ABOUT SOTHEBY'S
Established in 1744, Sotheby’s is the world’s premier destination for art and luxury. Sotheby’s promotes access to and ownership of exceptional art and luxury objects through auctions and buy-now channels including private sales, e-commerce and retail. Our trusted global marketplace is supported by an industry-leading technology platform and a network of specialists spanning 40 countries and 70 categories which include Contemporary Art, Modern and Impressionist Art, Old Masters, Chinese Works of Art, Jewelry, Watches, Wine and Spirits, and Design, as well as collectible cars and real estate. Sotheby’s believes in the transformative power of art and culture and is committed to making our industries more inclusive, sustainable and collaborative.
THE ROLE
This role will be reporting into Deputy General Counsel, Head of Commercial Legal for EMEA and Asia and will be responsible for providing commercial legal advice to senior leadership and cross-functional teams across Sotheby’s global business operations, with key responsibility for the Operations and Procurement teams. This individual will help develop and improve third party vendor contracting processes. To be successful in this role, this individual must seamlessly communicate with our business clients and stakeholders, build strong relationships with them by providing timely and practical legal support and work collaboratively and strategically with the rest of the Legal and Compliance team, invoking the right support at all levels as required. The right person for this role is a self-starter, experienced lawyer and able to operate autonomously.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Responsible for drafting, reviewing and negotiating all non-IT commercial contracts for the Sotheby’s Group and for individual operating subsidiaries including, but not limited to, Sotheby’s London and Sotheby’s New York in areas such as logistics, transportation, warehousing, consultancy, broadcasting, events, brand marketing and partnerships;
- Lead lawyer on Operations strategic projects;
- Create legal templates to transact with vendors and third-party partners or sponsors for frequent use contracting scenarios that can be used by all principal sales locations. Maintain up-to-date existing relevant templates. Oversee adaption of existing templates for additional sales locations;
- Support the Legal and Compliance in improving contracting efficiencies to ensure the systematic and timely review of commercial contracts by key internal stakeholders including Data Protection, Information Security, Risk and Procurement; and
- Provide training to the business on commercial contract issues.
IDEAL EXPERIENCE & COMPETENCIES
- Approximately 8 plus years post qualification experience in commercial law
- Experienced in dealing with commercial law issues, including structuring and drafting complex/innovative commercial contracts
- Good working knowledge of data protection, IP, consumer protection and competition law
- Experience of working on cross border transactions governed by international law (particularly New York law). Experience of working in a different international legal jurisdiction very beneficial
- Strong team player and leader
- Able to act as a change agent, develop business and promote process
- Able to work autonomously, including by organising themselves and the relevant stakeholders
- Confident in dealing directly with a variety of clients in a purposeful and constructive manner
- Able to quickly build relationships with stakeholders and work collaboratively with the wider global Legal team to allow the department to assist with fulfilment of Sotheby’s aims
- Preferably have one or more European languages
- Art law experience not required
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The Company is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applicants for employment without regard to race (including, without limitation, traits historically associated with race, such as natural hair, hair texture, and protective and treated or untreated hairstyles), color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership/union status, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, genetic predisposition, genetic information, reproductive health decision, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, alienage or citizenship status, domestic violence victim status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/province or local law. The Company complies with applicable state and local laws prohibiting discrimination in employment in every jurisdiction in which it operates.
