Manager, Licensing

IMG Licensing is the global leader in brand licensing, managing licensing programs for the world’s best-known brands and trademarks. With over 25 offices worldwide, IMG Licensing provides a unique one-stop-solution for innovative brand growth across a diverse portfolio of clients from business, entertainment, fashion, food, gaming and sports. IMG Licensing is part of WME Group, a global network of businesses that represent the world’s leading talent, intellectual property, and brands. From strategy to business development to ongoing program management, professional back-office administration and industry-leading systems, IMG Licensing provides a full-service solution across all parts of the brand licensing journey.

The Role and What You’ll Do:

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.

What You’ll Do

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.

You Have These:

• 5+ years of experience in licensing, consumer products, account management, or a related field.

• Strong commercial judgment, with the ability to evaluate partners, categories, retail, and brand fit.

• Experience working within consumer products, licensing, entertainment, gaming, lifestyle, toys, collectibles, apparel, accessories, or adjacent categories.

• Good understanding of licensing timelines across business development, product development, approvals, retail planning, reporting, and contract execution.

• Ability to manage multiple partners, priorities, approvals, reporting needs, and deadlines at the same time.

• Strong interest in sales, retail strategy, consumer trends, fandom, and culturally relevant brands.

• Clear verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to provide organized, client-ready updates.

• Strong relationship-building skills with licensees, clients, internal stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.

• Highly organized, detail-oriented, proactive, and able to escalate issues while also recommending solutions.

• Growth-minded, solution-oriented, and motivated to deliver strong commercial results for clients and partners.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint and Excel.

• Experience in gaming, entertainment, lifestyle, retail, softlines, toys, collectibles, or adjacent categories is a plus.

How we work: 

To foster an environment of collaboration, develop our future talent, and build on relationships across leadership, peers, and teams, we work from the office 4 days per week. We see immeasurable value internally and throughout the core of the businesses we support.

Per local requirements and in the interest of transparency, the rate shown below reflects the prevalent current hiring range for this position. Hiring pay rates are based on a number of factors, including location and may vary depending on job-related qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience. The company strives to provide locally competitive rewards packages, which include base rate along with, as applicable, short- and long-term incentives, growth and developmental opportunities, and robust benefits, such as health care, retirement, vacation and other paid time off, and additional offerings.

Hiring Rate Minimum:

$53,250 annually (minimum will not fall below the applicable state/local minimum salary thresholds)

Hiring Rate Maximum:

$71,000 annuallyIMG Licensing is an equal opportunity employer that encourages applications from qualified, eligible candidates from all backgrounds and life experiences regardless of race, gender identity, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, or belief.