Counsel, Commercial & Partnerships

About the Role

Airbnb is seeking a seasoned commercial lawyer to serve as Counsel, Event Partnerships. Reporting to the Lead Counsel, Event Partnerships, you will be a primary day-to-day legal partner to the teams that plan, produce, and execute Airbnb's most visible event partnerships, from global sports and entertainment sponsorships to athlete and artist experiences, fan activations, and other in-person events. You will draft and negotiate the commercial agreements that bring these partnerships to life, advise on the diverse array of legal issues they raise, help protect Airbnb's rights as a sponsor, and guide business teams through the practical trade-offs of moving quickly and in the public eye. Working closely with the Lead Counsel and partnering across business and legal teams, you will help create and execute impactful partnerships at speed and scale, often managing many high-profile matters at once and against tight deadlines.

This role calls for someone who excels as a partner, building trusted relationships and earning the confidence of the teams and counterparts they work with, and as a lawyer, bringing substantive expertise across commercial transactions and the sports, entertainment, marketing, and intellectual property landscape. Success calls for sound judgment, an eagerness to take on increasing responsibility, and a creative, flexible, and client-focused approach, paired with a willingness to learn and an adaptable and curious personality.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements behind event partnerships and experiences, including sponsorship, talent, agency, venue, production and vendor agreements, licenses, NDAs, and term sheets, and advise teams on contractual terms.
• Serve as legal advisor for event sponsorship activations, while collaborating with the broader legal team.
• Monitor and report rights infringement and ambush marketing under the rights-protection programs of marquee partnerships.
• Own matters end-to-end, from intake and term sheet through negotiation, execution, and post-execution activations, maintaining trackers and reporting updates to leadership.
• Navigate cross-border, multi-entity, and localization complexity, working across time zones with international partners.
• Give business partners and cross-functional stakeholders practical, decisive guidance that balances business goals, legal risk, and company policy.
• Contribute to high-impact legal and cross-functional projects, including operational improvements, template and process automation, and cross-team education.
• Champion Airbnb's mission, ethics, and integrity, and its commitment to a diverse, inclusive workplace free of discrimination and harassment.

Qualifications

• JD and 6+ years of relevant experience at a company or law firm, focused on commercial transactions, with a track record of independently negotiating complex agreements. In-house experience preferred.
• Direct experience working within or advising on sports or entertainment industries.
• Background in advertising and consumer marketing law, with a focus on providing guidance for co-marketing initiatives, promotional activities, communications, consumer protection regulations, and the management of partner intellectual property and assets.
• Knowledge of copyrights, trademarks, persona and publicity rights, privacy and data protection, cross-border and multi-entity contracting, dispute resolution, litigation, risk allocation, security, tax, insurance, and international legal issues.
• A creative thinker and practical problem-solver who can find workable paths forward, hold firm on non-negotiables, and structure solutions to achieve objectives.
• Proven ability to build and maintain strong partnerships across business teams, with legal colleagues, and external counterparts and partners, and to draw on those relationships to negotiate effectively, resolve issues, and reach aligned outcomes.
• Demonstrated success in managing multiple projects in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to exercise sound judgment, prioritize tasks effectively under strict deadlines while ensuring precision and attention to detail.
• Excellent organizational, verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to tailor communications to both legal and non-legal audiences.
• High level of integrity, professionalism, and curiosity, with a genuine desire to grow.
• Licensed in a U.S. state.
• A highly developed sense of humor, a willingness to Embrace the Adventure, and genuine excitement for the Airbnb mission.

Location

This position is US - Remote Eligible. The role may include occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites, as agreed to with your manager. While the position is Remote Eligible, you must live in a state where Airbnb, Inc. has a registered entity. Click here for the up-to-date list of excluded states. This list is continuously evolving, so please check back with us if the state you live in is on the exclusion list. If your position is employed by another Airbnb entity, your recruiter will inform you what states you are eligible to work from.

Pay

Pay Range $196,000—$230,000 USD