Licensing Director (Apparel)

Civil Clothing Inc; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary: $150K – $160K annually

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Health Savings Account

Life insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Employee merchandise discounts

Job summary

Civil Clothing Inc. in Torrance, CA is seeking an experienced Licensing Director to lead and grow our licensing business across Civil’s brand portfolio. You’ll manage key licensing relationships, negotiate agreements, and drive commercial outcomes via smart product strategies.

You’ll oversee royalties, minimum guarantees, product performance, and approvals while building a high-performing Licensing team. This role rewards strong relationship-building, disciplined execution, and turning

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in apparel licensing or closely related licensing roles.
• 4+ years in a leadership role building and developing high-performance teams.
• Experience with licensing partnerships and licensed product programs.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Licensing, Fashion Merchandising, Marketing, or related field preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead relationships with licensors, licensees, agencies, and other licensing partners.
• Identify and evaluate new licensing opportunities aligned with brand strategy and commercial objectives.
• Lead licensing negotiations, renewals, and expansions, including royalties and territory terms.
• Maintain visibility into royalties, forecasts, and product performance across licensed initiatives.
• Partner with Finance to ensure royalty reporting and timely payments.
• Lead the Licensing team and improve workflows for scalability.

Skills

Licensing leadership

Negotiation

Relationship management

Forecasting & analytics

Cross-functional collaboration

Portfolio licensing

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Licensing, Fashion Merchandising, Marketing, or related field

8+ years licensing experience

4+ years leadership experience

Job description

Civil Clothing Inc. is looking for an experienced, commercially minded Licensing Director to lead and grow our licensing business across Civil’s portfolio of brands. In this role, you’ll manage key licensing relationships, identify new opportunities, negotiate agreements, oversee approvals, and help turn partnerships into compelling products and meaningful business growth.

Working across partnerships, product, and business strategy, you’ll maintain visibility into royalties, minimum guarantees, product performance, approvals, and commercialization while ensuring licensed initiatives stay on track. You’ll also lead the Licensing team, strengthen partner relationships, and build the processes needed to support a growing licensing business.

This role is ideal for someone who understands that great licensing is about more than securing a recognizable name. You understand the relationship between the right partner, the right product, the economics of the deal, and the execution required to make it successful. You’re a confident relationship builder and negotiator who is equally comfortable discussing a new opportunity with a licensing partner, reviewing forecasts and royalty commitments, or working alongside internal teams to solve an approval or commercialization challenge.

What You’ll Do

Licensing Partnerships & Business Development

• Lead relationships with licensors, licensees, agencies, and other licensing partners throughout the partnership lifecycle.
• Identify and evaluate new licensing opportunities aligned with brand strategy, customer relevance, and commercial objectives.
• Lead licensing negotiations, renewals, and expansions, including royalties, minimum guarantees, exclusivity, territory, channels, term, usage rights, and other key commercial terms in partnership with leadership and Legal.
• Strengthen existing partnerships while identifying opportunities to expand successful programs, categories, channels, and collaborations.

Licensed Product Strategy & Commercialization

• Partner with internal teams to develop licensed assortment and commercialization strategies that balance creative opportunity, consumer demand, partner requirements, and financial objectives.
• Support product planning, forecasting, launch timing, and commercial decision-making across licensed initiatives.
• Maintain visibility into licensed product performance, inventory, forecasts, and business commitments to help inform future opportunities and investment decisions.
• Evaluate opportunities and challenges throughout commercialization, helping teams make informed decisions that support both the partnership and the business.
• Lead the licensing approval process across artwork, product, packaging, marketing, and other licensed materials as required by each partnership.
• Maintain clear visibility into submissions, revisions, approvals, contractual requirements, and partner deliverables to keep development moving according to established timelines.
• Communicate partner feedback and requirements clearly to internal teams and help resolve issues that could impact development or launch schedules.
• Ensure licensed initiatives remain aligned with applicable brand guidelines, usage requirements, and contractual obligations.
• Maintain visibility across royalties, minimum guarantees, forecasts, contractual commitments, and other key financial components of licensing agreements.
• Partner with Finance and Accounts Payable to ensure royalty reporting is accurate, reporting deadlines are met, and royalty payments and other financial obligations are processed timely.
• Analyze licensed product and partnership performance, providing post-launch insights that inform future assortments, renewals, investment decisions, and licensing opportunities.
• Partner with Legal and leadership on licensing agreements and maintain visibility into contractual rights, restrictions, obligations, and compliance requirements.
• Proactively identify financial, contractual, inventory, or performance risks and drive appropriate follow-up and resolution.

