Associate Director- Business Affairs

GALE; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

GALE is seeking an Associate Director, Business Affairs to oversee influencer and talent procurement, contract negotiations, and related production acts. You will leverage your industry network and legal expertise to draft long-form agreements, assess risk, and coordinate with agency lawyers and internal teams.

The role emphasizes managing a high volume of contracts across campaigns and ensuring timely delivery, with a hybrid work arrangement in the New York area.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in advertising/entertainment or lifestyle marketing with influencers or talent management.
• Proven ability to manage high-volume contracts and negotiations for clients.
• Strong understanding of legal terms and negotiating strategy.
• Extensive network within the entertainment community (talent agencies, creators).
• Deep knowledge of social media, influencers, and marketing ecosystems.
• Experience drafting long-form agreements and business-affairs practices.
• Excellent collaboration, organization, and communication skills.
• Proven track record of meeting project deadlines and handling heavy correspondence.

Responsibilities

• Review offers and draft contracts for talent and influencer procurement with minimal oversight.
• Support end-to-end lifecycle of influencer/creator/talent procurement strategy and language.
• Lead navigation of external contract redlines with talent agency lawyers.
• Collaborate with internal counsel, risk management, and outside counsel as needed.
• Mitigate risk in procurement for highly regulated clients.
• Guide internal account teams and clients on efficient procurement processes.
• Prepare and maintain procurement documentation to ensure policy compliance.
• Assist with talent invoicing and verify deliverables vs. billed amounts.
• Serve as liaison between client legal teams and influencer/talent agencies.

Skills

Influencers

Talent management

Contract negotiations

Contract drafting

Risk management

Cross-functional collaboration

Negotiating strategy

Legal terms

Project management

Job description

GALE is the world’s first and only Business Agency. We bring business strategy to brand storytelling to drive enterprise value. With expertise in strategy, media, CRM, creative, performance marketing, and technology, GALE creates integrated marketing systems and campaigns that grow businesses in significant ways. Founded in 2014, the agency has since been named AdAge’s Business Transformation Agency of the Year and Adweek’s U.S. Media Agency of the Year and has been recognized for its innovative creative at the Cannes Lions.

We work with brands such as Delta, Uber, Starbucks, Chili’s, Hard Rock, MilkPEP, Diageo, Cotton, IHG and more. If you’re driven by a passion to build something great, a desire to innovate, and a commitment to achieve excellence in your craft, GALE is a great place for you!

GALE has eight offices around the world, including New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Austin, Denver, Kansas City, London, and Bengaluru. GALE embraces a hybrid, flexible workplace

ole Overview

We are seeking a results driven, goal oriented Associate Director, Business Affairs. This role is a crucial component in the procurement of Influencer & Creator programming, as well as agency Creative Production. You will use your deep experience and industry knowledge of negotiating and contracting deals to support strategic campaigns.

Your strong understanding of social media, content creators and the larger influencer and production ecosystems will enable you to help assess and manage risk associated with programs across all mediums.

Who You Are

• You have at least 6 years’ experience in the advertising, entertainment, and/or lifestyle marketing-related fields including working directly with Influencers, talent management
• You have the proven ability to manage and maintain a high volume of contracts and contract negotiations based on the needs of the clients
• You have a strong understanding of legal terms and negotiating strategy
• You have a strong network of relationships within the entertainment community (talent agencies, content creators, managers, etc.)
• You demonstrate a strong understanding of social media, influencers, content creators, and the larger marketing ecosystem
• Knowledgeable and experienced in working across all tiers of Influencers (micro, mid, top tier, celebrity, and traditional experts such as RD’s/KOL’s) and nuances of working with each
• Experienced drafting long-form agreements, and overall business affairs-related practices
• You have exceptional collaboration skills to work across practices and domains to handle a high volume of procurement
• You have a proven track record of seeking, sharing, and adopting ideas and best practices within an agency setting
• You have a proven ability to ensure project deadlines are met
• You have strong interpersonal, organizational, and written and oral communication skills
• You have a strong work ethic with the ability to deliver on a heavy volume of correspondence

What you will be doing

• Reviewing offers and drafting contracts for talent and Influencer procurement with little oversight
• Supporting the full lifecycle of a project from a business affairs perspective including assisting on influencer, creator, and talent procurement strategy, contract execution and language
• Leading the navigation of external contractual redlines with talent agency lawyers
• Working closely with all members of the legal practice as needed including internal counsel, risk management, and outside counsel
• Helping the team mitigate risk within the procurement process of particularly highly regulated clients
• Providing guidance to internal account teams and clients on efficient talent and influencer procurement processes
• Preparing and maintaining procurement documentation, including bid exemption memos, agreement trackers, to ensure compliance with internal and client procurement policies
• Assisting with talent invoicing, including confirming contractual deliverables are met and resolving discrepancies between talent agreements and billed amounts
• Serving as a liaison between client legal teams and influencer/talent agencies

To comply with equal pay and salary transparency laws in various locations, we believe the target compensation for this role is $130,000 USD to $170,000 USD per year. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, qualifications, job performance, level of experience, location, and business needs. For more information on other benefits we offer, please visit https://www.gale.agency/careers

AI Disclosure

As part of our recruitment process, we may use technology assisted tools, including automated systems, to support the review and assessment of applications. These tools do not make the final decisions. All decisions related to screening, interviewing and selection are made by our Talent Acquisition and hiring teams.

Note: Hybrid work in office is an essential function of the job.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

We believe in inclusivity and do our best work when people with diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and skills are brought together. Our Core Values are at the root of GALE’s collaborative environment and help to foster a strong community. Our Code of Conduct, Human Resources policies, and executive investment in inclusion further support and protect GALE’s inclusive workplace. GALE is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

Our Hiring Process

We want you to be just as discerning in making your next career move as we are finding great talent to join our team. Our interview process will allow you to meet a range of people from various disciplines and domains both virtually and in person. Please discuss with our recruiters if you require any accommodations throughout the process to help enable a smooth interview.