Description
We’re looking for a Manager, Licensing to support the growth, category management, and day-to-day execution of a major consumer products licensing portfolio across gaming, entertainment, and culturally relevant brands.
This role will serve as a key client-facing licensing and category management partner across assigned categories and regions. The Manager will help drive category strategy, partner management, business development, commercial reporting, and cross-functional execution, ensuring priorities are clearly managed and business opportunities move forward with discipline and strong judgment.
The ideal candidate is a highly organized, commercially minded licensing operator with a strong understanding of the licensing ecosystem, client service, partner management, retail strategy, and category growth in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment.
Requirements
Category Management
- Own day-to-day category management across assigned licensing categories and regions, ensuring clear priorities, strong execution, and disciplined follow-through.
- Drive category strategy by identifying white space, consumer trends, retail opportunities, competitive benchmarks, and partner targets that support brand-right growth.
- Maintain a strong understanding of licensing timelines, retail calendars, channel needs, pricing structures, launch requirements, and commercial priorities across assigned categories and markets.
- Prepare polished category materials, partner recommendations, sales decks, retail updates, line plan summaries, category insights, and strategic presentations.
- Own category reporting for assigned partners, translating licensee updates, sales data, product pipelines, and business development activity into clear insights for senior leadership and the client.
Client/Licensee Management - Serve as a highly prepared client-facing partner, providing clear updates on strategy, partner activity, product pipelines, risks, opportunities, and recommended next steps.
- Manage licensee relationships across the full licensing lifecycle, including onboarding, retail planning, launch execution, royalty reporting, and ongoing account management.
- Build strong relationships with licensees, retailers, client stakeholders, and internal teams, serving as a trusted day-to-day point of contact.
Partner with licensees and product development teams to ensure commercial priorities, timelines, and client feedback are clearly communicated and actioned. - Proactively identify issues, remove friction, escalate when needed, and recommend practical solutions that protect the client relationship and keep partners accountable.
Business Development and Commercial Management - Source, evaluate, and help secure high-quality licensing partners across priority categories and markets.
- Track active and prospective deals, including partner status, contract terms, product pipelines, retail targets, milestones, marketing commitments, royalty obligations, and open business issues.
- Monitor royalty reports, sales performance, forecasts, minimum guarantees, sell-in updates, retail placement, and licensee performance to identify risks, opportunities, and required follow-ups.
- Manage cross-functional execution across legal, finance, operations, creative, product development, retail, and marketing to keep deals, reporting, approvals, and category priorities moving efficiently.
- Support senior leadership in meeting divisional and client goals by operating with urgency, preparation, commercial judgment, ownership, and strong follow-through.
