Senior Manager, Business Affairs

About R/GA
In our 40-year history, we’ve changed a lot—from a culture-defining film title studio (Superman, Alien, Ghostbusters); to an interactive advertising agency; to an award-winning product and marketing agency with design, technology, communications, ventures, and IP practices. We like change, and we like to navigate our clients through it too.

Our approach to work is always human first. This unwavering focus helps us create meaningful and memorable experiences that live across digital platforms and often blur the line between the digital and real worlds. We believe disruptive thinking happens when you collide experts in design, technology, and culture.

About the Role
The R/GA Studio’s mission is to advance storytelling through the use of emerging technology. The Studio produces a wide range of video, motion, audio, 3D and computer-generated graphics, photography, and social and influencer-led content, all tailored to our clients’ business needs. The team is made up of editors, animators, motion-graphics specialists, creative technologists, strategists, and producers with experience spanning traditional agency broadcast work through production-company-style line production. Studio producers partner closely with Business Affairs to conceive, create, and deliver work that moves our clients’ businesses forward.

The Senior Manager, Business Affairs supports projects across all of R/GA US and may occasionally support projects for our international offices as needed.

Here’s what you should know if you want to be a Senior Manager, Business Affairs at R/GA:
 
On any given day, you might

• Draft, review, and negotiate client Statements of Work (SOWs), outlining deliverables, staffing plans, production management requirements, creative reviews, and key legal considerations
• Draft and review vendor agreements to ensure compliance with client SOWs and Master Services Agreements (MSAs)
• Provide producers and client teams with accurate estimates for union and non-union talent, including session fees, usage, residuals, and music-related costs
• Review AICP/AICE, animation, photography, and music bids in partnership with Producers
• Collaborate with cost consultants to ensure adherence to client budgeting parameters and contractual guidelines
• Lead and advise on compliance for AI-generated content and evolving social media usage rights beyond traditional TV and radio boundaries
• Conduct trademark searches for proposed branding, taglines, signage, and design elements
• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage union and non-union talent agreements, including celebrity and influencer contracts, for domestic and global media
• Review creative materials and advise agency teams on talent, copyright, and intellectual property considerations
• Negotiate terms and conditions with production vendors
• Manage and control production budgets in partnership with Producers.
• Partner with producers and creative teams to problem-solve across all aspects of content production
• Partner with Finance to manage and expedite vendor payments
• Collaborate with creative teams to review concepts and provide solution-oriented guidance on navigating client, legal, and regulatory constraints
• Work with internal teams to track MSA requirements throughout the lifecycle of a project
• Liaise with network broadcast standards departments to support spot clearance
• Support broadcast and digital trafficking as needed

The ideal person

• Communicates clearly and confidently, with strong verbal and written skills
• Is a calm, steady presence under pressure and able to manage competing priorities with confidence
• Brings a detail-oriented, highly organized approach to complex work while maintaining a positive, solutions-focused mindset
• Thinks creatively and pragmatically to find smart, unconventional solutions to production challenges
• Is curious about emerging technologies and interested in how they can improve production workflows and processes
• Demonstrates strong judgment and accountability when navigating legal, financial, and operational considerations
• Partners effectively across disciplines to move work forward
• Leads by example and mentors others on best practices related to Business Affairs

You bring

• 5+ years of experience in a Business Affairs or similar role within an advertising agency
• Experience supporting pharmaceutical clients and navigating regulated environments
• Fluency across a broad range of production types, including TVC, digital, social, and AI-enabled content
• Strong working knowledge of SAG-AFTRA Commercial Codes and union/non-union talent engagement
• Proven experience negotiating, drafting and administering contracts, including SOWs, licensing and talent agreements, vendor contracts, and purchase orders
• Hands-on production experience, including shoot support
• Experience partnering with Risk Management to evaluate production and contractual risk
• Strong operational and documentation management capabilities
• Solid project management skills and knowledge of advertising and marketing production processes
• Proficiency with Extreme Reach, AdStream, or similar talent and traffic management platforms
• Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, estimation, and cost analysis
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally approximately 4–5 times per year, as needed

*This role operates on Eastern Time. Regular in-person collaboration is expected, and candidates based in New York City or willing to relocate are encouraged to apply.

The hiring range for this position is $130,000 to $155,000. Where an employee or prospective employee is paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, actual ranges for current/former employees in the subject position; budgetary considerations; tenure and standing with the company (applicable to current employees); as well as the employee’s/applicant’s applicable skills, pertinent experience, and qualifications.

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