Featured Job

Department: Television & Marketing Services, Legal & Business Affairs

Location: Lausanne, Switzerland

Contract Type: Open-ended

Activity Level: 100%

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the guardian of the Olympic Games and the leader of the Olympic Movement. A truly global organisation, it acts as a catalyst for collaboration between all Olympic stakeholders, including athletes, National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Sports Federations (IFs), Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs), Worldwide Olympic Partners, and Media Rights-Holders. It also works with public and private authorities, including the United Nations and other international organisations.

If you are a commercial lawyer with experience in the sports industry, and the vision to build a better world through sports inspires you, this is a unique opportunity to make a lasting difference to the Olympic Movement at its very heart.

As a Commercial Counsel, your focus will be to further the mission of IOC Marketing Services (IOC TMS) to generate, enable and grow long-term revenue streams for the Olympic Movement, by providing strategic, proactive and pragmatic legal & business affairs advice and legal services.

Main responsibilities:

Overview

• Participating in establishing and influencing appropriate legal considerations to be taken into account when business decisions are made
• Steady stream of complex commercial legal work, drafting and negotiation of all types of non-media rights agreements, as detailed below:

Global sponsorship

• Support the planning and development of the IOC’s global sponsorship arrangements in accordance with the Olympic Charter and Olympic marketing framework, ensuring the interests of the IOC are respected, and the needs of the IOC and other Olympic stakeholders are met.
• Negotiate and draft global sponsorship agreements, working closely with IOC TMS Business Development and Commercial Integration teams, as well as Finance, Olympic Games, Sports, Athletes’ and other relevant IOC departments.

Olympic Games and NOC Commercial Programmes

• Work closely with organising committees of Olympic Games (OCOGs) managing all legal aspects of their domestic commercial programmes, including developing templates, advising on best commercial legal practices taking into account the long term commercial interests of the Olympic Movement as a whole, reviewing sponsorship, licensing, supply and other commercial agreements proposed to be entered into by OCOGs.
• Ongoing legal advice to all IOC TMS teams in relation to the implementation of all IOC commercial programmes.

Licensing and e-commerce

• Commercial legal support to the IOC licensing programme, including digital collectibles, video game licensing as well as merchandising products.
• Commercial legal support to the IOC’s global e-commerce strategy, including agreements with platform partners, developers, suppliers and licensees.
• Drafting and negotiation of related agreements.

Esports

• Commercial legal support to the creation and implementation of the Olympic Esports Games.
• Drafting and negotiating related agreements.

Agreement templates

• Actively contributing to the development, revision and updating of all marketing agreement templates.

Eligibility criteria:

• Qualified lawyer admitted to practice law in his/her jurisdiction (combination of civil and common law experience a plus).
• At least 6 years of experience as a commercial lawyer acting in the commercial sports or entertainment sector.
• Commercial expertise, either at a leading commercial law firm or In-house in an international sports or entertainment organisation.
• Demonstrable significant experience providing high-quality advice, negotiating and drafting complex international commercial contracts and exploitation of intellectual property rights, including new means of exploitation of commercial sports marketing or media assets, in particular digital initiatives.
• Demonstrable interest in commercial sports law and the Olympic Movement.
• Exceptional drafting and communication skills in English. French drafting skills a plus.

Come and join an organisation where the spirit of gender equality, inclusion and diversity is a top priority and which focuses on what unites us – a passion for sport and its values. Work in a flexible and rewarding environment which offers competitive employee benefits and numerous incentives to live a sustainable, healthy and active life. By joining us, you become part of the Olympic Movement and help to build a better world through sport. You will have the opportunity to work with people of more than 70 nationalities.