Senior Business Affairs Manager

Publicis Groupe; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 107,000 - 146,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental

Vision

Disability

401K

Paid time off

Tuition reimbursement

Flexible time off

Job summary

Publicis Groupe in New York seeks a Senior Business Affairs Manager to lead client day-to-day work across creative and production. You will advise on talent, rights, and IP, review vendor agreements, and partner with legal to ensure compliant SOWs and MSAs while managing budgets and timelines.

You will oversee talent negotiations, copyright, and usage terms, coordinate cross‑agency reviews, and integrate AI‑driven tools to streamline processes, elevate content quality, and stay ahead in a

Qualifications

• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal abilities and collaboration across teams.
• Meticulous attention to detail across production and legal processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead client day-to-day work in creative and production.
• Review vendor policies, rights, and agreements; advise on SAG-AFTRA/AFM where applicable.
• Manage third-party rights, talent, music, and IP deals; coordinate with agency legal on contracts.

Skills

Oral and written communication

Interpersonal skills

Attention to detail

Tools

SAG-AFTRA/AFM agreements

Job description

Company description

Within Publicis Groupe’s Intelligent Creativity business, we specialize in bringing creative ideas to life, and to consumers. By combining 100 years of craft excellence with 6,000 experts across 52 locations of the world’s biggest studio network, we leverage the industry’s richest data, through the power of agentic AI, to radically redefine content production with Intelligent Content. We intuitively deliver this through Marcel Make, the world’s first Intelligent Content agent. The result? Predictively performing content that unlocks business growth in unprecedented ways. No more guesswork. No more waste. Just content that works, working a lot harder.

Overview

A Senior Business Affairs Manager plays an integral role supporting creative development and integrated productions, including broadcast, print, experiential and digital projects. This person is a team player with a creative mind, an ability to work in a fast-paced creative environment and an extensive understanding of the production process from conception and bidding to final delivery.

Responsibilities

Creative & Production

• BA Lead for client day to day work
• Partner with various cross-agency teams to review creative materials at all stages and advise on talent, third-party rights, including copyright, trademark, and rights of publicity, and other advertising regulations and guidelines
• Review vendor policies and agreements to ensure alignment with Client SOWs and MSAs
• Partner with legal counsel to perform preliminary trademark searches
• Manage third party rights and clearance
• Negotiate, structure, and draft celebrity talent, creator, music, and intellectual property deals
• Partner with agency legal on contract challenges, release standardization and updates, templates and risk assessments
• Advise on production guidelines and best practices, client brand guidelines, and Groupe POVs
• Partner with production and other stakeholders to track and manage active agency production jobs
• Partner with producers to review and advise on AICP and other bidding documents
• Partner with finance and production to finalize client estimates and caveats prior to Client signature
• Create and issue award documents including vendor agreements, insurance, licensing and talent agreements and vendor purchase orders
• Work with Producers and Finance on various production budgets and actualizations
• Work with insurance and risk management to evaluate production and contract challenges
• Proactively manage all account transition documentation
• Integrate AI-driven tools into creative and production processes to boost efficiency, elevate content quality, and stay ahead of emerging trends in technology and storytelling

Talent, Music, and Licensing

• Advise and proactively educate on the SAG-AFTRA and AFM (if applicable) agreements, including waivers, interpretations, regulations and best practices
• Advise and proactively educate agency teams and clients on non-union (if applicable) best practices, employment guidelines and other considerations
• Participate in and impact project scoping discussions
• Estimate talent session and usage fees, and all other talent and music related costs of production and usage
• Manage full talent cycle including talent contracts, session reports and final casts, session, holding fee, and usage payments, and renegotiations in compliance with SAG/AFTRA/ACTRA and AFofM guidelines (when applicable)
• Draft and negotiate various third-party agreements, including music, footage and images, artwork and recognizable structures, apps, and other third-party rights

Managerial Responsibilities

• Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains new staff
• Oversees the daily workflow of the team
• Provides constructive and timely performance evaluations
• Handles discipline and termination of employees in accordance with company policy

Qualifications

• Experience in advertising business affairs
• Must have extensive SAG experience
• Experience with contract negotiations with clients and third parties
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Strong attention to detail and ability to juggle multiple projects at once
• A passion for helping teams create their very best work in the smartest way possible
• A passion for creativity

Location & Commitments

• Full-time role, currently hybrid status
• In-person/in-office minimum of 4 days per week

Physical Demands

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer

Additional information

Our Publicis Groupe motto “Viva La Différence” means we’re better together, and we believe that our differences make us stronger. It means we honor and celebrate all identities, across all facets of intersectionality, and it underpins all that we do as an organization. We are focused on fostering belonging and creating equitable & inclusive experiences for all talent.

Publicis Groupe provides robust and inclusive benefit programs and policies to support the evolving and diverse needs of our talent and enable every person to grow and thrive. Our benefits package includes medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401K, as well as parental and family care leave, family forming assistance, tuition reimbursement, and flexible time off.

If you require accommodation or assistance with the application or onboarding process specifically, please contact [e-mail].

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Veterans Encouraged to Apply.

Compensation Range: USD $106,780.00 - USD $146,100.00/Annually. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on the skills, qualifications, and experience of the applicant along with the requirements of the position, and the Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time. Temporary roles may be eligible to participate in our freelancer/temporary employee medical plan through a third-party benefits administration system once certain criteria have been met. For regular roles, the Company will offer medical coverage, dental, vision, disability, 401k, and paid time off. The Company anticipates the application deadline for this job posting will be 11/16/2026.