Assistant Category Manager, Toys, Hardlines & Publishing EMEA

Armed with a positive attitude and a growth mindset, the new Assistant Category Manager will have the opportunity to join the Toys, Hardlines & Publishing EMEA Team within Universal, Products & Experiences (UP&E) group. As part of UP&E, the Assistant Category Manager will support the Toys, Hardlines & Publishing business to deliver the agreed long‑term strategy and a sustainable business that achieves the Company’s annual revenue targets. Specifically, the Assistant Category Manager will work closely with the Hardlines Director EMEA (HLD) and team to manage a portfolio of partners and categories across the Toys, Hardlines & Publishing portfolio, and work closely to support the management of key global licensees. The role will also support day‑to‑day operations, such as reviewing marketing submissions, creating and maintaining documents to manage licensees, products and territory rights, as well as ensuring the upkeep of the Hardlines SharePoint folders and organising events with key licensees.

Key Responsibilities

• Licensee Management: Manage a portfolio of licensees across Toys, Hardlines and Publishing. Support HLD with management of licensee base, forecast processes, marketing approvals & contract management. Develop great relationships and drive efficient communications with licensees to ensure alignment of joint business strategies, to convey regular updates on franchise performance and to pitch new properties. Proactively create informative documents to enable this.
• Category Management: Support HLD & team with ongoing analysis & initiatives that facilitate growth. Lead day‑to‑day relationships with category stakeholders including licensees, internal category and country teams with processes & documents where required. Support in facilitating product development, enhancing effective communications within the Creative Team and communicating with licensees to maintain and instruct critical paths & timings for product ranges. Critically evaluate the licensee base to ensure we have the right amount of quality partners by category.
• Retail Development: Collaborate with UP&E retail teams to optimize existing categories at strategic retail channels, while also identifying & developing new product opportunities to grow UP&E market share. Develop relationships with local country category, retail & marketing teams to drive the joint execution of the Toys, Publishing & Hardlines strategies. Undertake ad‑hoc store visits, insight reports, remain vigilant of trends and local country and cultural nuances to inform the evolution of new product development.
• Finance & Business Operations: Work with the HLD on business operations including contract management for new and existing licensees, critical path and functions required for contract renewals and extensions in company systems (CRM and RSG), from licensee negotiations where relevant, deal memo creation to contract execution in line with the company protocol. Obtain and manage quarterly sales projections from licensees targeting accuracy in the forecasting process, contribute to quarterly forecast presentations, flagging insights to support changes to the annual plan.
• Franchise Strategy Support: Ensure the licensee product and category strategies align with, and support the UP&E franchise vision, ensuring products are refreshed and true to franchise characters. Identify category and audience gaps by franchise, developing products to continually drive consumer engagement with Universal content and characters. Work with licensees and franchise teams to drive the marketing and visibility of UP&E product ranges where appropriate.
• Relationship Building – EMEA & International Teams: Ensure positive communication with internal stakeholders including Legal, Finance, Product Development, Promotions, Franchise & Retail teams to maximize synergy and a value‑driven company culture. Continual fluid communication with country teams, sharing and seeking relevant information. Live, breathe and amplify the great energy of the team.
• Operational Duties: Manage marketing submissions. Manage licensee documents. Co‑ordinate attendance for key events e.g. Brand Licensing Europe, Nuremberg Toy Fair. Manage the Hardlines SharePoint. Help organising summits with key Hardlines licensees. Forecasting documents.

Qualifications

About you… Adaptable, agile & flexible – able to pivot quickly, adapt strategies and deal with change. Willing to learn – open to new skills, ways of working, how things work and why. Relationship builder – able to flex style, understand needs, build a strong network and work within a matrixed environment. Global & holistic thinker – understand the wider context. Commercially curious – continuously seeking to understand the market. Willing to get stuck in – hard worker, who is not rigid with the ability to prioritise, manage own time and respond quickly and efficiently. Trusted to deliver – autonomous, taking on ownership and responsibility for tasks. Resilient – not afraid to fall, getting back up and keep putting in the effort. Passionate – energetic, engaged, positive and desiring to make a difference. Kind – empathetic, caring, generous and willing to listen in all interactions.

Skills / Qualification Requirements: Fluent in English. Experience in the toy industry, commercial or marketing environments with excellent organisational skills and a proven track record of managing multiple stakeholder relationships. Collaborative & values driven individual with ability to work under pressure, prioritise & be flexible to business needs. Knowledge of Microsoft Office package (Excel, Word & PowerPoint) with attention to detail & ability to produce clear, effective documents.

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in‑person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision.