Associate General Counsel

#MaesaMagic 

About Maesa 

The next gen beauty company, Maesa is transforming the industry by incubating and growing meaningful, innovative brands and making prestige beauty accessible. Maesa believes beauty ignites inspiration, creativity, imagination, and connection, sparking new ideas and possibilities, and meeting unmet consumer needs. Through best-in-class design, formulation, brand creation, and marketing capabilities, Maesa delivers new, better, and different products with unsurpassed speed to market. Maesa works with a variety of retailers to create and launch brands across beauty and wellness categories. The current portfolio includes Kristin Ess, Hairitage by Mindy McKnight, Fine’ry, Being Frenshe, Mix:Bar, Ontu, and Party of You, among other brands. For more information, visit www.maesa.com. 

About the Role 

Reporting to the General Counsel, the Associate General Counsel will serve as the lead legal partner for Maesa’s marketing claims, product regulatory compliance, and intellectual property portfolio across its global brand house. The role combines hands-on counseling with ownership of the review processes that enable brand teams to move quickly and confidently. This role is based in our Manhattan office and requires on-site presence a minimum of three days per week. 

Key Responsibilities 

Marketing & Advertising 

• Manage the global trademark portfolio, including clearance, filing and prosecution maintenance, oppositions, and cancellation. 
• Advise brand and marketing teams on global marketing and advertising programs across all media and formats, including print, digital, social, influencer, packaging, retail, and promotions. 
• Review product and brand advertising claims. Guide test protocols, clinical and consumer research design, and claim substantiation. 
• Respond to and manage advertising and regulatory inquiries, challenges and litigation. 
• Draft and negotiate IP-centric agreements, including licenses, co-branding and collaboration agreements, agency and creative services agreements, and talent and influencer contracts. 
• Support IP diligence and integration in acquisitions and partnerships. 
• Track developments in beauty, advertising, regulatory, and IP law, and proactively translate them into business guidance. 
• Provide trainings on relevant legal issues, develop processes and forms to support business marketing needs and efficiencies.  
• Advise senior leadership and cross-functional teams on critical legal issues. Frame legal options and present a reasoned range of solutions calibrated to business objectives and risk tolerance. 
• Handle confidential information with sound judgment, discretion, and professionalism. 

Qualifications & Requirements 

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar membership in good standing. 
• 5–8 years of relevant experience, ideally combining a law firm advertising, regulatory, or IP practice with in-house experience at a beauty, personal care, CPG, or consumer brand company. 
• Demonstrated expertise in advertising claims review, substantiation, and test protocol evaluation. 
• Hands-on trademark clearance, prosecution, and enforcement experience across multiple jurisdictions. 
• Ability to exercise independent judgment and give practical, risk-calibrated advice to creative, fast-moving teams and senior leadership. 
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence across functions and levels. 
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with the judgment to manage high volume and competing priorities. 
• Curious, proactive, solutions-oriented mindset aligned with Maesa's values: collaboration, curiosity, game-changing, creativity, and discipline. 

What We Offer 

$250,000/yr–$270,000/yr. Exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, and location. This position is eligible for participation in a discretionary bonus plan based on individual and company performance. Maesa offers a variety of benefits to eligible employees. Employees can choose to enroll in health insurance coverage, wellness programs, life and disability insurance, and retirement savings plans. Through generous paid time off, a hybrid office setup, and paid leave options, Maesa encourages wellness and balance among employees. 

Our Commitment to You 

At Maesa, we live by our values of collaboration, curiosity, game-changing, creativity, and discipline. We believe our people and partners are a creative force that catalyzes the possibilities in beauty to break through traditional limits and discover the “new” without restriction. We prioritize creating and fostering a welcoming environment for employees, partners, ideas, approaches, and endeavors—all through a spirit of warmth and inclusivity. As set forth in Maesa’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law. 

Our EVP 

Maesa is the next-gen beauty company, where bold ideas become beautiful brands. We ignite the dreamer and doer in each of us. We move at the speed of culture to push boundaries and redefine possibilities, unleashing #MaesaMagic every day. By fostering a start-up spirit, we equip everyone to lead with accountability and execute with excellence. We champion each voice and empower every journey, creating an environment where we celebrate diversity of thinking, calculated risk-taking, and cutting-edge innovation. Growth is personal, intentional, and limitless. 

#LI-Hybrid