Join our Peanuts Worldwide team within WildBrain today to become part of the story! From Peanuts shows and specials on Apple TV+ to interactive experiences worldwide, fans of all ages celebrate the Peanuts brand through thousands of consumer products, as well as amusement park attractions, cultural events, social media, and comic strips available in all formats from traditional to digital. Peanuts Worldwide, is a division of WildBrain Ltd., a global kids media and content company headquartered in Canada with offices worldwide.
About the Role
Reporting to the VP, Global Softlines , the Senior Category Manager, Softlines will play an important role in driving our global softlines business by identifying whitespace' opportunities; prospecting and securing new licensees and building strong relationships with current licensees and partners. In this role, in support of the VP, Global Softlines, you will pay an integral role in defining the future strategy of our softlines categories for the Peanuts brand (which includes apparel, accessories, home, craft, pet, domestic electronics, HBA and collaborations), with the ultimate goal of connecting our fans with authentic products in fun and engaging ways! Responsible for the day-to-day management and growth of the Home, Domestic Electronics and Pet categories, driving strategy in support of the overall brand goals.
The ideal candidate for this role will have a passion for our Peanuts brand, hands-on experience in softlines categories and proven success in building relationships with key licensees. This role will require travel throughout North America.
Job Description
Category Growth
- Identify global softlines whitespace and strategies to fill and optimize opportunities in assigned categories
- Understand the competitive landscape by analyzing current business against market/product trends
- Monitor softlines sales performance to ensure success of key licensees and programs
- Strategically target potential softlines licensees by evaluating licensee structure, retail relationships and product quality/design capabilities
- Oversee new contract negotiations and renewals, ensuring terms meet the licensor requirements, contractual obligations and overall business objectives
Category Management
- Develop and implement business plans and go-to-market strategies by category, for new and existing partners.
- Lead quarterly business and creative reviews with key partners to ensure objectives are being met
- Partner with creative team to ensure assets are being developed to fulfil licensee and category needs
Retail Development and Marketing Brand Initiatives
- Develop category strategy to and work with partners to ensure licensees are developing against any upcoming brand initiatives as directed by the Marketing team.
- Support retail initiatives with ongoing category updates and licensee support.
- Facilitate ongoing communication between key partners and Retail team to ensure that we are being opportunistic in securing retail placement.
- Record and track licensee retail placement to identify gaps/white space
Financial
- Liase with VP Global Softlines and Finance team to budget and forecast sales and royalty revenue
- Analyze licensee and category performance on a quarterly and annual basis to identify key trends and/or major deviations from
- Experience in an entertainment or fashion licensing role; working directly with key licensees, pitching potential partners, securing deals, negotiating deal points, and managing partners.
- Experience negotiating long-term deals that support sustainable and incremental growth
- Passion for Peanuts Worldwide brand, kids' and/or family entertainment; familiarity and understanding of the mindset of target audience.
- Deep knowledge and understanding of product development, merchandising, retail/sales development, and licensing contracts
- Strong presentation skills.
- Flexible team player with the ability to build and maintain strong relationships with clients and at all levels of the organization. Thrives in a fast paced, changing environment that necessitates working on many different projects simultaneously.
- Motivated self-starter who demonstrates strong initiative, attention to detail, creativity and excellent work ethic
- Strong organizational skills and ability to think strategically and demonstrate good judgement and problem solving abilities.
- Exceptional verbal, written and interpersonal skills
- College degree, preferably in Business or related field
- Proficient in MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
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