Job Opening: World Surf League Seeks General Counsel

Surf’s up, dude! The World Surf League, headquartered in Santa Monica, California, is looking to hire a lawyer to serve in the capacity of General Counsel.

Candidates must have a minimum of ten years of combined experience at a top-tier law firm, sports league, sports team or media company, and media and/or sports league experience is preferred. Additionally, the World Surf League is only considering candidates who are admitted to the California state bar.

Responsibilities of the World Surf League General Counsel position include:

• Lead the in-house legal team and outside counsel in managing the overall legal function of the world’s premier professional surfing league and its supporting business segments.
• Provide business and legal services on a broad range of corporate, transactional, intellectual property and business affairs, including: event licensing and operations; live event-related agreements;  sponsorship agreements;  brand and marketing partnerships;  content creation &  production services agreements, content protection and distribution across social, digital, broadcast and MVPD distribution platforms;  league operations, to include compliance with competition rules and athlete wellness (PED testing, etc);  human resources matters;  regulatory, compliance and governance matters;  acquisitions and other day-to-day legal initiatives.
• Serve as the key lawyer/legal advisor on all major business transactions, including corporate matters, acquisitions and global structuring of operations. Provide proactive counsel on strategic business initiatives while also providing practical, creative and timely advice on legal compliance and the resolution of tactical legal issues that arise.
• Partner with Business Leads to identify key needs and develop and implement systems, policies, and procedures designed to create process discipline and mitigate risk, in the most efficient manner possible.
• Ensure that WSL conducts its business in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Structure departmental roles and responsibilities and oversee the career development and growth of the WSL’s internal legal function and staff.
• Manage departmental budget and key performance indicators.
• Oversee the selection, retention, management and evaluation of all outside counsel, with the aim of judicious, high impact and cost-effective use of such services.
• Support Human Resources in training initiatives to implement legal compliance guidelines.

Not interested in this particular job opening? The Sports Biz has featured many other job openings in the past.