Senior Category Manager - Licensing

Overview

Reporting into the Director, Global Partnerships for HEYDUDE, the Senior Category Manager for Licensing will be responsible for the team to deliver an outstanding licensed line as a result of deep consumer, market, and competitor analysis passionate about creating relevant, consumer-right licensed product reflective of the storytelling and authenticity that HEYDUDE fans love. You will develop initiatives and line plans crafted to reach both seasonal and long-term strategic goals and revenue/margin plans. You will drive clear processes to enable operational efficiency within the product creation process and licensed operations process and will demonstrate cross functional collaboration to get key partners aligned.  Above all, you’re passionate about team and want to support and develop those around you.

What You'll Do

• Build a balanced growth plan for licensed categories utilizing a consumer-first approach that incorporates operational and financial realities, as well as drives end-to-end quality and storytelling.
• Co-create the licensed strategy with the Director of Global Partnership 
• Create seasonal and annual tools for our global and regional partners cross-functionally to influence them in supporting the licensed roadmap through sales and marketing support.
• Communicate with licensors to understand key property priorities and advocate for those properties to other teams in the organization.
• Create product briefs that clearly shows the vision and idea for each licensed program to kick off with design, development, and channel merchandising partners.
• Partner with global channel merchandising and marketing teams to explore and engage with partners for chase opportunities, outside of the roadmap.
• Use consumer, licensor, competitor, and data insights to drive the vision for the future.
• Analyze the business, and drive actions that will capitalize on opportunities and mitigate weakness. Seek after success and pivot on failures prioritizing speed to match the pace of the consumer.
• Ensure comp products and volume are protected, but also build space for newness to drive incremental growth and whitespace opportunities for the brand.
• Drive triad collaboration with design, development, and channel merchandising

What You'll Bring to the Table

• 5+ years Category Management
• Strong organizational skills & attention to detail and deadlines 
• Thorough knowledge and ability to understand contract terms, financial forecasting, and business analytics. Must be able to leverage data to drive key decisions and report performance to leadership and external parties.
• Comfortable with conducting presentations virtually and in-person to large groups, including leadership and external partners. Must have experience creating visually intriguing decks with clear, concise information.
• Must be Excel savvy and be able to utilize pivot tables, vlookups, charts, etc.
• Consistent record of success at other licensors or globally recognized brands with launching licensed programs.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence and engage others as well as navigating difficult conversations with partners and cross functional team members
• Influence with empowerment, agility, and empathy.
• Must be comfortable in a fast-paced and matrixed environment with high degree of collaboration.
• Must be able to travel globally.
• Experience within PLM system (Centric or similar)