Senior Counsel / Counsel

Job Description

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (''ASCAP'') is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers of every kind of music. ASCAP's mission is to license and promote the music of its members and foreign affiliates, obtain fair compensation for the public performance of their works and to distribute the royalties that it collects based upon those performances. ASCAP members write the world's best-loved music, and ASCAP has pioneered the efficient licensing of that music to hundreds of thousands of enterprises who use it to add value to their business - from bars, restaurants and retail, to radio, TV and cable, to Internet, mobile services and more. The ASCAP license offers an efficient solution for businesses to legally perform ASCAP music while respecting the right of songwriters and composers to be paid fairly. With 825,000 members representing more than 16 million copyrighted works, ASCAP is the worldwide leader in performance royalties, service and advocacy for songwriters and composers, and the only American performing rights organization (PRO) owned and governed by its writer and publisher members.

Job Description:

Counsel / Senior Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs, working on a variety of complex transactions for various business areas. The position will be at the Counsel or Senior Counsel level depending on professional experience and will be the go-to for complex intellectual property and technology licensing issues. In addition, this person is expected to provide legal and business affairs support for business strategy, product, general corporate and other operational legal matters. This position is based in New York City.

Areas of responsibility/accountability:

This attorney will serve as primary legal advisor to the technology, data and security teams, providing privacy, data security, and technology law expertise in support of ASCAP's business operations and strategic initiatives. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
• Reviewing, drafting, negotiating and closing a variety of technology-related agreements, including master service agreements, software development agreements, statements of work, software licensing, SaaS, PaaS, and cloud services and data agreements;
• Coordinating efforts with internal clients as well as other internal and external attorneys, to provide legal advice regarding complex issues in connection with ASCAP's operations and strategic initiatives on a broad range of technology topics;
• Evaluating the impact of US and international legislation, regulations and industry guidelines involving privacy and security;
• Designing and helping to implement policies, procedures, and tools to enhance cybersecurity and data protection, and supporting incident response investigations in compliance with internal policies and applicable data protection laws;
• Learning the business and operations of ASCAP in order to provide counsel on ongoing business matters; and
• Attending to other duties as assigned.

Requirements:
• Minimum of five years of relevant large law firm and/or in house experience required.
• Knowledge of privacy, cybersecurity, intellectual property, outsourcing, offshoring/nearshoring and related regulatory and risk environments required.
• Familiarity with tech-focused commercial and data privacy issues.
• Previous in-house counsel experience and/or knowledge of the entertainment/digital industry and related legal trends and business affairs practices is a plus.
• Qualified candidates should possess excellent drafting, negotiation and organizational skills and oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to develop highly effective and productive working relationships externally and internally throughout ASCAP.
• Ability to analyze and synthesize information and suggest alternative resolution strategies.
• A common sense approach to decision-making.
• A strong work ethic and a bias towards action, change and speed.
• J.D. with superior academic credentials preferred.
• Licensed and in good standing to practice law in New York State.

Besides providing a unique and dynamic work environment, there are a few other reasons you should consider ASCAP in your career planning. We also offer generous benefit options that are comprehensive and provide the flexibility that most employees want and need. These benefit options include the following:
• A choice of either in-network only provider medical and dental plans or more flexible medical and dental plans where you can see providers in- or out-of-network;
• Vision plan that offers both in- and out- of network provider options;
• Immediate eligibility for 401(k) participation;
• An additional Employer-paid retirement savings program regardless of your participation in the 401(k) Plan;
• Generous time-off policy;
• Health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts;
• Short term disability Insurance / salary continuation and Long term disability insurance;
• Company provided basic life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance; and
• Supplemental and dependent life insurance options.

ASCAP is an equal opportunity employer. All ASCAP employment decisions are made on the basis of individual qualifications and performance and not on the basis of race, national origin, ethnicity, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, genetic information, disability, handicap, color, creed, religion, veteran status, or any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-g3353n-18-188-61-223-42 in your application.