Bully Pulpit International is an outcomes agency made up of strategists, data scientists, and artists. We come from politics, brands, and government and we communicate without barriers and measure what matters. We have more than 400 team members in six countries and thirteen offices - Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, D.C., London, Los Angeles, New York, Oslo, San Francisco, and Zürich. We apply our unique expertise across strategic communications, public affairs, research, and digital marketing to create sophisticated and customized strategies that make change possible for both American and European clients.
The Impact You Will Make
Bully Pulpit International is looking for an Associate Director of Business Affairs to lead the business affairs work supporting our integrated productions across film, photography, digital, social, audio and experiential content.
This is a hands-on role for someone who can navigate complex production needs, negotiate commercial terms, anticipate rights and clearance issues, and help teams move quickly with clear approvals and documentation.
As our production volume grows, this person will also help establish how Business Affairs, Production, Client Services, Finance, Operations and Legal work together. They will bring structure to those handoffs, clarify responsibilities and build practical processes that support the work from initial scope through delivery and usage renewal.
Starting Salary Range: $125,000 - $150,000 (+ annual bonus)
Expectation to work from one of our offices (Chicago, DC, NYC, SF, LA) at least 3 days a week
What the Day-to-Day Looks Like
Lead Production Business Affairs
Partner with producers early in creative development and estimating to identify talent, licensing, clearance, contractual and usage requirements.
Review production scopes, estimates and agreements for alignment on deliverables, rights, payment terms, assumptions and responsibilities.
Negotiate commercial terms with production companies, photographers, directors, creators, talent representatives and other production partners within approved authority.
Coordinate agreement review and execution, ensuring outstanding requirements are resolved or escalated before work begins.
Manage external business affairs support and specialist partners as needed.
Manage Talent and Usage
Oversee union and nonunion talent contracting, releases, usage terms, renewals and associated cost tracking.
Apply working knowledge of SAG-AFTRA commercial production requirements and coordinate with signatory and payroll partners.
Manage rights for music, stock footage, photography, fonts and other licensed materials.
Maintain a central record of rights, territories, media, usage periods, restrictions and renewal deadlines.
Help teams assess creator agreements and permissions relating to AI-assisted production, in partnership with Legal.
Connect Production and Finance
Establish a clear workflow for approved scopes, vendor agreements, job numbers, purchase orders where required, invoices and payment milestones.
Work with producers and Finance to reconcile contracted commitments, actual costs and changes in scope.
Ensure BA costs and rights obligations are documented by job and reflected in production estimates and client scopes where applicable.
Flag discrepancies between approved budgets, contracted terms and invoices, and coordinate their resolution.
Support job closeout with complete contractual, rights and cost documentation.
Build the Workflow
Create a consistent intake and prioritization process for BA requests across active projects.
Develop standard agreements, checklists and escalation paths with Legal, Production, Finance and Operations.
Clarify who reviews, approves and signs agreements, and document the handoffs between teams.
Provide concise guidance and training so producers and client teams can identify BA needs earlier.
Track open agreements, clearance issues, upcoming renewals and decisions that could affect delivery.
Partner with Legal and Client Teams
Translate contractual and rights requirements into practical guidance for producers and Client Services.
Identify matters requiring counsel, including complex intellectual property, indemnification, privacy or reputational concerns.
Coordinate with internal counsel and outside specialists on escalated matters.
Recommend workable options when a proposed approach creates cost, rights or contractual challenges.
Requirements
What You Bring
Approximately 7-10+ years of relevant business affairs experience within an advertising agency, production company or comparable content production environment.
Demonstrated ability to independently manage business affairs across integrated campaigns and multiple concurrent projects.
Strong experience negotiating production, talent, creator and licensing agreements.
Working knowledge of SAG-AFTRA commercial production, talent payroll and union and nonunion usage structures.
Experience partnering with Finance on production commitments, invoicing, reconciliation and job closeout.
A track record of improving processes and establishing clear responsibilities across departments.
Strong judgment about what can be resolved directly and what requires legal or leadership review.
Clear, collaborative communication and the ability to remain constructive under tight deadlines.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant experience. A law degree is welcome but not required.
What Success Looks Like
Within the first three months, this person will have established a prioritized BA intake process, visibility into active agreements and rights obligations, and an agreed workflow across Production, Finance and Legal. Producers will have a clear point of contact, client teams will receive timely guidance, and outstanding contractual or clearance issues will be surfaced early enough to address.
This role owns BA coordination and commercial negotiations within delegated authority. Legal retains responsibility for legal advice, and Finance retains responsibility for accounting and payment controls.
Benefits
BPI offers a wide range of benefits to U.S.-based employees, including 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) program with employer match up to 4%, generous time off for vacation, $50 monthly phone reimbursement, unlimited sick time, and 16 weeks of paid leave for new parents. BPI's benefits prioritize employee wellness and progressive support to our diverse workforce.
We're looking for all kinds of people.
BPI Group is an integrated public affairs agency that delivers outcomes for the top organizations and leaders around the world. With expertise in strategic communications, digital marketing, creative, research, and measurement, we offer a cohesive approach across corporate, policy, and public affairs strategy in today's interconnected world. By combining incisive strategy and deep tactical expertise, we make change possible. Our transatlantic presence includes offices across thirteen markets in the US and Europe.
We are an equal opportunity employer and make employment decisions based on individual commitment to excellence. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.
BPI is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging - so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. We consider applications holistically and you may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!
Let's keep in touch. Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/1063038/admin/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/bpimedia) at bpigroup.com
