Director, Legal and Business Affairs; Associate General Counsel

Get to know The Pokémon Company International

The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children's entertainment properties in the world.

Learn more online at Pokemon.com and on Facebook (facebook.com/pokemon), YouTube (youtube.com/pokemon), Twitter (twitter.com/pokemon), and Instagram (instagram.com/pokemon).

Get to know the role

Job Title: Director, Legal and Business Affairs; Associate General Counsel

Job Summary: Supports through providing excellent legal advice and counsel to entertainment-specific business pillars:  Organized Play (e-sports); Marketing; and Entertainment and Brand Transactions (media production deals, media licensing deals, publishing deals and merchandise licensing and promotions) (“Businesses”) and manages and supports legal teams supporting the businesses. 

FLSA Classification (US Only): Exempt

People Manager: Yes

What you’ll do

• Employ seasoned legal judgment to manage legal risk for the Businesses in collaboration with TPCi’s CLO and enable Businesses to advance with alacrity while in full legal compliance; constantly communicating in a pragmatic and collaborative fashion both up (to CLO) and down (to reporting teams) the chain.
• Solve complex Director-level legal problems using sound, thorough and thoughtful legal analysis and judgment.
• Employ seasoned legal judgment to assess and recommend to TPCi CLO outside counsel to support the Businesses, including work to research and advise on existing and anticipated changes to laws and regulations and maintaining outside counsel relationships.
• Develop, nurture and provide direction and guidance to reporting teams and create a supportive team environment and dynamics across and within legal teams.  Direction and guidance may include review, editing and drafting of legal documents.
• Play an actively support legal team members per TPCi guidance and Core Values employing servant leadership principles; constantly considers appropriate team member level to handle legal work with an eye towards team member development; manages others through subordinate supervisor/managers; schedules and assign work, review performance, participates in team calibrations and recommends employment actions related to reporting team members.
• Develop, nurture and strengthen relationships between Businesses’ units and the legal reporting teams supporting the Businesses via weekly/bi-weekly meetings both between Businesses’ units and legal teams and with legal teams separately.
• Serve on the Legal Leadership team (CLO and Legal Department Directors), fully participate in Legal Department Managers’ for and Legal Department meetings; share in responsibility with CLO and other Legal Department Directors for the health of the Legal Department environment. 
• Participate fully with other TPCi Directors to set strategy for the TPCi company vision.
• Assess and prioritize teamwork on a regular cadence, participate in teamwork prioritization and submit and manage budgets for outside counsel and headcount for reporting teams, in consultation with CLO.

What you’ll bring

• Fifteen+ (15+) years of relevant professional experience, plus five (5) years of team management experience.
• J.D. or equivalent degree and bar license in good standing.
• Exceptional drafting, negotiation, communication (written and verbal), and interpersonal skills.
• Exceptional levels of collegiality. 
• Strong e-sports background, with regulatory, marketing and relevant transactional experience.  Secondary experience in entertainment media deals/transactions (complex, partnered content development deals, studio deals, content distribution or acquisition).  Experience with music law a plus.
• In-house legal team experience required; outside counsel experience and in-house legal team experience with a company in interactive entertainment preferred.
• Experience working with multinational corporations and/or clients and possessing a demonstrably strong ability to facilitate cross-cultural communications
• Proven success guiding team communications, relationships and dynamics
• Passion for guiding development of team members and uncovering opportunities to help team members grow

How you’ll be successful

• Passion for Pokémon: Develops an understanding of the Pokémon brand, the impact it has on our people, culture, business, fans, and communities, and apply that knowledge and passion to everything you do.
• Challenging the Expected: Approaches challenges with curiosity and creativity, embracing the possibility of failure as an opportunity to learn something new, develop innovative ideas, solve complex problems and identify unique opportunities.  
• Integrity and Respect: Demonstrates integrity and respect by leading with empathy, listening to others, seeking out different perspectives, and taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and results.
• Dedicated to Quality: Takes ownership to maintain and promote high standards, looks for new ways to learn and improve, and embraces a growth mindset to seek and apply feedback from others in an effort to continuously improve. 
• Building Relationships: Develops and strengthens relationships, adopting a “team first” mentality and working collaboratively to solve problems and meet shared goals.  
• Delighting Customers: Listens and understands the interests and needs of our customers and stakeholders, making them feel heard and important and embracing these learnings to continue delivering a unique Pokémon experience.

What to expect

• An employee first culture
• Company events that celebrate the spirit of Pokémon
• Competitive cash-based compensation programs
• Base salary range: $192000.00 - $288000.00. This range is applicable for the labor market where the role is intended to be hired. It is common for TPCi to start employees below the midpoint of the range. Final base salary is directly related to each candidate's qualifications and experience uniquely.
• 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for you
• Generous paid family leave
• Employer-paid life insurance
• Employer-paid long and short-term income protection insurance
• Fitness reimbursement
• Commuter benefit
• LinkedIn Learning

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this role. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed. For roles in the United Kingdom, candidates will need the right to work. In some cases, and for some roles, the Company may be able to arrange a visa. For roles in Ireland, this role requires candidates to have the right to live and work in the Republic of Ireland. However, we welcome applications from all nationalities and may consider supporting an employment permit application, in appropriate and suitable cases.

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