VP & Head of Legal

Luminate is the entertainment industry’s preeminent data and insights partner, serving as the single source of truth for record labels, film studios, talent agencies, and every part of the music and entertainment ecosystem. By aggregating data from over 500 verified sources, Luminate provides customers with the objective validation needed to make critical business decisions and track global market share. While its data famously fuels the Billboard Charts and the Variety Streaming Originals Charts, Luminate’s primary mission is to empower the entertainment industry with essential, accurate and objective data.

Luminate, the definitive data authority for the entertainment industry, fueling the most powerful media, tech, music and film companies on the planet, is seeking a Vice President & Head of Legal to provide day-to-day legal leadership across Luminate’s commercial, regulatory, and corporate matters.

This role requires a commercially minded, deal-focused corporate and transactional attorney who views legal as an engine for business growth. Reporting the CEO, the Vice President & Head of Legal will work cross-functionally with the sales, product and engineering teams, as well as with executive leadership, to drive deal velocity, structure high-value enterprise data transactions, maximize revenue realization and interface with parent entity counsel on overarching corporate governance matters as Luminate scales. The ideal candidate combines deep experience in data licensing and technology transactions with a genuine understanding of the entertainment industry’s unique business dynamics, including label and studio relationships, chart methodology integrity, and the licensing frameworks that govern music and media data.

This role is based in Los Angeles. As Luminate values in-person collaboration and team cohesion, employees work onsite 4 days a week and 1 day remotely with a focus on maintaining a vibrant and inclusive culture.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial Contracts and Data Licensing; Product Guidance:
• Partner directly with the Chief Revenue Officer, Sales and RevOps leadership to design, structure, and enforce scalable commercial terms, licensing metrics and custom deal structures that reduce legal friction from the deal process.
• Draft and negotiate a high volume of complex agreements including high-value enterprise sales agreements, global data licensing agreements, API integrations and multi-year platform subscriptions.

o   Develop and maintain playbooks, templates, and processes to empower the sales team to execute standard deals independently and accelerate overall revenue operations while preserving Luminate’s legal protections.

o   Partner with product and engineering teams to provide proactive legal guidance on new product launches, feature development, and data methodology changes.

• Intellectual Property Protection:
• Safeguard Luminate’s intellectual property rights in its core commercial assets including proprietary technology, datasets and brand, including by coordinating trademark filings, managing Luminate’s trademark portfolio, and pursuing enforcement actions as needed.
• Advise on IP ownership, licensing, and usage rights in connection with Luminate’s data products, metadata databases, and analytics tools.
• Evaluate IP implications of new product development, data integrations, and technology partnerships.
• Regulatory & Data Privacy Compliance:
• Oversee data protection and privacy compliance (including GDPR, CCPA and cross-border transfer laws), building privacy frameworks that instill buyer confidence and remove legal hurdles during enterprise sales cycles.
• Partner directly with the Chief Data and Revenue Officers to manage both existing and go forward contractual architecture for inbound and outbound data feeds to ensure Luminate’s data collection, aggregation and commercialization models are fully protected, monetizable and compliant with commercial standards.
• Monitor and assess the impact of emerging AI, algorithmic accountability, and automated decision-making regulations on Luminate’s products and services, and advise Luminate in connection therewith.
• Manage responses to data subject access requests, regulatory inquiries, and privacy-related incidents, including data breach response protocols and notification procedures, if/as applicable.
• Develop and oversee information security and cybersecurity policies in coordination with IT/Security teams.
• Employment & Talent Management Support: Advise on employment law matters, including hiring, onboarding, termination, workplace policies, employee agreements, compensation and benefits structures, jurisdiction-based specific requirements, and global hiring compliance to support Luminate’s operational scale.
• Mergers, Acquisitions, and Strategic Investments: Advise on M&A, investment, and strategic transaction matters in coordination with parent company counsel, including due diligence and integration support .
• Dispute Resolution & Commercial Risk Management:
• Manage pre-litigation disputes, demand letters, settlement negotiations, and alternative dispute resolution strategies, if/as applicable.
• Select, manage, and oversee outside counsel strategically for litigation, IP enforcement, and specialized regulatory matters, with a focus on budget efficiency.
• Advise on insurance coverage, claims, and risk transfer strategies.

Essential Requirements

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school and active member in good standing of the California State Bar (or eligible for California registration as Registered In-House Counsel).
• At least 10-12 years of corporate and transactional legal experience. Several years of in-house experience at a technology, data, media, or SaaS company strongly preferred.
• Significant experience drafting and negotiating complex data licensing, SaaS, and technology agreements.
• Strong understanding of U.S. and international data privacy laws and their direct impact on data licensing.
• Experience and success partnering closely with Sales and RevOps teams to optimize sales funnels and contract workflows, and track record as a true “business enabler” who approaches legal friction with creative, solution-oriented dealmaking that helps close revenue without incurring unnecessary risk.
• Direct experience managing the legal lifecycle of strategic M&A transactions, including due diligence, agreement negotiation and post-merger integration of acquired revenues and products.
• Comfort with technical concepts in data engineering, data pipelines, APIs, and analytics platforms sufficient to advise product and engineering teams effectively.
• Familiarity with the IP, licensing and contractual mechanics unique to the music, film, television and streaming media landscapes.

Compensation

A good faith estimate of the annual base salary range is $225k - $250k upon hire.  Factors that could be used to determine your actual salary may include your specific skills, years of experience and comparison to current employees already in this role. The typical candidate is hired below midpoint of the range. If you have more or less experience than specified on this job posting, please apply and list your salary expectations.

If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors).

It’s all About You…

As a part of PMC’s family of companies, Luminate’s comprehensive benefits package is thoughtfully designed to support every aspect of your life, empowering you to thrive both personally and professionally. We offer Company-Paid Healthcare Premiums with no employee paycheck contributions on medical, dental, and vision premiums for you and your family. Luminate also offers Flexible Spending Accounts (Healthcare, Dependent Care & Commuter), an Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Short & Long Term Disability, Paid Parental Leave, and a 401(k) Retirement Plan with an Employer match. Employees are also eligible to take advantage of company discounts and perks including Pet Insurance, Home & Auto Insurance, Mortgage discounts, and a variety of other savings on wellness, lifestyle, and financial essentials. As part of Luminate dedication to consistently meet employee’s needs, we maintain a Flexible Vacation Policy.

At Luminate, we believe working in a highly collaborative, office-first environment that fosters real-time communication, spontaneous idea sharing, and stronger interpersonal relationships that drive innovation and team cohesion.

More About Us: Luminate has incredible 30 year history that has made us who we are today. We power the Billboard Charts, but we also inform the entire music industry with exclusive research, data and insights. We serve the television and film industry, providing deep meta-data on every major production and title.

Luminate is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.