Director Legal, Marketing and Digital IP Attorney

Overview

The Director of Legal, Marketing and Digital IP at Wella International Operations Switzerland Sàrl in New York City leads the Marketing & Digital fourth pillar of the global IP function, reporting alongside Patents, Trademarks, and Brand Protection. This role serves as the primary legal partner for all marketing, digital, and social media IP matters, with a focus on contractual IP licensing, managing responses to third-party claims related to image, music, and sound infringement across digital channels, and social media and domain account management. The role combines hands-on legal expertise with proactive risk management to build guidelines, processes, and training that minimize exposure for the business. While global in scope, the primary focus is the US. Success is measured by reductions in inbound IP claims, faster response to third-party demands, training completion rates among marketing and digital teams, and effective prevention frameworks that reduce repeat exposure.

Responsibilities

• Marketing and Digital IP Strategy and Business Partnering
• Serve as the lead IP partner for marketing, digital, and social media teams on all marketing and digital content and IP matters worldwide
• Develop and implement a digital IP strategy aligned with the global IP framework
• Advise on IP risks across digital campaigns, social media activations, influencer content, and online marketing initiatives
• Establish cross-functional workflows with marketing and social media stakeholders to identify and mitigate third-party IP risks before content publication or campaign launch
• Provide ad hoc advice on US trademark clearance and prosecution as needed to support the Trademarks & Brand Protection team
• Partner with the Head of IP on high-risk or strategic marketing or digital IP issues
• Social Media, Domain Names, Digital Content IP Licensing
• Lead review, negotiation, and management of contractual IP licenses for digital and social media content, including music, images, video, and user-generated content
• Develop standardized licensing frameworks and approval processes for digital content usage across brands and markets
• Advise on rights clearance for campaigns, social media posts, influencer partnerships, and digital activations
• Track license terms, renewal dates, and territorial or platform-specific restrictions to prevent unauthorized use
• Support social media account clean-up initiatives, including account mergers and consolidation of duplicate or legacy accounts, and re-appropriation of handles or pages
• Coordinate with marketing, digital, and platform partners on account ownership transfers, naming alignment, and resolution of unauthorized or dormant accounts
• Lead domain name portfolio clean-up, including ownership review and consolidation, transfers, and retirement of unused or legacy domains
• Coordinate with Brand Protection to ensure clear delineation of responsibilities (domain watching and takedowns handled by Brand Protection; this role manages portfolio ownership and hygiene)
• Response to Third-Party IP Claims (Image & Music)
• Act as the primary point of contact for inbound cease and desist letters alleging image, music, or sound infringement in the company’s digital and social media content
• Assess validity and risk of claims and develop response strategies in coordination with external counsel
• Arrange prompt takedown or removal of third-party assets across digital platforms and social media when warranted
• Negotiate with rights holders and their counsel to resolve claims efficiently, including settlements where appropriate
• Coordinate with Brand Protection to ensure clear delineation of responsibilities: proactive enforcement and takedowns remain with Brand Protection, while this role handles inbound claims
• Maintain a tracker of all inbound claims, response timelines, outcomes, and costs to identify patterns and inform prevention efforts
• Prevention: Guidelines, Processes & Training
• Develop and maintain clear dos and don’ts guidelines for social media posting, including image sourcing, music/sound usage, user-generated content, and influencer material
• Create practical content clearance checklists for marketing and social media teams
• Design and deliver regular training programs for marketing, digital, and creative teams to reduce third-party IP infringement risk in digital content
• Build standardized pre-publication IP risk review processes for campaigns, social media posts, and digital activations
• Use data from inbound claims to identify recurring risk areas and update guidelines accordingly
• Monitor evolving platform rules, licensing practices, AI-generated content developments (including AI images, AI music, and synthetic voices), and regulatory changes to keep prevention tools current
• Key Interfaces
• Internal: Marketing, Digital, Social Media, Creative, Communications
• External: Law firms, digital platforms (Meta, TikTok, YouTube), music and image licensing agencies, rights holders

Requirements

• Qualified lawyer with strong IP law experience, particularly in copyright, digital media, and content licensing; trademark background is a plus
• Proven track record in digital and social media IP advisory, licensing negotiation/management for music, images, and content, and handling copyright/IP infringement claims; experience in consumer goods, beauty, media, or entertainment sectors is valued
• Experience managing external counsel and multi-jurisdictional digital matters
• Familiarity with digital platform policies and takedown mechanisms (e.g., Meta, TikTok, YouTube)
• Strong business judgment and strategic thinking, with the ability to translate IP risk into practical guidance for non-legal teams
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills, with the ability to balance legal risk and commercial goals in a fast-moving digital environment
• High level of autonomy, execution capability, and the ability to work collaboratively in global cross-functional teams
• Experience in building new processes and frameworks from the ground up