At Universal Creative, we design, develop and deliver the most compelling entertainment experiences imaginable to drive growth for Universal Parks & Resorts worldwide. Our innovative attractions, immersive theme parks and world-class resorts fuse art and technology to create new standards in the themed entertainment industry.

Our Team Members are the driving force behind Universal Creative. With their diverse skills and forward-thinking ideas, our team pushes us beyond the boundaries of what’s possible to achieve the extraordinary. Together, we’re creating a Universe of fun, always ensuring the next thing we do is better than the last thing we did.

JOB SUMMARY:

The Senior Manager, Intellectual Property is responsible for the development and management of all assigned project-related communication with the Project Intellectual Property (IP) holder(s) including driving and tracking the approvals process with the objective of IP holder approvals of all submittals, and, where applicable, localization for scripts, graphics and other guest-experience elements. 

The Senior Manager is the primary liaison between the Project and the IP Holder, ensuring alignment between the Project requirements and creative intent and the IP Holder’s brand requirements.  The Senior Manager drives IP Holder awareness and agreement with Project creative goals and intent; tracks and routes IP Holder’s comments, questions and concerns for review and leads the team to provide timely responses.  The Senior Manager develops and leads the process of assembling assets and creating the submittal documents for IP Holder review, and is responsible for managing the status Matrix for Universal. The Senior Manager is responsible for informing and advising the Project Team leadership of questions, concerns and comments as they are received; gathering, creating, packaging and returning solutions to the IP Holder or explaining the decisions made and gaining the IP Holder’s approval of the information as submitted. 

The Senior Manager must have extensive knowledge of the specific Project IP, including characters, plot and story lines and development history, environments and other key details in order to provide guidance and recommended courses of action to drive consensus and protect IP integrity along with Project creative vision. 

For projects requiring localization, the Senior Manager must have expert knowledge of both the original and target languages, ensuring that the creative story details and nuances are carried across correctly and not lost, including idioms, axioms and other linguistic details unique to the target language. The Senior Manager is considered a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on both the IP and the translation details.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• The responsible Individual to ensure the Project’s Creative Design Intent is successfully conveyed to and approved by the IP Holder in all guest-experience related, relevant aspects of the Project (or as per the unique terms of the contract.) As part of the Project’s leadership team, the Senior Manager assists in developing a partnership and collaboration with the IP Holder to ensure the thorough understanding, timely input to and approval of all needed aspects of the design, production and final installation of the Work, in alignment with the Project’s creative intent.
• As a Subject Matter Expert on the specific IP, the Senior Manager assists the Project team throughout the final design process, providing guidance and recommendations that serve both the Project creative requirements and also facilitate the IP Holder approval process.
• Assures guest-experience and creative design intent is properly communicated to the IP Holder. Develops and manages the Master Approvals Matrix as a collaborative work group document.  Leads the formation of and manages a project-wide approvals team with members from each department delivering required items for process submission to the IP holder for approvals.
• Develops and manages work plans, estimates, schedules and tasks for all IP submittals, and localization efforts in support of the overall Project goals and strategies, including reports and status on all IP approval processes (progress, issue reporting and resolution and approval).
• Provides guidance and advice during any localization auditions, casting, recording and post-production activities as directed by the Project Executive Producer, as an expert in the target language.
• Leads the localization efforts for the project IP, ensuring the creative intent and nuances (humor, dramatic arc, innuendo, etc.) are maintained and not affected by translation into the target language.
• Understand and actively participate in Environmental, Health & Safety responsibilities by following established UDX policy, procedures, training and team member involvement activities. 
• Performs other duties as assigned.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

Directly supervises efforts of staff and sub-contractors assembled to support specific project-related tasks. Number and types of staff will vary dependent upon the Project. All staff and sub-contractors are assigned under the Creative Studio or the Project Creative Design Team.

Travel is required depending upon Project needs. Role requires a high degree of collaboration and teamwork with Internal and External Partners. For Projects requiring localization, experience as an interpreter, translator or a combination of experience and advanced coursework in language arts and linguistics is required.  Requires highly effective communication skills. Requires a positive “can-do” attitude. Must be a problem solver. Should be able to thrive under pressure in a challenging work environment. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Well developed design, production and management portfolio. 
• Knowledge of design management, work planning, budgeting, scheduling, bid package preparation and variety of vendors. 
• Superior organizational skills in tracking and reporting the status of many individual items such as submittals, Requests for Information, responses, rejections and approvals. 
• Highly-effective communicator with the ability to explain creative subject matter to a broad slate of stakeholders, internal and external, in order to gain consensus. 
• Expert knowledge of Project-specific IP is required in order to provide informed reviews of submittals and evaluation & prioritization of IP Holder feedback. 
• Strong negotiating skills required in order to drive consensus and obtain IP approvals. 
• Expert knowledge of both original language and target languages required in order to lead localization efforts and provide recommendations during translations and casting. 
• Expert knowledge of all processes required to interpret creative intent in the supplied language and provide the same experience in the alternate language. 
• Basic knowledge of theme park technologies including ride, A/V, robotics, engineering and various show systems helpful. 
• Knowledge of theme park related project management, organizational and show design practices. 
• Demonstrates ability to lead creative and design teams on attraction projects, instill a spirit of teamwork and promote staff development. 
• Makes independent choices free from immediate supervision.
• Possesses solid aesthetic sensibilities and storytelling skills to support the creative process and to facilitate positive and productive communication between all disciplines.

SCOPE:

Non-routine; general policies applied to frequently changing situations. Influences decisions of moderate nature requiring high degree of tact, diplomacy and maturity. 

EDUCATION:

Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Theatrical Arts, Theme Park Associated Design, and/or project management related field is preferred. For Projects requiring localization, an advanced degree in Linguistics is required.

EXPERIENCE: 

Required 7-10 Years: experience in theme park design, design and or IP management. Required 5-7 Years: experience in theatrical, theme park or other media related design/production field; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience managing IP development deals and relationships from the IP Holder side highly preferred.

Your talent, skills and experience will be rewarded with a competitive compensation package.

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