take the initiative in designing and implementing more efficient workflows, rather than accepting established processes as fixed.
• Explore and implement automation, AI and agentic solutions that reduce manual administration and allow the team to focus on higher-value work.
• Work confidently with large datasets, using SQL and increasingly AWS Athena to query and investigate operational data.
• Build and interpret dashboards and reporting in Tableau to understand performance, identify trends and inform decisions.
• Define meaningful operational KPIs and use data to understand licensing volumes, turnaround times, exceptions, risk and opportunities for improvement.
• Experiment with Kobalt’s available technology and AI tooling to identify practical solutions to operational problems.
• Translate operational challenges into clear requirements and work with Product, Technology and Data teams where more complex solutions are required.
• Build strong partnerships across Creative, Sync, Copyright, Royalties, Legal, Finance and Technology.
• Contribute to the continued development of Kobalt’s global licensing administration operating model.

What You’ll Bring

• Strong experience within music publishing sync licensing administration, with a deep understanding of publishing sync agreements, copyright and licensing practices.
• Experience managing complex licensing and contractual matters with strong commercial judgement.
• A track record of improving operational processes rather than simply managing established ways of working.
• A naturally curious and solutions-focused mindset — you want to understand why something works the way it does and whether there is a better way of doing it.
• Strong analytical capability and confidence working with large datasets.
• Experience using SQL or similar querying tools to interrogate data and answer operational questions.
• Experience building, using or interpreting dashboards and reporting, ideally using Tableau.
• An understanding of workflow automation and how technology can be used to reduce repetitive administrative work.
• Curiosity about AI and emerging technologies, including how AI and agentic solutions can be applied practically within operational workflows.
• The confidence to experiment with technology and develop solutions independently where appropriate, rather than relying entirely on Product, Data or Technology teams.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to work across Creative, Legal, Business Affairs, Data, Product and Technology.
• Strong judgement and the ability to balance commercial opportunity, operational efficiency and contractual risk.
  

Additional Skills That Could Add Value:

• Experience querying data using AWS Athena.
• Experience with Tableau or similar business intelligence platforms.
• Hands-on experience building automated workflows.
• Experience using generative AI tools within operational or administrative workflows.
• Experience experimenting with or implementing AI agents or agentic workflows.
• Experience working with tools such as Gemini, Claude, AWS Quick or NotebookLM.
• Experience with contract lifecycle management or legal technology platforms.
• Knowledge of European licensing and copyright nuances across multiple territories.

Key Behaviours for Success

Curiosity & Continuous Improvement: You question how things work today, explore what could work better and proactively turn ideas into practical improvements.

Problem-Solving & Initiative: You don’t simply identify problems or pass them to another team. You investigate the root cause, explore solutions and take ownership of moving improvements forward.

Technology & Data Mindset:You’re comfortable getting hands-on with data and technology and are curious about how emerging tools can improve the way the function operates.

Interview Process

• Introductory call with a member of our Recruitment Team
• Interview with the hiring manager
• Technical/data and problem-solving interview
• Final stage interview with relevant stakeholders
• Feedback at each stage

We aim to complete the full interview process from initial application to offer within three working weeks. While we do our best to meet this timeline, there may be occasional delays. If that happens, our Recruitment Team will keep you updated every step of the way.

Why Choose Us

At Kobalt, we’ve championed creators since 2000. Our technology and music services are built to make the industry more transparent, fair, and rewarding for artists, songwriters, and rights holders. We’re proud to work with some of the world’s most influential talents including Phoebe Bridgers, Sam Fender, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, Karol G, Young Thug, Kali Uchis, and Andrew Watt as well as acclaimed writers like Simon Aldred (Rag’n’Bone Man, Liam Gallagher, Celeste) and Clarence Coffee Jr. (Dua Lipa, Lizzo, The Snuts).

We’re a company that thrives on creativity, collaboration, and progress. Our values: Music First, Transparent, Tech Powered, and Transformative. Shape how we work, build, and grow together. We are a community of people who care deeply about making a meaningful impact in music and technology.

Kobalt is an equal opportunity employer. We believe in equitable access to opportunities and are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and supportive workplace. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and identities. If you need any adjustments during the hiring process, please let us know we’re happy to help.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Applicants must be eligible to work in the United Kingdom. A full DBS check will be conducted on acceptance of the offer. Kobalt is an equal opportunity employer encouraging diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.