Senior Royalty & Distribution Manager

The Job

Role: Senior Royalty & Distribution Manager 
Department: Platform 
Reports to: COO
Location: Liverpool or London (you may therefore see two versions of this job posting)

The Senior Royalty & Distribution Manager leads the teams responsible for processing incoming royalty data and delivering our quarterly royalty distributions. The role manages two teams – Receipt Processing & Matching and Royalty Distribution – ensuring royalties are processed accurately, matched correctly and distributed on time.

This role sits at the centre of the publishing operation. It requires strong people leadership, clear communication and disciplined operational management. The successful candidate will ensure the teams run efficiently, processes are clear and consistent, and stakeholders across the business understand how royalties move through the system.

Key Responsibilities 

Team Leadership

• Manage and support the Receipt Processing & Matching and Royalty Distribution teams.
• Set clear priorities and expectations across both teams.
• Provide coaching, feedback and development support to team members.
• Ensure workloads are balanced and deadlines are met.
• Build a team culture based on accountability, collaboration and reliability.

Operational Management

• Oversee the processing of incoming royalty statements and data from societies, partners and digital services.
• Ensure royalty data is processed, matched and reconciled accurately.
• Manage the preparation and delivery of quarterly royalty distributions.
• Ensure operational processes are clearly documented and consistently followed.
• Identify process improvements that increase efficiency and reduce errors.

Quality & Consistency

• Maintain high standards of accuracy across all royalty processing activities.
• Ensure data is properly reconciled and any discrepancies are investigated and resolved.
• Put clear checks in place to reduce operational errors.
• Ensure processing and distribution deadlines are consistently met.

Stakeholder Communication

• Work closely with Rights, Finance, Client Operations, Product, Revenue Optimisation and Platform teams.
• Ensure teams across the business understand timelines, processes and operational requirements.
• Provide clear updates on operational progress, risks and issues when they arise.
• Act as a central point of coordination between teams involved in the royalty cycle.

Client & Partner Coordination

• Support client-facing teams by ensuring royalty processes are clear and reliable.
• Assist with operational queries relating to royalty statements or distributions when needed.
• Maintain strong working relationships with partners where coordination is required.

Qualifications

Skills & Experience

• Experience working in music publishing royalties, royalty operations, royalty distribution or a similar environment.
• Experience managing teams and operational workflows.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage complex processes involving multiple data sources and deadlines.
• Clear and confident communication skills.
• Comfortable working with systems, data and operational processes.

Personal Attributes

• Practical and organised.
• Calm under pressure.
• Clear communicator.
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• Focused on accuracy and delivery.
• Pragmatic and strong problem solver.