Senior Counsel, Warner Bros Discovery
Employment Lawyer, UK & EMEA, Fixed Term Contract
Office located in Chiswick, London
Entertainment company
Open for applications
Entertainment company
1001+ employees
Open for applications
Office located in Chiswick, London
1001+ employees
Company mission
To take the world’s greatest possibilities and make them a reality - creating impact, inspiring imagination, and building connections.
Role
Who you are
- Qualified UK employment lawyer or qualified in another European jurisdiction
- Cross-border advisory experience is a plus
- In-house experience, particularly in the media sector is advantageous
- Fluent in English; proficiency in other European languages (especially German) is beneficial
- Technically proficient with excellent academic credentials
- Strong communication skills, capable of presenting complex legal issues in a clear and engaging manner
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision
What the job involves
- As a Senior Counsel, Employment Lawyer at Warner Bros Discovery, you'll partner with our dynamic People & Culture (HR) team to navigate complex employment legal issues across Europe and the Middle East, including the UK
- Reporting directly to the Group Vice President of Employment Law, you'll play a crucial role in minimising financial and reputational risks while providing expert legal advice
- The role will be based in the UK office but gives a great opportunity for a lawyer qualified in either the UK or another European jurisdiction, the opportunity to advise on multiple markets, with support from external legal counsel as needed
- Strategic Legal Partner: Collaborate with the People & Culture team to provide day-to-day legal advice on a wide range of employee and staff issues, working across various businesses within the Warner Bros Discovery portfolio
- Innovative Solutions: Advise on initiatives with legal implications, including reorganisations, acquisitions, sales, and outsourcing
- Documentation Mastery: Draft and negotiate employment documents such as employment contracts, bonus arrangements, and mutual agreements
- Cross-Border Expertise: Manage employment legal matters across various European and Middle Eastern territories, coordinating with local external legal counsel as needed
- Advising on the impact of the roll out of global policies, processes and initiatives within the region
- Litigation Management: Oversee litigation in designated countries, working with outside counsel where relevant
- Collaborative Approach: Work closely with the People Relations team on investigations and disciplinary matters, and with local commercial/corporate in-house lawyers on relevant projects
Salary benchmarks
Our take
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) is an entertainment company formed from the 2022 merger of Warner Bros and Discovery. It is a leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing, and marketing of content, with Warner Bros alone boasting a huge library – more than 100,000 hours of programming – before the companies were joined. WBD’s portfolio includes Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Discovery+, HBO Max, and franchises like “Batman” and “Harry Potter”.
Both of the company’s previous businesses have operated throughout the digitisation of the media space. David Zaslav, CEO of WBD, headed Discovery during its expansion into digital media, to make it a “content company” over a “cable company”. The recent focus for Warner Bros has been on next-gen distribution efforts, expanding the availability of its content across platforms and devices to reach the modern viewer. The new company has plans to migrate to one tech stack, which will require extensive retooling, as well as exploring cost-saving automation opportunities for its operations.
Since the merger, the new giant that is Warner Bros Discovery has had a shaky start, forcing the company to wind down operations and cut back on content, which included the very public scrapping of the “Batgirl” movie. However, it now seems the company may have been ahead of the curve, as a wider trend of cutbacks has been seen from peers in the space. This early move, combined with a hyper-focus on cash generation, seeks to establish WBD as an outperformer in an industry on the downturn.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-1% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company HQ
Midtown Manhattan, New York, NY
Leadership
David Zaslav
(CEO, not founder)Spent 17 years at NBCUniversal including as President of NBC Cable LLC and NBC Media LLC.
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