Head of Legal – Enforcement (EMEA)

Overview

The Premier League’s Legal Department is looking for an exceptional and experienced solicitor to join its in-house Enforcement team.

The Enforcement team’s core function is protecting and enforcing the Premier League’s global intellectual property rights, particularly in the exclusive audio-visual rights licensed to broadcasters around the world. This includes pursuing civil and criminal litigation against those involved in infringing the Premier League’s intellectual property, policy initiatives to ensure that adequate legislation and tools are available to enable such litigation and educational campaigns to raise awareness of the risks and harms associated with intellectual property theft.

The Enforcement team also manages the Premier League’s trade mark portfolio and central anti-counterfeiting programme, as well as advising the business on various IP-related issues that arise from time to time.

In addition, the Enforcement team works to combat discriminatory and threatening online abuse aimed at Premier League players, managers and others within the game. This includes legal actions against those identified as responsible for such abuse.

This is an exciting time to join the organisation and an excellent opportunity for the right candidate.

Who we are

The Premier League is home to some of the most competitive and compelling football in the world. The League and its Clubs use the power and popularity of the competition to inspire fans, communities and partners in the UK and across the world. The Premier League brings people together from all backgrounds. It is a competition for everyone, everywhere and is available to watch in over 900 million homes in 189 countries.

We have a wide variety of responsibilities. These include organising the competition and its Handbook as well as managing the centralised broadcast and commercial rights. The work we do in conjunction with the Clubs also goes far beyond the 90 minutes. We support and provide a framework for youth development, we protect the organisation’s intellectual property, support the wider game and community programmes, undertake international development work and liaise with governing bodies and other leagues.

The Premier League is an equal opportunities employer and strives to create an inclusive culture where talent can flourish. We believe in the potential of everyone and open our doors to those who share those values. All appointments will be made based on merit; however, we particularly encourage applications from women, people from minority ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people.

Our hybrid-working model also allows you some variety on your place of work, offering you the chance to work from home on some days each week. Where possible, you will attend the office or site visits in line with our company policy. All staff liaise closely with their line manager to manage their time appropriately and according to their work and team requirements.

The role

In your role you will work closely with the Director of Legal – Enforcement to protect and enforce the Premier League’s intellectual property rights across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including:

• Managing and expanding the Premier League’s anti-piracy litigation strategy in multiple jurisdictions across the region, in close coordination with the wider Enforcement team.

• Working collaboratively with senior anti-piracy contacts at broadcast partners across the region on piracy-related issues and actions.

• Supporting and advising the Premier League’s Media Department on IP-related matters in the region.

• Developing relations with relevant government and enforcement authorities at a national, regional and international level to support the Premier League’s anti-piracy actions.

• Working with the Premier League’s Policy and Communications Departments to support and drive IP-related policy and communications initiatives in the region.

• Line managing a senior lawyer and working closely with the broader Enforcement team in shaping and delivering strategic priorities across the team’s wider objectives.

Requirements for the role

• Demonstrable experience of advising senior management on complex legal issues and managing matters autonomously

• Relevant experience of engaging with external stakeholders at a senior level

• Outstanding academic background and robust legal training from a reputable law firm or recognised in-house legal department

• Solicitor with eight or more years’ post qualification experience (candidates outside this range with the required skills will be considered)

• Extensive experience in litigation, preferably in intellectual property enforcement, and/or in shaping or contributing to policy initiatives

• Experience of line management

• Strong commercial awareness with an ability to think strategically and laterally to develop innovative solutions to challenging problems

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, ideally across multiple relevant languages, with the ability to communicate complex legal issues and solutions in an articulate, precise and clear manner

• Familiarity with the issues and challenges facing the Premier League, particularly around piracy and the streaming of media across different delivery mechanisms

• Experience of working as part of an in-house legal department

Our commitment to safeguarding includes implementing robust safer recruitment procedures to assess the suitability of individuals applying for roles that involve work with children and adults who are or may be at risk of harm. For further information, please see our Safeguarding Policy and Safer Recruitment Guidance.

To apply please visit our careers page and apply with your CV and a cover letter. The closing date for applications is Monday 11 August 2025.

We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact [email protected]