Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs - Commercial

About LOVB (League One Volleyball): League One Volleyball (LOVB) is reimagining women's sports. Launched in 2019, our company is a mission-led sports performance, training and media enterprise that will change the game of volleyball in the USA and empower new generations of female athletes. It is a groundbreaking time for volleyball in the US with our historic triple Olympic Gold medals in Women's Indoor, Beach and Sitting Volleyball. Volleyball is already the #1 most played girls' youth sport. There are 38M current and former players today. Of major sports, it's the only one that is women-first (~90% of players are female). But the volleyball market has been almost entirely missed by traditional sports investors, brands, and media. LOVB is capturing this opportunity by creating a strong club business, and from that built-in audience and fandom, is creating the best Pro League in the world and a digital ecosystem that will connect all aspects of LOVB. This community-up approach will drive participation and fandom, while enabling greater empowerment for girls and young women living this amazing sport. In this role, you will join a mission-driven, roll-up-your-sleeves team of innovators and builders who have come together to change the paradigm of professional volleyball and women’s sports. JOB DESCRIPTION Title: Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs - Commercial Department Code & Name: TBD FLSA Status: Exempt Location: Remote (U.S.-based) with occasional travel for meetings and business-related events Job Level & Type: Individual Contributor or People Manager Job Summary: League One Volleyball (LOVB) is seeking an experienced, business-minded attorney to serve as Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs—Commercial. This role will be the primary legal partner supporting LOVB's Media & Content and Consumer Products & Merchandise business units, leading the structuring, drafting, and execution of a broad range of commercial transactions across media rights, content development, talent, licensing, merchandise, brand collaborations, and intellectual property monetization. The ideal candidate combines strong transactional expertise with practical business judgment and a deep understanding of how legal strategy can accelerate growth. This individual should be comfortable operating at the intersection of sports, media, entertainment, licensing, and consumer products, while balancing commercial objectives with thoughtful risk management. This role will help build the legal infrastructure necessary to support LOVB's evolution into a leading sports, media, and consumer products company. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Media & Content Business Serve as the lead legal and business affairs partner to LOVB's Media and Content business unit, supporting the development, production, distribution, and monetization of media and content assets across all platforms. Key responsibilities include: Lead drafting of media rights, content licensing, distribution, production, talent, creator, influencer, and commercial partnership agreements. Partner closely with the VP, Media & Content Business Development and Sr. Director, Content & Strategy to structure and execute content, distribution, and revenue-generating opportunities. Support the development and commercialization of original programming, athlete-driven content, branded content, podcasts, documentaries, social-first content, and emerging media initiatives. Oversee legal support for live match productions and original productions, including production services agreements, production personnel, broadcast talent, rights clearances, location agreements, and related production matters. Advise business leaders on intellectual property ownership, rights management, content exploitation, and long-term asset value creation. Help establish scalable business affairs processes and contracting frameworks to support the continued growth of the Media & Content business as both an internal shared service and standalone revenue-generating business. Consumer Products & Merchandise Serve as the primary legal partner to LOVB's Consumer Products and Merchandise business, supporting the growth of merchandise, licensing, retail, and brand collaboration initiatives across the youth-to-pro ecosystem. Key responsibilities include: Lead legal support for merchandise operations, e-commerce initiatives, retail partnerships, licensing programs, athlete merchandise, and brand collaborations. Structure and negotiate licensing, manufacturing, distribution, retail, endorsement, and collaboration agreements that support the growth of LOVB's consumer products platform. Advise on intellectual property protection, trademark usage, brand standards, licensing compliance, and product commercialization strategies. Partner with commercial leadership to develop scalable legal frameworks that support future growth across domestic and international markets. Support the integration of consumer products initiatives with sponsorship, media, athlete marketing, and content strategies to maximize enterprise value. Strategic Counseling & Operations Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders across LOVB's Media & Content and Consumer Products & Merchandise business units, balancing legal risk with commercial objectives in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment. Key responsibilities include: Provide practical, business-oriented legal advice that enables growth while appropriately managing risk. Advise on commercial strategy, contract interpretation, intellectual property matters, advertising and marketing issues, publicity rights, and dispute avoidance. Develop and maintain legal templates, contracting processes, approval workflows, rights management systems, and business affairs best practices. Partner with the legal counterparts across the LOVB organization to improve legal operations, outside counsel management, and organizational scalability. Build strong relationships across creative, commercial, production, marketing, and executive leadership teams to ensure legal support is embedded in business decision-making. Serve as a strategic thought partner on new initiatives, emerging revenue opportunities, and cross-functional projects supporting LOVB's long-term commercial growth. Required & Preferred Skills/Abilities: Leadership & Operational Capabilities Strategic Project Management: Proven ability to identify cross-functional needs, lead collaboration across internal business units, and synthesize insights from a diverse array of subject matter experts. Agility & Multi-Tasking: Ability to simultaneously manage a high volume of projects for unrelated stakeholders, maintaining excellence while navigating shifting priorities and tight deadlines. Cross-Functional Influence: Adept at working effectively with clients, peers, and external parties across a wide variety of fields, backgrounds, and professional levels. Communication Excellence: Outstanding reasoning and communication skills (verbal and written), with a proven ability to translate complex legal concepts into clear, actionable advice for non-legal stakeholders. Entrepreneurial Mindset: A builder who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is comfortable creating new legal frameworks and processes from the ground up. Education and Experience: Professional Experience Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school Active bar membership in good standing 8-10 years of legal experience Proven track record drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements and high-value strategic partnerships. Experience structuring and negotiating complex domestic and international media rights, distribution, and content development agreements across broadcast, streaming, digital, and social platforms. Deep production expertise: experience drafting and negotiating complex Above-the-Line (ATL) and Below-the-Line (BTL) agreements and managing both union and non-union production matters, service agreements, and all production-related clearances. Experience supporting consumer products and merchandise businesses, including negotiating and advising on licensing agreements, brand collaborations, e-commerce initiatives, manufacturing and distribution arrangements, and intellectual property commercialization strategies. Knowledge of intellectual property, privacy, data security, and technology law, as they relate to digital content distribution and e-commerce preferred, with a commitment to tracking evolving industry standards and regulations. Personal Attributes Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with shifting priorities. Solutions-oriented and able to identify when to escalate issues or challenges. Strong collaborator with excellent verbal and written communication skills. Capable of working independently while effectively partnering with a distributed, remote team. Positive, proactive, organized, and creative - brings fresh ideas to problem-solving. Highly adaptable and eager to learn in a rapidly evolving environment. Work Environment & Physical Requirements (Remote): Ability to operate a computer and use a keyboard, mouse, and video conferencing tools. Ability to clearly communicate via video, phone, and written channels. Occasional travel may be required for meetings and business-related events.