Licensing Director

Fanatics Commerce; Paris; Hybrid; EUR 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Fanatics Commerce is seeking an experienced Licensing Director to own and grow a portfolio of client licensing programmes from strategy to execution. You will lead cross-functional teams, drive revenue, and ensure brand integrity across sports, entertainment, and lifestyle properties.

Based in Paris with a hybrid schedule, you will partner with Finance, Legal and Operations to deliver client value and expand fan engagement through innovative licensing strategies.

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Finance, Legal, Marketing and Operations to deliver seamless client service across FLM's portfolio.
• Represent FLM at major licensing trade shows and support pitches for prospective rights holders.
• Line-manage and develop a team of licensing managers and executives.
• Communicate portfolio strategy to the team to ensure execution.
• Advise senior rights holder executives, building partnerships and translating brand objectives into licensing programmes with KPIs.
• Lead annual business planning with clients across sports and entertainment brands.
• Maintain relationships with licensees, conducting regular business reviews.
• Collaborate with clients to build physical-to-digital licensing strategies.
• Lead licensing strategy for digital categories including gaming and social commerce.
• Identify new categories, geographies, and distribution channels.
• Track trends in DTC licensing and digital collectibles; innovate programs.
• Evaluate new platforms and partnerships and build recommendations.
• Own licensing strategy and P&L across your client portfolio.
• Drive licensee recruitment across categories and lead deal negotiations.
• Oversee royalty reporting with Finance.
• Ensure brand standards across product development pipelines.

Skills

Licensing leadership

P&L ownership

Strategic licensing

Negotiation

Team management

Cross-functional collaboration

Digital licensing & DTC

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA or equivalent preferred

Job description

Fanatics Commerce is the global leader in licensed sports merchandise, operating a vertically integrated platform that designs, manufactures, and delivers officially licensed apparel, jerseys, headwear, and collectibles for major leagues, teams, and events worldwide. With more than 900 e-commerce sites and a global omnichannel presence across digital, in-venue, and retail, Fanatics Commerce reaches fans in over 180 countries and powers official fan experiences for many of the world's most iconic sports properties.

At Fanatics, we bring our BOLD Leadership Principles to life every day - building championship teams, obsessing over fans, acting with entrepreneurial speed, and delivering with a determined and relentless mindset.

ROLE OVERVIEW

Fanatics Licensing Management (FLM) International is a leading in-house licensing agency managing a diverse portfolio of rights holders across global football, multi-sport properties, entertainment, and lifestyle brands. As Licensing Director, you will own and grow a portfolio of client licensing programmes from strategy to execution, operating as the senior point of accountability across commercial, creative, and operational dimensions - spanning IP positioning, category architecture, licensee recruitment, deal structuring, digital product strategy, and P&L ownership. The Licensing Director, FLM International delivers business and fan impact through BOLD leadership and execution excellence, leveraging data, automation, and AI-enabled insights.

HOW WILL YOU DRIVE IMPACT

Success is measured by the ability to deliver results through BOLD capabilities and measurable outcomes.

Team & Leadership Impact (Build Championship Teams)

Cross-Functional Leadership:

• 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

People Leadership:

• 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

Fan & Customer Impact (Obsessed with Fans)

• 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

Innovation & Problem Solving (Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit)

• 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 - bringing fresh commercial thinking to each property
• 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

Ownership & Execution (Determined & Relentless Mindset)

• 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

AI & DIGITAL CAPABILITY

We are building a future-ready organization. This role is expected to:

• 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

CAPABILITIES & EXPERIENCE YOU BRING

Required Qualifications:

• 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

Education:

Bachelor's degree required; MBA or equivalent preferred.

WORK LOCATION

Hybrid: The primary place of performance of this role is the Company's office located in Paris, subject to the Company's current hybrid work policy. This role currently requires in-office presence 3 days per week.

At Fanatics, we operate with a BOLD mindset - We Build Championship Teams, we’re Obsessed with Fans, we embrace a Limitless Entrepreneurial Spirit, and we approach every challenge with a Determined and Relentless Mindset. If you’re ready to contribute to a dynamic, fast-paced environment that thrives on