Job Title: Senior Counsel
Location: London (Hybrid Working)
Type: Permanent
About the Organisation:
We are partnered with a leading UK music industry group representing and supporting music publishers, songwriters and composers. Through their collective licensing and rights administration services, they protect, license and champion creators’ rights both in the UK and internationally.
The Role:
We are seeking an experienced Senior Counsel to act as a trusted legal advisor to the business, with primary responsibility for supporting our mechanical rights licensing operations.
Reporting to the Group General Counsel, you will provide pragmatic, commercially focused legal advice across contracts, licensing, governance, compliance and dispute resolution matters.
This is a senior, hands-on role requiring sound judgement, strong drafting skills and the ability to partner effectively with commercial and operational teams in a dynamic, member-led environment.
Key Responsibilities:
* Provide clear, solution-focused legal advice on contracts, licensing, governance and regulatory matters.
* Draft, review and negotiate licensing agreements, commercial contracts and supplier arrangements.
* Support commercial negotiations and attend internal and external meetings as required.
* Identify, assess and escalate legal risks with practical recommendations.
* Ensure contractual frameworks appropriately protect members’ mechanical rights and interests.
* Support compliance across copyright, competition and data protection obligations.
* Assist with governance processes, regulatory submissions and statutory filings.
* Manage disputes, complaints and contentious matters, including coordinating with external counsel where required.
* Maintain strong legal operations, documentation standards and risk management practices.
* Contribute to broader group legal support as needs arise.
The Ideal Candidate:
You will be a qualified UK solicitor (or equivalent with strong UK/EU copyright expertise) with substantial post-qualification experience in media, entertainment, music publishing or collective rights management.
You will bring:
* Strong expertise in copyright, mechanical rights and/or music publishing law.
* Experience advising on multi-territory licensing and international copyright frameworks.
* Proven capability in drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements.
* Sound understanding of governance, regulatory compliance and dispute management.
* Excellent commercial judgement and risk awareness.
* Clear, confident communication skills with the ability to translate legal concepts for non-legal stakeholders.
* A collaborative, pragmatic and solutions-oriented approach.
If you are a commercially minded legal professional seeking a senior role at the heart of the UK music industry, we would love to hear from you.