Contracts Administrator

at  HarperCollins Publishers

Overview:
Company: Harlequin Enterprises ULC
Job Title: Contracts Administrator
Department: Legal
Status: Regular Full Time
Location: 22 Adelaide Street West, Toronto (Hybrid)
The Contracts Administrator is primarily responsible for negotiating, drafting, and vetting editorial acquisition contracts for Harlequin imprints, as well as supporting Harlequin’s global editorial team and author community with payments, contractual and royalty queries, information and issue resolution.

Responsibilities:

• Utilizing excellent interpersonal skills and business acumen, collaborate, advise and partner with the global Editorial team to process, draft and negotiate acquisition contracts.
• Draft agreements using precedents, under the guidance and direction of legal staff and negotiate terms and conditions, as necessary with agents and/or authors in collaboration with Editorial partners.
• Responsible for input and management of contracts in proprietary rights management database.
• Prepare, draft, negotiate, process and administer amendments and various other secondary documentation (i.e. reversions, amendments, terminations).
• Exercise diplomacy and tact in dealing with authors, including receiving, managing and researching author queries regarding royalty payments and royalty statements.
• Process rights reversion queries from authors/agents and process reversion documentation, as necessary through the proprietary rights management database.
• Working with Senior Counsel, process and administer U.S. copyright terminations.
• Collaborate with internal teams, including Contracts Administration, Legal, and Editorial on process management, continuous improvement and efficiency.
• Other tasks, as requested.

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, ideally in business or an arts/media related discipline
• A minimum of 3 years professional-level experience in publishing, media, legal or similar medium
• Experience with contracts and good understanding of legal principles and terminology a must; background in rights management an asset
• Excellent negotiation skills and good judgment
• Excellent oral and written English communication skills
• An ability to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and an ability to quickly and confidently learn new computer systems and applications
• Highly developed organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent work ethic
• An ability to self-motivate and an ability to work well individually and on a team
• An ability to prioritize, handle multiple tasks, and tolerate ambiguity
• An ability to execute responsibilities with confidence
• Excellent interpersonal skills to engage both internal and external stakeholders in a positive manner

KNOWN WORLDWIDE FOR THE QUALITY OF ITS LIST, HARPERCOLLINS CANADA IS THE PROUD HOME OF MANY BESTSELLING AND AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS, INCLUDING ESI EDUGYAN, HEATHER O’NEILL, AND LAWRENCE HILL. IT IS OUR VISION TO PUBLISH THE BEST BOOKS OF OUR GENERATION AND TO WORK WITH AUTHORS OVER THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF THEIR CAREERS. OUR AUTHORS ARE AT THE CENTRE OF EVERYTHING WE DO. IN ADDITION TO THE CANADIAN PUBLISHING PROGRAM, HARPERCOLLINS CANADA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SALES, MARKETING, AND PUBLICITY OF HARPERCOLLINS TITLES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.

HarperCollins Canada and Harlequin are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to equal employment opportunities. Employment decisions are based on job requirements and the skills, knowledge, and experience of the candidate, regardless of any other factors unrelated to job performance.
We are also committed to ensuring that the accessibility needs of candidates and employees are considered and accommodated during the recruitment process.

Responsibilities:

• Utilizing excellent interpersonal skills and business acumen, collaborate, advise and partner with the global Editorial team to process, draft and negotiate acquisition contracts.
• Draft agreements using precedents, under the guidance and direction of legal staff and negotiate terms and conditions, as necessary with agents and/or authors in collaboration with Editorial partners.
• Responsible for input and management of contracts in proprietary rights management database.
• Prepare, draft, negotiate, process and administer amendments and various other secondary documentation (i.e. reversions, amendments, terminations).
• Exercise diplomacy and tact in dealing with authors, including receiving, managing and researching author queries regarding royalty payments and royalty statements.
• Process rights reversion queries from authors/agents and process reversion documentation, as necessary through the proprietary rights management database.
• Working with Senior Counsel, process and administer U.S. copyright terminations.
• Collaborate with internal teams, including Contracts Administration, Legal, and Editorial on process management, continuous improvement and efficiency.
• Other tasks, as requested