Leadership, Team & Cross-Functional Execution

• Lead, develop, and hold the Licensing team accountable for partner management, approvals, reporting, timelines, and execution.
• Establish clear priorities, responsibilities, and performance expectations while providing coaching, feedback, and support to strengthen team performance.
• Serve as the central connection between licensing partners and internal teams, ensuring requirements, approvals, risks, timelines, and next steps are clearly communicated.
• Maintain visibility across licensing initiatives and proactively address issues that could impact contractual obligations, product development, or commercialization.
• Establish and continuously improve licensing workflows, tools, calendars, and processes that strengthen accountability, efficiency, and scalability.
• Lead with ownership, urgency, sound judgment, and accountability while navigating competing priorities and complex partner or business challenges.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performing team culture focused on strong execution, continuous improvement, and business growth.

What You Bring

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep knowledge of apparel licensing, licensed graphics, intellectual property, approvals, and commercialization.
• Strong understanding of licensing terms, including royalties, minimum guarantees, exclusivity, territories, usage rights, renewals, and reporting obligations.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen with the ability to evaluate forecasts, sales performance, inventory, partnership economics, opportunities, and risk.
• Strong negotiation skills with the ability to protect the Civil's commercial interests while building productive partner relationships.
• Effectively manages relationships with licensors, licensees, agencies, and other external partners.
• Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple partnerships, approvals, contractual commitments, and product timelines simultaneously.
• Anticipates licensing, financial, and execution risks and drives timely resolution.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Licensing, Fashion Merchandising, Marketing, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant professional experience will also be considered.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in apparel graphics licensing, licensed apparel, or closely related licensing roles, with demonstrated responsibility for managing licensing partnerships and licensed product programs.
• 4+ years in a leadership role building and developing high-performance teams.
• Experience within apparel, streetwear, fashion, sportswear, or another consumer-focused brand environment strongly preferred.

Physical & Mental Demands

• This role is primarily office-based with regular use of computers, communication platforms, reporting systems, and standard office equipment.
• Ability to sit or stand for extended periods and move throughout office, showroom, or product review environments as needed.
• Ability to occasionally lift, carry, or move product, samples, presentation materials, or other items weighing up to 25 lbs., with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Visual requirements include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus when reviewing contracts, reports, product, artwork, and digital materials, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Work requires extended periods of concentration while reviewing licensing agreements, financial information, forecasts, approvals, contractual requirements, and partner communications.
• The role requires frequent shifting of attention between multiple licensing partnerships, product initiatives, approvals, negotiations, financial commitments, and concurrent deadlines.
• Work may involve frequent interruptions, compressed approval timelines, complex negotiations, and time-sensitive partner or business matters.
• Periods of increased workload and sustained mental attention may occur surrounding contract negotiations, licensing approvals, product launches, reporting deadlines, and renewals.
• Flexibility to work additional hours may occasionally be required to accommodate partner schedules, time zones, negotiations, critical approvals, launches, or other business-driven deadlines.

Why You’ll Love Working at Civil

At Civil Clothing we foster a collaborative, fast-moving environment where ownership is valued, ideas are welcomed, and execution matters. You’ll work alongside passionate, experienced teams who care deeply about craftsmanship, accountability, and bringing product to market the right way. This role offers the opportunity to make a real impact, your decisions directly influence our product quality, timelines, and growth. If you thrive in a hands-on, solutions-driven environment and want your work to be seen, felt, and worn, you’ll feel right at home here.

What We Offer

• Compensation: $150K – $160K annually, depending on experience and qualifications
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Health Savings Account
• Life insurance
• Pet Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off (PTO)
• Employee merchandise discounts
• Opportunity to grow with a respected and evolving apparel brand

Equal Opportunity Employer

Civil Clothing Inc. is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.