Senior Legal Counsel

Informa PLC; United States; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Private medical insurance

Pension scheme

Life assurance

Employee assistance programme

Share Match

Job summary

Informa PLC's Taylor & Francis legal team seeks a Senior Legal Counsel to partner with senior management across the Corporate division, offering proactive legal support on IP, copyright, licensing and AI matters.

You will draft and negotiate a wide range of commercial contracts, manage disputes, coordinate with external counsel, and work with colleagues in the US, UK and Singapore to manage risk globally.

Qualifications

• 6+ years post-qualification experience in corporate/IP law.
• Strong IP/copyright and licensing knowledge in content industries.
• Experience advising on AI-related licensing and copyright developments.
• In-house or publishing industry experience preferred.
• Proven ability to manage external counsel and legal costs.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement with senior management.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal support to the Corporate division and partner with senior leadership.
• Manage end-to-end projects to mitigate legal risk.
• Represent the legal team at management meetings and external events.
• Handle IP, copyright, commercial and AI matters.
• Draft, negotiate and advise on a range of commercial contracts.
• Oversee disputes and content-related issues pre/post-publication.
• Instruct and manage external counsel as needed.
• Collaborate with global Taylor & Francis lawyers to standardize risk management.

Skills

IP law

Copyright law

Commercial contracts

Dispute resolution

In-house experience

Stakeholder management

AI licensing issues

Education

Qualified lawyer

Job description

We are currently recruiting for a talented Senior Legal Counsel to join the Taylor & Francis legal team. This is an exciting opportunity to become a valued business partner to a global content business, and to be part of a collegiate and supportive legal team. Reporting into the Deputy General Counsel for Taylor & Francis, you will be responsible for supporting Taylor & Francis on all legal matters, with particular focus on supporting the Corporate division. In this business-facing role, you will work closely with senior management and other key stakeholders, including in the Editorial, Production, Marketing, Commercial and Product/Technology functions. The Taylor & Francis legal team is a highly respected and valued business partner to Taylor & Francis, with lawyers based in the UK, US and Singapore. The team combines technical legal expertise with commercial insight and an appreciation for the business' objectives to provide constructive, balanced and effective advice. Responsibilities are expected to include:

• Providing legal support to Taylor & Francis’ Corporate division, for example including:
• Proactively building effective working relationships with senior leadership in the business and representing the legal team at management meetings contributing expertise and influencing
• Identifying and managing projects end to end to mitigate any identified areas of legal risk
• Representing Taylor & Francis at external events, trade body meetings and industry initiatives as appropriate
• IP/copyright/commercial/AI
• Supporting the business on complex IP/copyright-related matters, in particular in the context of AI, including advising on AI-related licensing agreements and legal developments relating to AI and copyright
• Drafting, negotiating and advising senior leaders on a wide range of commercial contracts, including customer contracts, publishing agreements, author/editor contracts, distribution and agency agreements, supplier agreements and IT/technology contracts
• Dispute resolution
• Advising on content-related issues and disputes, both pre- and post-publication, including issues related to copyright, defamation and privacy
• Taking a lead on managing and resolving third party disputes
• Instructing external counsel where necessary and managing external legal costs
• Collaborating effectively with the other lawyers in the Taylor & Francis legal team (based in the US, UK and Singapore) to ensure a consistent and effective approach to managing legal risk across the business globally

A qualified lawyer with around 6 years plus post-qualification experience (PQE is given as a guide only. This will not be a determining factor of suitability and applicants of other levels of PQE may apply).

• Prior experience of building effective working relationships with senior commercial stakeholders in a business.
• A robust understanding of intellectual property/copyright law and demonstrable experience of advising clients on, and finding pragmatic solutions to, complex copyright and licensing issues, ideally within a content industry. Experience of advising on copyright issues within an AI context is highly desirable but not essential.
• A professional qualification in IP would be helpful but not essential.
• Demonstrable experience of managing and resolving legal disputes to an effective solution.
• Prior experience of instructing external counsel and managing external legal costs is desirable but not essential.
• Prior inhouse experience and/or experience of the publishing industry is desirable but not essential.

What makes you stand out

• Strongly commercial thinker able to find pragmatic and workable solutions.
• Evidence of ability to exercise commercial judgment and balance business needs with legal risk in a commercial, constructive and business-sympathetic way
• Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to work cooperatively and build strong relationships with others, including within the legal team and with internal senior business stakeholders
• Ability to take ownership and work independently, and to take a lead and own issues and projects within the role's remit.
• An enthusiastic and proactive approach to work, with an ability to prioritise effectively
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including an ability to explain complex legal issues in a clear and simple manner to a non-legally trained audience.

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge, and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis is one of the world's largest publishers of high-quality, peer reviewed scholarly journals, books, e-books and reference works. We empower learners, thinkers and doers with trusted knowledge that advances research and enriches lives. We bring together diverse people, ideas and opinions to validate and publish the experts, theories and truths that matter. And we've been doing this in an unbroken arc since 1798. Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge. We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that's the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we'd love to hear from you.

We believe that great things happen when people connect face-to-face. That's why we work in-person with each other, or with customers and partners, three days a week or more. When you're not spending time together in one of our offices or other workplaces - like at conference - you get the flexibility and support to work from home or remotely. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance of our Milton Park office to ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office location to collaborate 3 days per week. Please note that our Milton Park office will be relocating to Oxford city centre in late 2027 / early 2028, offering an exciting new workplace in the heart of the city.

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about.

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis

If you're excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and contribute regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and to live a healthy, balanced life. Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit-based factor.

• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture
• 25 days annual leave per year plus a day off for your birthday
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Company funded single cover private medical insurance
• Employee assistance programme - offering 24/7 well-being support
• Share Match - Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care