Business Affairs Lead

OVERVIEW

Movement Strategy is looking for a Business Affairs Lead to own our contracting and business affairs function. A law degree is a plus but not required. What matters most is deep agency contracting experience and the judgment to know when something needs outside counsel.

This is an agency role, not a corporate legal seat. You'll spend your time on the contracts that make our work possible: client MSAs and SOWs, influencer and talent agreements, vendor and technology contracts, NDAs, and licensing and IP matters. You'll report to the Director of Operations, with a standing direct line to the COO on contractual risk and function strategy.

You'll personally handle the complex, high-value work while managing and developing a Business Affairs Manager who owns day-to-day contracting volume. Just as important, you'll set the vision for how business affairs operate at Movement. That means building the playbooks, templates, and cross-team practices that let a lean function protect a growing agency.

We're looking for someone proactive by default. You flag what's coming before you're asked, and you get in front of client teams before content is made rather than after. You treat business affairs as something that enables great work, not something that gates it.

A BIT ABOUT US

Movement Strategy creates content and campaigns for the world’s most exciting brands. We win awards, make headlines, shatter engagement numbers and celebrate the journey along the way. It’s why companies like Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, and Intuit come to us again and again.

We’re fully remote with hubs in New York, Denver, and LA, and a presence all across the US. We believe collaboration is what takes our work from good to great, and at times, even to legendary status. We champion diverse opinions and creativity in every department, and provide professional development and learning opportunities with the goal of helping you discover your best work today, and learn how to make it even better in the future.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Contracting and negotiation

• Own MSA and SOW negotiation with clients end to end, including leading live negotiation with client legal teams as needed.
• Personally handle complex, high-value, or high-risk agreements.
• Oversee influencer and talent contracting, delegating volume to the Business Affairs Manager with quality and risk oversight.
• Manage NDAs, vendor agreements, licensing, stock and IP clearances, and technology contracts.
• Apply clear escalation criteria to determine when matters require external counsel, and manage those relationships and spend.

Business Affairs vision and systems

• Set and execute the vision for Business Affairs at Movement, including what the function owns, how it scales, and what it needs.
• Build and maintain the contract review playbook covering NDAs, MSAs, and SOWs. It should define what to scrutinize, our go and no-go positions, where we can concede, and what escalates, including to external counsel.
• Own contract templates and drive a scheduled review and refresh cycle rather than updating only when a problem surfaces.
• Own the structure and integrity of the contract library, including naming conventions, organization, and version currency. Ensure documents are stored accurately and consistently at all times.
• Train the Business Affairs Manager on ongoing library upkeep with regular touchpoints. Retain direct oversight and ultimate responsibility for the library's accuracy.
• Identify patterns across the contract portfolio and translate them into template changes and risk mitigation.

Compliance and cross-team partnership

• Build and run a content production and review system with client teams. It should confirm that work meets MSA obligations, usage and licensing terms, FTC guidelines, and platform requirements before it goes out.
• Walk client teams through their governing MSA and SOW at engagement kickoff. The goal is for obligations, restrictions, usage rights, and approval requirements to be understood up front rather than discovered later.
• Partner with the VP of Technology to define and maintain our stance on technology stack terms, conditions, and IP practices, including AI tools. Advise teams on usage and risk.
• Review DPA and data-specific requirements within SOWs and MSAs to ensure alignment across contractual and technical terms, escalating to external counsel as needed.
• Partner with the Director of Operations to build and implement contract and compliance literacy training across client services teams, Influencer Marketing, New Business, and Finance, so teams can spot issues before they reach us.

Leadership and communication

• Manage and develop the Business Affairs Manager through regular 1:1s, coaching, delegation, and a documented growth plan.
• Serve as the primary business affairs advisor to leadership on contractual and commercial risk, partnering with external counsel on matters requiring legal advice.
• Communicate proactively and in writing on volume, capacity, risk, and what is in flight, without being asked.
• Represent the Business Affairs perspective in cross-functional and strategic planning.

REQUIREMENTS 

• 7+ years in business affairs, contracts management, or legal operations, with significant experience negotiating agency, entertainment, or media agreements. Candidates with a JD or paralegal background are welcome.
• Meaningful experience in agency, entertainment, media, or brand-side business affairs or legal work. Agency fluency matters more here than pedigree.
• Demonstrated ownership of MSA and SOW negotiation with sophisticated client counterparties.
• Working knowledge of influencer and talent contracting, IP and licensing, usage rights, FTC guidelines, and platform requirements.
• Experience managing external counsel and legal spend.
• Experience managing or formally mentoring at least one direct report.
• A track record of building something durable, such as a playbook, a template library, a compliance program, or a process that outlasted you.
• Comfortable moving fast in a live commercial environment and negotiating on a call rather than only in redlines.

IDEAL QUALITIES 

• JD and active bar admission are a plus.
• Experience standing up or maturing a business affairs or legal function at a growing agency or company.
• Familiarity with data privacy and AI tooling considerations relevant to creative production.
• Exposure to vendor and technology contracting.

Salary & Compensation: The salary range for this role is $150k - 190k per year. A successful applicant’s actual base salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, skill sets, years of relevant experience, qualifications, and certifications. Movement Strategy prides itself on providing competitive salaries and actively works to ensure there is pay equity across the company.

Benefits & Perks: Movement Strategy’s approach to the future of work: We embrace a remote culture and empower our employees to work wherever they feel most productive. To facilitate in-person collaboration, we have a partnership with WeWork which allows our employees to have a membership to any location nationwide. We recruit in our three main states of California, Colorado, and New York. 

As a leader in social advertising, we rely on the creativity of our people to deliver the best work for our clients. In return, we invest in our employees by offering them a diverse suite of benefits from best-in-class carriers, with enough choice and flexibility to keep our team and their families healthy and happy today and tomorrow.

• 100% employer contribution for health (base plan), vision, and dental
• 401K Retirement Plan with Company Match
• Short and Long Term Disability
• Life Insurance & AD&D
• Paid Parental Leave
• Fully-Remote Agency
• Unlimited Paid Time Off
• Take-As-You-Need Paid Time Off
• Take-As-You-Need Paid Mental Health Days
• 10 days minimum required off per year
• (11) Company Paid Holidays
• (3) Summer Fridays- Fully Off
• Week-Long Winter Agency Closure
• Support for continued education
• New Business Referral Bonus
• Movement Journey Program -  Stipend for personal growth
• Health and Wellness Program
• WeWork Membership 
• Positive Impact and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committees 
• Employee Resource Groups

Movement Strategy is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Movement, we believe that what we put out into the world matters. And since we were founded on the principles of paving our own path, we take bold steps towards what we believe is the right direction. This means addressing the big stuff: the systems of inequality that impact some of us far more than others. As culture creators, we firmly believe we have a responsibility to our colleagues, clients, communities, and the industry to live up to the Movement name. We confront inequities head-on as they come, knowing that this work is never done and that we must keep the momentum.