Director, Commercial Counsel

Who is Nexxen? Flexible advertising, unified by data. Nexxen empowers advertisers, agencies, publishers and broadcasters around the world to utilize data and advanced TV in the ways that are most meaningful to them. Our flexible and unified technology stack comprises a demand-side platform (“DSP”) and supply-side platform (“SSP”), with the Nexxen Data Platform at its core.

With a global footprint, you can be part of a team that is transforming advertising through our creative, flexible and unified solutions. Employees hustle, commit and dedicate themselves to pillars that make up the Nexxen Way – the 3

Cs - Customer Centric, Curious Mindset, Collaborative with No Ego.

We are seeking a driven and commercially savvy Director, Commercial Counsel to join our Legal & Compliance team in Chicago. This is a high-impact, cross-functional role that will be based in our Chicago office and embedded within a fast-paced AdTech business where legal acumen meets commercial strategy. You will serve as a trusted partner to our Sales, Finance, and Business Development teams, enabling deals to close faster while protecting Nexxen’s interests.

The ideal candidate understands the rhythm of a sales organization — quarterly urgency, margin trade-offs, balancing risk with revenue, impact of legal language on revenue recognition, and can translate complex legal matters and risk into actionable commercial guidance without slowing down the business.

• Lead end-to-end complex commercial contract negotiations supporting the demand business, including strategic enterprise deals with ad agencies, brands, and other ad tech partners.
• Partner closely with the Sales team to understand deal economics and structure creative revenue provisions, fee arrangements, and performance clauses that protect Nexxen’s P&L.
• Oversee the entire partner negotiation process from NDA through MSA and IO to close.
• Review and advise on deal financials, ensuring contract terms align with revenue recognition requirements, SOX controls, and audit readiness.
• Act as a trusted advisor to internal teams, including Sales, Business Development, Product, Engineering, and Account Management, providing concise, executive-ready legal advice that aligns business priorities with risk tolerance and closes deals quickly.
• Operate with a strong sense of quarterly urgency to accelerate legal review without compromising risk management.
• Serve as the internal subject‑matter expert on adtech platforms, programmatic ecosystem, ad agency and brand commercial relationships, and industry‑standard deal structures.
• Advise on data licensing agreements, data use rights, and audience data monetization arrangements with full command of applicable frameworks.
• Partner with the compliance team to ensure all commercial contracts comply with data privacy regulations including CCPA, GDPR, and emerging state‑level privacy laws, and maintain appropriate DPAs and data processing terms.
• Collaborate with Finance on revenue recognition requirements, audit readiness, SOX compliance as it relates to contract terms, revenue reporting, and financial controls embedded in commercial agreements.
• Maintain and continuously improve contract templates, playbooks, and fallback positions to enable faster, more consistent deal execution.
• Build and improve scalable legal support systems for demand business, including updated templates, negotiation playbooks, approval matrices, training materials, and intake/escalation processes.
• Identify and flag legal and business risk proactively, presenting solutions rather than roadblocks.
• Mentor and support other counsel and contracts specialists, providing quality control on key work streams, resolving escalations, and contributing to best practices across the legal team.

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership (Illinois preferred or willingness to waive in).
• 10+ years of commercial legal experience in a nationally or internationally recognized law firm and/or in‑house legal department, preferably with time spent in-house at an adtech, martech, advertising agency, media, or data company; or equivalent firm experience advising…