Big 12 Conference

About the Big 12 Conference

The Big 12 Conference is a leading collegiate athletic conference representing top universities committed to excellence in academics and athletics. We operate on a foundation of integrity, collaboration, and innovation — striving to deliver competitive, compliant, and sustainable athletics, academic and commercial programs across all member institutions.

Position Summary

The Big 12 Conference is seeking a thoughtful, experienced, and strategic General Counsel to serve as the chief in-house legal advisor. In this senior leadership role, you will provide comprehensive legal, compliance, governance, and risk-management guidance to the Conference and its member institutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide legal counsel to the Commissioner, senior leadership, governance committees, and institutional representatives across a wide range of matters (governance; compliance; contracts and commercial agreements; media and broadcast rights; sponsorship, licensing, and intellectual property; antitrust; labor & employment; student-athlete related issues, including NIL (name, image, likeness) and eligibility; regulatory compliance; dispute resolution and litigation).
• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage conference-wide contracts and agreements — including media/broadcast deals, sponsorships, licensing, digital-media agreements, and other commercial arrangements.
• Oversee external counsel engagement when necessary; represent the Conference in litigation, arbitration, regulatory matters, investigations, or other dispute resolution.
• Develop and maintain compliance, governance, and policy frameworks for the Conference and advise member institutions on regulatory and governance best practices.
• Advise on conference realignment, membership issues, institutional collaborations, and other structural or strategic initiatives.
• Manage intellectual property matters — trademarks, licensing, digital and media rights, NIL-related IP, content licensing and merchandising agreements.
• Counsel on employment and labor-related matters linked to Conference operations, staffing, and institutional policies where applicable.
• Provide strategic legal guidance to support the Conference’s long-term business, commercial, and institutional goals — including media rights, partnerships, compliance with evolving regulations, and adaptation to shifts in collegiate-athletics law and governance.
• Collaborate with institutional legal officers, compliance and governance staff, business-affairs teams, media and broadcast partners, external counsel, and other stakeholders to ensure coordinated legal and compliance strategy.
• Maintain deep knowledge and awareness of the evolving collegiate and professional sports landscape, including conference realignment dynamics, the growing role of private equity in college athletics, and shifting regulatory, labor, and governance environments. Demonstrate adaptability to anticipate implications and guide institutions through continual change.

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an ABA-accredited law school and admission to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction (ability to obtain additional bar licensure if needed).
• Substantial legal experience — ideally at the collegiate level or in closely related fields (e.g., higher-education law; sports/entertainment/media law; in-house counsel for sports organizations, universities, athletic departments, or similar).
• Demonstrated experience with contract drafting/negotiation, intellectual property/licensing, media-rights or commercial-agreement negotiation, compliance and regulatory law, employment/labor law, and risk management.
• Familiarity with or ability to quickly master the regulatory and governance landscape of collegiate athletics, including compliance issues related to student-athletes, NIL, antitrust law, institutional governance, and intercollegiate athletics regulations.
• Excellent judgment, integrity, discretion, and ability to handle sensitive, high-stakes legal matters affecting multiple institutions and stakeholders.
• Strong strategic thinking, business acumen, and problem-solving skills.
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills, with the capacity to build relationships across institutions, business partners, regulatory bodies, and internal teams.

Preferred / Desirable Qualifications

• Prior experience working with collegiate athletic conferences, university athletics departments, or in the sports business or higher-education sectors.
• Background in negotiating media rights, sponsorships, digital-media or broadcasting deals, licensing, and NIL-related agreements.
• Familiarity with recent developments in collegiate athletics law, compliance and governance trends (e.g., NIL regulations, transfer portal, antitrust scrutiny, conference realignment).
• Experience supervising external counsel, managing legal operations, or leading legal/compliance teams.

Key Attributes

• Exceptional Communicator: Ability to translate complex legal, policy, and regulatory issues into clear, practical guidance for CEOs, General Counsels, and campus leadership; strong judgment around confidentiality.
• Executive Presence & Composure: Confident, assertive leader who can navigate high-stakes rooms, manage conflict or criticism calmly, and maintain credibility with executive stakeholders.
• Broad, Multi-Disciplinary Legal Expertise: Well-rounded in legislative, labor, governance, transactional, and operational matters; experience in higher education, sports, or similarly complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• High Work Ethic & Ownership Mindset: Demonstrated hustle, reliability, and willingness to take on complex, cross-functional work; collaborative teammate who drives outcomes in fast-moving environments.
• Governance & Stakeholder Savvy: Deep understanding of public and private governance structures, political and constitutional constraints, and the ability to build trust with GCs, Athletic Directors, Presidents, policymakers, and other key partners.

Why This Role Matters

In a rapidly evolving collegiate-athletics landscape — with shifting media-rights markets, regulatory changes, growing NIL activity, and increasing legal and compliance complexity — the General Counsel will be pivotal in protecting the legal integrity, reputation, and long-term strategic future of the Big 12 Conference and its member institutions.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

The Big 12 Conference is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, or other status protected by law.

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