Legal Counsel (Commercial, IP & Advertising Clearance)

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands.

We unite cutting-edge media intelligence and data solutions, world-class creativity, next-generation production, transformative enterprise solutions and expert strategic counsel in a single company – powered by exceptional talent and our agentic marketing platform, WPP Open, to help our clients navigate change, capture opportunity and deliver transformational growth. We work with the world's most valuable brands and have global reach across 100+ markets, with deep local expertise. Our people are the key to our success. We're committed to fostering a culture of creativity, belonging and continuous learning, attracting and developing the brightest talent, and providing exciting career opportunities that help our people grow. For more information, visit WPP.com.

Why we're hiring:

We are seeking a commercially focused Legal Counsel to join our legal team. This role will provide practical, solution-oriented legal support to commercial, production, creative and marketing teams, with a particular focus on intellectual property, content production and advertising clearance.

The successful candidate will work closely with agency and business stakeholders to help deliver creative and marketing campaigns while managing legal and regulatory risk. The role requires strong technical legal skills, sound commercial judgement and the ability to advise confidently in a fast-paced environment.

What you'll be doing:

Intellectual Property & Content Review

Advise on copyright, trade marks, designs, passing off and other IP issues arising in creative, marketing and production activities.

Review campaign concepts, scripts, storyboards, creative assets and production materials to identify and mitigate IP risks.

Advise on ownership, licensing and exploitation of intellectual property rights.

Draft, review and negotiate IP licences, assignments and permissions.

Review third-party content arrangements, including photography, music, stock assets, user-generated content and AI-generated content.

Advise on talent, influencer and contributor agreements from an IP and rights perspective.

Production Legal Support

Support production teams on all legal and clearance aspects of content creation.

Review and negotiate production agreements, talent agreements, location releases, contributor releases and supplier contracts.

Advise on rights acquisition, chain of title and usage rights.

Assist with dispute avoidance and risk management during production and content exploitation.

Develop practical guidance and template documents for production teams.

Advertising Clearance & Regulatory Advice

Conduct legal and regulatory reviews of advertising and marketing communications.

Advise on compliance with:

CAP and BCAP Codes

Consumer protection and competition laws

Promotional marketing requirements

Influencer marketing rules

Digital and social media advertising requirements

Sector-specific advertising restrictions where relevant

Review substantiation for advertising claims and support teams in identifying evidence requirements.

Provide clearance advice across multiple media channels, including TV, radio, digital, social, experiential and print campaigns.

Liaise with external counsel and regulatory specialists where necessary.

Commercial Legal Support

Draft, negotiate and advise on a range of commercial agreements including:

Client services agreements

Statements of work

Production agreements

Supplier agreements

Non-disclosure agreements

Licensing arrangements

Support client pitches, contract negotiations and contract renewals.

Deliver risk-based, commercially pragmatic legal advice to stakeholders.

Training & Governance

Develop and deliver training on IP, advertising clearance and legal risk management.

Produce guidance notes, playbooks and template documents.

Promote legal best practice across the business.

Monitor legal a