Senior Legal Counsel, Intellectual Property - FIFA

Description

THE POSITION

• Acting as the key point of contact and providing day to day advice to legal colleagues, internal clients and senior management on a range of intellectual property (IP) matter.  
• Development, management and optimization of a multijurisdictional trademark, design and copyright portfolio, including clearance and filing strategy, prosecution, monitoring and enforcement, renewals and pruning exercises to achieve costs savings.
• Establish comprehensive strategies to safeguard FIFA Intellectual Property against unauthorized use, counterfeiting, and piracy.
• Advising on a wide range of legal matters to ensure the safeguarding of FIFA tournament brand assets, including establishing and implementing an anti-counterfeiting strategy, managing an on-line enforcement strategy, reviewing contracts, compliance, regulatory issues and access to information requests.
• Provide clear and consistent direction to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and other tournament legal teams and working with local Brand Protection Counsel on brand protection matters, including implementation of the local brand protection programs, on-site programs, legislative analysis and legal review of agreements.
• Manage FIFA ambush marketing cases, ticketing enforcement, customs recordals and seizures as well as IP infringement cases worldwide.
• Manage and enforce brand guidelines for sponsors and partners, ensuring consistent representation and compliance with contractual obligations.
• Staying current with legal developments, best practices and benchmarks in IP law and assist internal clients in implementing policies and procedures in response thereto.
• Establishing and communicating the IP strategy for trademark, design and copyright clearance, filing, prosecution, litigation and disputes (proactive and defensive) and advisory work.
• Effectively building and maintaining strong external and internal relations at a senior level and across global offices.
• Overseeing global pre-launch trademark clearance projects, including advising on legal and practical risks of launching products and online/offline communication materials and any risk mitigations steps available.
• Providing IP advisory support including multijurisdictional copyright clearance and advice, copyright registration, internal and external copyrights licensing questions, assignment agreements, use of third-party trademarks and FIFA trademarks, IP clauses in commercial agreements, website content, IP waivers and other issues.
• Leading the global dispute strategy (cancellations, oppositions and litigation) before IP registries, courts and customs authorities.
• Drafting, negotiating and advising on a broad range of IP related commercial agreements and management of IP transactional work including licensing and IP due diligence exercises.
• Management of a substantial IP budget, operating to maximize budget and resource efficiencies.
• Best practice outside counsel management, including outside counsel selection.
• Extensive cross-functional collaboration with internal clients and stakeholders. 
• Managing and developing more junior team members.
• Supporting FIFA’s subsidiaries, including the FIFA Museum, and the FIFA Foundation with any IP related issues.
• Delivering internal legal training and ad hoc advice on issues relating to FIFA’s IP practices and strategies.  

YOUR PROFILE

• Fully qualified to practice law (registered on the roll / admitted to the bar of an appropriate jurisdiction) having completed all necessary academic and practical training
• Minimum of 8-10 years expertise "on the job" in a multinational IP team with global IP experience in either an in-house IP department or a reputable law firm focusing on intellectual property support for multinationals. 
• First class written and spoken English language skills, consistent with drafting and negotiating complex, high value and nuanced English language agreements. 
• Ability to provide and communicate effectively practical and solutions-based legal advice 
• Excellent understanding of the sports marketing, sports merchandising, licensing, retail, digital marketing, sponsorship, licensing, e-commerce and business intelligence industry landscapes
• Excellent negotiation, drafting, problem solving and analytical skills
• Structured, reliable, well-organized with a strong eye for detail 
• Ability to perform consistently within a high-performing team, fostering collaboration, driving results, and ensuring the successful achievement of organizational goals.
• Strong commercial acumen with an ability to transfer legal knowledge into commercially and operationally oriented solutions
• Proactive, with a strong sense of personal responsibility with an ability to work autonomously on a wide variety of projects
• Resilient with an ability to competently handle a large workload amid rapidly shifting priorities. 
• Open-minded team player with an affinity for working within a variety of cultures and excellent communication skills
• High degree of professionalism and confident demeanor
• Ability to be a good ambassador for FIFA in all manner of external facing situations, including during contractual negotiations, external workshops and during FIFA competition-related assignments
• Ability to create, develop and maintain strong and reliable relationships with FIFA senior management as well as external legal and commercial counterparts
• Willingness to operate outside of comfort zone
• Takes initiative to reflect on how to improve and develop working styles and methods to assist the organization and internal clients
• Native level English (or equivalent), consistent with requirement to draft and negotiate complex and nuanced English language agreements and advice. 
• Proficiency in any other FIFA language (French/Spanish) is an asset but not required
• Proficient in Word / PowerPoint / Excel
• Comfortable with international travel

PERKS & BENEFITS