Business Affairs Manager

A Sr. Business Affairs Manager at Saatchi & Saatchi Seatlle is an expert in SAG matters, licensing, negotiations, and rights clearance. The Sr. BAM has the responsibility to ensure that the financial and legal aspects of productions they manage are compliant with both the agency’s and client's guidelines and processes. Day-to-day involves working alongside and supporting Agency Producers, reviewing creative for rights clearance in partnership with in-house counsel, estimating Union talent session residuals, negotiating and licensing music, creating agency estimates and purchase orders, and maintaining jobs through final billing. The Sr. BAM reports to the Director of Integrated Business Affairs and works closely with the account team and producers to keep abreast of changes in productions and to ensure processes are followed with regards to licensing, talent and estimate management. We are looking for a team player that is detail-oriented and a self-starter.

• Review copy in early stages to advise on talent, copyright, and intellectual property risks, alongside agency legal counsel.
• Work alongside agency producers for timely bidding of projects and compliance with client’s guidelines, including approval of costs by external consultants, if required by clients.
• Review final production bids with agency producers.
• Generate agency estimates using Altair, the agency’s financial solution.
• Generate award documents, upon client approval of estimates, including production contracts, insurance declaration, talent agreements, and purchase orders.
• Negotiate licensing and clearance of intellectual property rights, including images, music, fonts, artwork, and others.
• Prepare vendor agreements, consulting with agency counsel for terms and conditions.
• Negotiate and/or oversee overscale talent deals and agreements.
• Work with Producers on every stage of talent matters: talent session costs, issuing contracts, and processing session reports.
• Prepare casting use specs and talent residuals estimates, per information supplied by Media and Client Services teams.
• Process talent use payments per talent reports issued by Traffic, and using the external payroll service.
• Remain updated on all SAGAFTRA & AFM guidelines, and advise clients and agency teams on union rules, regulations, and best practices.
• Manage and evaluate claims, audits, and requests for information received from the unions.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of all projects in digital job jackets, using the agency’s preferred cloud storage system.
• Process supplier invoices, payments, and payment inquiries.
• Maintain and reconcile estimates, monitoring for overages, and flagging them to the agency’s Client Services team.
• Regularly report on jobs’ status to Accounting, Production, and Client Services departments for billing, reconciliation, and closing of jobs.
• Maintain trackers for talent cycles, music, and other rights expirations, to share with Client Services and for consultation by other Business Managers.

5 years in Business Affairs role at an Advertising Agency
3 years of experience working with union talent
Strong focus on timelines and attention to detail
Ability to work independently with minimal direct supervision
Exceptional written communication skills
Proficient in Excel and Word and a willingness to learn new applications
Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
Ability to prioritize correctly and work well under pressure
After hours work expected

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