Director, Sales Planning & Administration

The Director, Sales Planning & Administration is responsible for leading title lifecycle management, deal administration, rights governance, and operational execution across assigned international territories. This role serves as a strategic operational partner to Commercial Sales, Account Management, Legal, Finance, Distribution, and Strategy, ensuring contractual compliance, inventory accuracy, and executional readiness throughout the licensing lifecycle. The ideal candidate is a seasoned distribution operations leader with deep expertise in rights management, window management, title availability, and enterprise system governance. This individual will possess a comprehensive understanding of the international television distribution business, including output and volume licensing structures, first-run title commitments, product qualification processes, and the end-to-end workflow from deal negotiation through operational execution. The successful candidate must demonstrate strong people leadership, operational rigor, strategic thinking, and cross-functional influence while ensuring accountability, data integrity, and executional excellence across the organization. Key Responsibilities: Contract Governance & Rights Compliance Oversee all licensing activities in strict accordance with executed agreements, approved deal terms, distribution policy, and corporate SLAs. Conduct regular contract and rights audits to validate that system data matches active executed legal terms and mitigate operational exposure. Partner with Legal and Commercial Sales to evaluate amendments, waivers, title substitutions, and contract revisions prior to execution. Maintain official territory rules governing window structures, holdbacks, and commercial restrictions across transactional, output volume, and linear business models. Database Integrity, Pre-Submission QA & System Controls Oversee system setups in enterprise databases (SAFE) to ensure accurate configuration of rate cards, pricing, rights, and territory parameters prior to downstream release. Execute rigorous quality control over all outgoing tracking grids, budget files, and system setups to prevent fulfillment errors, data gaps, or feed disruptions. Manage database title blocking, pending order statuses, and configuration rules to ensure smooth supply chain feeds and eliminate artificial product availability blocks. Implement workflow improvements, automation initiatives, and reporting controls to enhance operational scalability and data accuracy. Strategic Operations & Cross-Functional Governance Manage day-to-day operational support and title volume commitments across assigned international territories, ensuring full launch readiness and customer fulfillment. Drive end-to-end visibility into active deal pipelines, rights availability constraints, and market-specific operational risks. Act as the primary Sales Administration lead to Commercial Sales, Legal, Account Management, and Distribution Strategy on deal execution, windowing strategy, and title prioritization. Partner with Finance to audit revenue recognition assumptions, billing readiness, and forecasting impacts prior to deal finalization. Foster a culture of transparency, collaboration, and operational rigor across all internal stakeholder groups. Team Leadership & Organizational Management Provide leadership and oversight for Managers and Assistant Managers, including second-line management responsibilities where applicable. Establish clear expectations around ownership, accountability, prioritization, and service delivery standards. Coach people leaders on issue resolution, workload management, stakeholder engagement, and employee development. Conduct performance management, talent development, and organizational capability building. Lead onboarding, training, knowledge transfer, and territory transition activities to ensure business continuity and operational consistency.