Jr. Commercial Contracts Counsel

Bully-Pulpit-International; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) match

Paid vacation

Phone reimbursement

Sick time

Parental leave

Job summary

Bully Pulpit International, located in the New York area, seeks a junior in-house commercial counsel to support BPI Legal in drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and marking up a wide range of client- and vendor-facing contracts in marketing, digital advertising, and communications consulting.

You will shepherd contracts from initial stages to execution, counsel on business implications, and manage documents within contract lifecycle systems.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of drafting and negotiating commercial contracts.
• J.D. from ABA-accredited law school.
• Active membership in at least one state Bar.
• Ability to explain legal terms to non-legal stakeholders.
• Familiarity with IP in contract contexts.
• Confidentiality and professional ethics.
• Ability to handle a dynamic workload and changing priorities.
• Strong communication with internal teams and stakeholders.
• Proficiency with Word and contract lifecycle tools like DocuSign IAM.

Responsibilities

• Draft and negotiate NDAs, service agreements, vendor agreements, and related contracts.
• Counsel business teams, provide clear redlines and negotiation positions.
• Manage contracts in lifecycle management software and coordinate with contracts manager.
• Identify and communicate legal risks and business implications to stakeholders.
• Support end-to-end contracting processes from inception to execution.

Skills

Commercial contract drafting

In-house experience

Bar admission

IP familiarity

Legal communication

Prioritization

Word proficiency

Negotiation

Education

J.D. from ABA-accredited law school

Tools

Microsoft Word

DocuSign IAM

Job description

Bully Pulpit International is an outcomes agency made up of strategists, data scientists, and artists. We come from politics, brands, and government and we communicate without barriers and measure what matters. We have more than 400 team members in six countries and thirteen offices — Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, D.C., London, Los Angeles, New York, Oslo, San Francisco, and Zürich. We apply our unique expertise across strategic communications, public affairs, research, and digital marketing to create sophisticated and customized strategies that make change possible for both American and European clients.

• Starting Salary Range: $130,000 - $145,000 (+ annual bonus)
• New York City-area, with the ability to work three days per week in-person in our midtown Manhattan office, strongly preferred; exceptionally strong remote candidates in the U.S. Mountain and Pacific time zones will also be considered

The Impact You Will Make

You will serve as junior in-house commercial counsel to support BPI Legal in analyzing, reviewing, negotiating, and marking up a wide range of client- and vendor-facing commercial contracts at a marketing, creative, digital advertising, and communications consultancy.

What the Day-to-Day Looks Like

• Commercial Contracts. You will be responsible for shepherding a wide range of commercial contracts from initial stages to execution. Internal stakeholders will request agreements ranging from NDAs, service agreements, vendor agreements, and others that might relate to BPI's work for its clients, and you will counsel the business while you draft and revise language as those contracts move from inception to execution. You will work both from internal form agreements drafted by BPI Legal and from counterparty forms.
• Negotiation, Counsel, and Markup. You will analyze contract terms, understand their business implications and attendant risks, and communicate that analysis clearly and in plain English to non-legal internal stakeholders. You will quickly apply negotiating postures set by BPI policy via redlines where appropriate, understand the justifications for those policies, communicate them clearly - both within BPI and in negotiation with counterparties - and adapt to business needs as directed by decision-makers. You will provide counsel on how best to protect BPI while ensuring that the business maintains deal flows.
• Contract Management. You will manage a dynamic list of fast-moving contracting tasks in a contract lifecycle management software. You will - both on your own and in coordination with BPI's contracts manager - stay in communication with internal stakeholders and minimize disruption to client work or revenues that may result from legal requirements. You will navigate the intersections of business needs, legal risk management, and institutional incentives.
• Risk-Management Mindset. You will issue-spot the legal and business implications of the work, terms, and relationships embodied in the contracts you work on and flag risks where appropriate.

What You Bring

• Minimum 2 years' experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, with in-house experience at a fast-growing communications, creative, digital advertising, or tech firm preferred
• J.D. from an A.B.A.-accredited law school
• Membership in good standing with at least one state Bar
• Ready ability to analyze, draft, amend, and communicate with non-legal stakeholders about commercial agreements of various kinds
• Working familiarity with common commercial contract terms and their implications, including but not limited to intellectual property
• Strong character and ethics, including the ability to maintain confidentiality with respect to privileged and other sensitive business matters
• Ability to adapt, prioritize, and stay on top of a dynamic workload in accordance with shifting priorities
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills, particularly with respect to relating complex legal concepts and difficult negotiation developments to non-legal stakeholders while managing expectations
• A high degree of proficiency with Microsoft Word and the capacity to adapt to a contract lifecycle management software like Docusign IAM

BPI offers a wide range of benefits to U.S.-based employees, including100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) program with employer match up to 4%, generous time off for vacation, $50 monthly phone reimbursement, unlimited sick time, and 16 weeks of paid leave for new parents. BPI’s benefits prioritize employee wellness and progressive support to our diverse workforce.

We’re looking for all kinds of people.

We are an equal opportunity employer and make employment decisions based on individual commitment to excellence. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. BPI is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging – so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we consider applications holistically and you may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!