Job Description

Counsel, Product Clearance and Compliance

About Nintendo of America: From the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System more than 30 years ago, Nintendo’s mission has been to create smiles through unique entertainment experiences. Here at Nintendo of America Inc., we deliver on this mission by partnering closely with Nintendo Co., Ltd., to bring Nintendo’s iconic and cherished franchises including Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Animal Crossing, Pikmin and Splatoon across the Americas through our video games, hardware systems, and collaborations with partners on a range of other entertainment initiatives like feature films and theme parks.

Based in Redmond, Wash., Nintendo of America serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Americas. We are an equal opportunity employer offering a welcoming and inclusive environment in service to one another, our products, and the diverse consumers and communities we call home. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at .

TEAM AND JOB SUMMARY:

The Product Clearance and Compliance team at Nintendo of America manages legal matters and leads strategic initiatives relating to product development and compliance for Nintendo products and services in the Americas. The team achieves Nintendo’s corporate mission of bringing smiles to everyone’s face by ensuring that Nintendo products comply with applicable regulations.

The Corporate Counsel, Product Clearance and Compliance will provide legal guidance related to new and existing services, products, and features from the initial stages of product development, to launch, and beyond.

The ideal candidate will have a strong knowledge of product regulatory laws impacting video games consoles and the ability to work closely with business and legal colleagues to provide nuanced and informed legal advice. Expertise in the offering of products direct-to-consumer and knowledge of the Latin American market will be highly preferred.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

Provides strategic support, legal advice, and training to cross-cultural business and development teams regarding the legal and compliance aspects of product development, launch and distribution.

Responds to legal inquiries on a variety of areas, which will include regulatory compliance for consumer products, product safety, consumer protection, e-commerce, and export controls.

Builds cross-functional relationships with business teams as well as other internal stakeholders.

Keeps current on relevant industry standards, laws, and regulations.

Collaborates with legal team members to improve processes and ensures business demands are satisfied.

Develops solutions that manage legal risk in company products and services.

Reviews company activities and policies for legal compliance and adherence to domestic and foreign governmental policies and regulations.

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS:

Minimum four years of legal product counseling and/or regulatory compliance experience.

Working knowledge of the product clearance and compliance areas required to perform the job duties.

Familiarity with launching products, particularly direct-to-consumer, and advising on the legal and compliance aspects of product development for electronics/consumer products.

Basic technical knowledge of video game hardware and software.

Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise in own job family or field.

Knowledge of the Latin American market and fluency in either Spanish or Portuguese highly preferred.

Law degree required.

Membership in the Washington State Bar Association or other comparable state qualification.

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in the United States to be considered. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role

This position is hybrid in Redmond, WA. Hybrid positions require regular onsite work following the schedule and guidelines for their division. This position is not open to fully remote status at this time.

This position includes a base salary range of $140,900- $253,600 annually, potential for a semi-annual discretionary performance bonus, and a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401(k), and paid time off. Please see our Benefits & Perks page for more benefits information.

About the company

Nintendo was founded in Kyoto, Japan in 1889 as a manufacturer of hanafuda playing cards. The company went through several small niche businesses before becoming a video game company.

History

On September 23 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai, a small Japanese business based in Kyoto, Japan, which produced and marketed a playing card game called Hanafuda. The name Nintendo translates to leave luck to heaven. Originally, Yamauchi produced all of the cards himself, painting them by hand- but as the business grew in popularity, he had to hire assistants to keep up with demand.

In 1956, Fusajiro Yamauchi's grandson Hiroshi Yamauchi went to visit and began talks with the leading playing card manufacturer in the the US, The United States Playing Card Company. Realizing the limitations of the playing card business, Hiroshi Yamauchi acquired the licenses to Disney's characters and put them on Nintendo's playing cards to help drive sales. The company was renamed in 1963 from Nintendo Playing Card Company Limited to Nintendo Company, and began experimenting in other ventures and other areas of business. In just 5 years from 1963 to 1968, Nintendo expanded to include a taxi company, a Love Hotel chain, a TV station and a food company which sold instant rice - similar to the popular instant noodles in Japan. However the new business ventures did not last and were eventually closed, and Nintendo was left with 60 Yen in stock with a dwindling playing card market.

Undeterred by its failed business ventures, Nintendo refocused its business strategy to the Japanese toy industry. Nintendo's first toy was the Ultra Hand, an extending arm that was developed by Gunpei Yokoi in his free time. Yokoi was promoted from the company's maintenance engineer to product developer in Nintendo's newly formed Nintendo Games department. Nintendo continued to produce popular toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester, and the Kousenjuu series of light gun games; the Kousenjuu, produced in partnership with Sharp, were the first light guns available for home use. Despite some successful products, Nintendo struggled to meet the fast development and manufacturing turnaround required of the toy market, and fell behind the well-established companies such as Bandai and Tomy.

Nintendo's business strategy again re shifted in 1973 to family entertainment with the Laser Clay Shooting System, using the same light gun technology used in Nintendo's Kousenjuu series of toys, and set up in abandoned bowling alleys. Following some success, Nintendo developed several more light gun machines for the emerging arcade scene. While the Laser Clay Shooting System ranges had to be shut down following excessive costs, Nintendo had found a new untapped market.

Video Games

Nintendo's roots in the video game industry began as early as 1971. That was the year when they began working with Magnavox on the Shooting Gallery light gun, building on their experience with the Kousenjuu light guns. According to video game historian Martin Picard:

in 1971, Nintendo had -- even before the marketing of the first home console in the United States -- an alliance with the American pioneer Magnavox to develop and produce optoelectronic guns for the Odyssey (released in 1972), since it was similar to what Nintendo was able to offer in the Japanese toy market in 1970s

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In 1974, Nintendo went on to create the light-gun shooter electro-mechanical arcade game Wild Gunman, and they they were given the rights to distribute the Magnavox Odyssey home video game system in Japan. It wasn't until 1977 that Nintendo began to make its own video game console - four systems to be exact, each playing variations on a single game; for example, Color TV Game 6 featured six versions of Light Tennis. The Color TV Game was Nintendo's first success with video games in Japan. During this time, Nintendo hired student product developer Shigeru Miyamoto, who worked under Gunpei Yokoi. One of Miyamoto's projects at Nintendo was to design the casing for several of the Color TV Game systems and went on to create some of Nintendo's most famous video games. He has since become one of the most recognizable faces in the video game industry today.

Nintendo moved into the arcade video game industry in 1978, which produced little success at first. They began gaining some modest success in the arcades with Sheriff and Radar Scope, though the latter became a flop in North America despite its modest success in Japan. It was not until Nintendo launched the Game & Watch (a hand-held video game series developed by Yokoi) in 1980 and especially the 1981 arcade release of Donkey Kong, designed by Miyamoto, that Nintendo began to see worldwide success and a huge boost in profits.

The Family Computer, or the Famicom as it was more commonly called, was launched in 1983 in Japan with ports of its most popular arcade titles. The system launched in North America as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985, and was accompanied by Super Mario Bros. , which became the best-selling video game of all time, and remained so for the next three decades (up until the 2006 release of Wii Sports). The NES was credited with reviving the declining North American video game industry. The Nintendo Entertainment System was superseded b]]> <

Job Tags

Worldwide, Shift work,

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