F
Licensing Director
Contract type
Ongoing
Work mode
Hybrid · Paris, France
Experience
Senior · 8+ years
Job description
The Licensing Director owns and grows a portfolio of client licensing programmes for Fanatics Licensing Management (FLM) International, acting as the senior point of accountability across commercial, creative and operational dimensions. The role leads licensing strategy, licensee recruitment, deal negotiation and P&L ownership for sports, entertainment and lifestyle rights holders.
At a glance
- Employment
- Full-time · Employee (employment agreement)
- Work mode
- Hybrid · Paris, France
- Languages
- English
What you'll do
- Partner with Finance, Legal, Marketing, and Operations to deliver seamless client service across FLM's portfolio, ensuring commercial objectives are translated into aligned execution
- Represent FLM at major licensing trade shows — including Licensing Expo, BLE, and LIMA events — and contribute to the new business pipeline by providing market insight and supporting pitches for prospective rights holders
- Line-manage and develop a team of licensing managers and executives, setting clear performance expectations and providing structured coaching and career development
- Communicate portfolio strategy clearly to your team, ensuring execution is consistently aligned to commercial objectives and client commitments
- Serve as the primary strategic advisor to senior rights holder executives, building long-term trusted partnerships and translating brand objectives into actionable licensing programmes with clear KPIs
- Lead annual business planning with clients across sports properties, federations, leagues, clubs, and entertainment brands, ensuring programmes are tailored to audience profile and commercial opportunity
- Maintain high-quality relationships with licensees across your portfolio, resolving issues proactively, ensuring contractual compliance, and conducting regular business reviews to assess and accelerate performance
- Collaborate with clients to build cohesive physical-to-digital licensing strategies that reinforce brand consistency and deepen fan engagement across channels
- Lead licensing strategy for digital and emerging categories including gaming integrations, licensed digital content, and social commerce, advising clients on platform prioritisation and new partnership opportunities
- Identify and pursue white-space opportunities within existing portfolios — new categories, geographies, and distribution channels
- Track market trends including DTC licensing, digital collectibles, and brand collaborations, and proactively introduce relevant innovation to client programmes
- Evaluate new platforms and partnerships — retail apps, streaming integrations, social commerce — and build recommendations that position FLM clients at the forefront of the licensing landscape
- Own the licensing strategy and P&L across your assigned client portfolio, defining category architecture, market positioning, and revenue roadmaps tailored to each property's commercial opportunity
- Drive licensee recruitment across all categories — including core product, digital goods, gaming, and experiential — and lead deal negotiations from term sheet to execution, working with Legal on contract structure, guarantees, royalty rates, and audit provisions
- Oversee royalty reporting cycles in partnership with Finance, flagging anomalies and ensuring accurate P&L tracking across your portfolio
- Partner with the approvals team to uphold brand standards across product development pipelines, ensuring licensee output consistently meets the quality and integrity expectations of each rights holder
- Apply AI and technology to improve efficiency, quality, and outcomes
- Use data and digital tools to inform decisions and enhance performance
- Demonstrate curiosity and adaptability in adopting new technologies and ways of working
- Contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement
What we're looking for
- 8+ years of experience in licensing, with at least 3 years in a senior client-facing or management role, including demonstrated ownership of complex, multi-property licensing programmes
- Sharp commercial instinct with hands-on P&L ownership experience and a proven track record of driving revenue growth across diverse brand portfolios
- Experience across both sports and lifestyle or entertainment licensing, with deep understanding of global licensing markets, category dynamics, and retail distribution
- Confident negotiator comfortable with complex, multi-territory deal structures, including experience working with Legal on guarantees, royalty rates, and audit provisions
- Proven people leader with a track record of developing talent, building high-performing teams, and operating effectively across cross-functional stakeholder environments
- Familiarity with digital licensing, gaming, and emerging product categories, including DTC licensing, social commerce, and digital collectibles
- Willingness to travel internationally for client meetings, licensing trade shows, and licensee visits
- Bachelor's degree required
Nice to have
- MBA or equivalent preferred
Your team
Fanatics Licensing Management (FLM) International
A leading in-house licensing agency managing a diverse portfolio of rights holders across global football, multi-sport properties, entertainment, and lifestyle brands.
Apply
Direct apply at Fanaticscommerce
Opens the job posting at Fanaticscommerce
About Fanatics Commerce
The global leader in licensed sports merchandise
Fanatics Commerce is a leading designer, manufacturer, and seller of licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods. It operates a vertically-integrated platform of digital and physical capabilities for leading sports leagues, teams, colleges, and associations globally, as well as its flagship site www.fanatics.com.
Mission
Ignite the passions of global sports fans and maximize the presence and reach for its hundreds of sports partners globally
Key facts
- more than 22,000 employees
- Licensed sports merchandise
- Operates more than 900 e-commerce sites
- Global omnichannel presence across digital, in-venue, and retail
- Reaches fans in over 180 countries
- Established database of over 100 million global sports fans
- Global partner network with approximately 900 sports properties
- 2,500 athletes and celebrities, and 200 exclusive athletes
- Over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail stores
Partners & customers
NFLNBAMLBNHLMLSFormula 1Australian Football League (AFL)Dallas CowboysGolden State WarriorsParis Saint-GermainChelsea FCTokyo GiantsUniversity of Notre DameUniversity of AlabamaUniversity of Texas
What they value
- Build Championship Teams
- Obsessed with Fans
- Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit
- Determined and Relentless Mindset