Head of Brand - Value Licensing in Market Harborough

We are launching a dedicated Value Licensing team, a high-growth initiative designed to establish NEXT as the destination for affordable, licensed products across Womenswear, Menswear and Childrenswear. This brand-new team will focus on securing new partnerships, expanding our category reach, and delivering ranges that capture global market trends. This is an incredible opportunity to be part of something new and extremely exciting.

As the Head of Brand, you’ll lead your team in creating and delivering a profitable and commercial value range to maximise sales. With an inspirational and motivating management style, you’ll get the best out of the team, supporting them to achieve excellence and continue growing the department’s success. You will possess sound knowledge and awareness of key market trends, including styles, shapes, fabrics, and colours. This is a senior leadership opportunity based at The Barn (our Market Harborough office), responsible for building a new value licensed business. The core purpose of the role is to ensure the long-term viability and profitable expansion of establishing NEXT as a destination for value licensed products in brand licensing across Womenswear, Menswear and Childrenswear.

What You’ll Take On

• Strategy and Portfolio Growth: Own, develop, and present the brand licensing strategy to the Brand Director. This includes directing category expansion, leading negotiations for new global licensing partnerships, and prioritising brands, categories, and markets for sustainable, profitable growth. The role involves defining and implementing a clear, robust brand architecture and pricing direction to prevent internal competition and enable incremental growth.
• Commercial and Financial Oversight: Take full P&L ownership for the value licensing portfolio. Responsibilities include overseeing the departmental budget, driving financial forecasting, and implementing processes for licensee reporting.
• Brand Governance and Compliance: Define, implement, and enforce brand guidelines and a governance and approvals framework across the value licensed products.
• Leadership: You will have responsibility for the recruitment and growth of the team. You will manage, lead, and inspire a high-performing value licensing team.

What You’ll Bring

• Can you lead, inspire, and motivate a team?
• Are you someone who identifies and seizes opportunities, demonstrating an enterprising and responsive approach to work?
• Are you resilient?
• Are you comfortable taking intelligent risks?
• Do you demonstrate clear and concise communication skills?
• Are you analytical and numerate?
• Do you have the ability to influence and take initiative when others don’t?

You will be a seasoned leader in brand licensing products, with a proven track record of managing a significant product business area. The role requires expertise in developing commercial ranges and negotiating high-value agreements. With a proven track record, you excel in making confident commercial decisions. Highly organised and self-motivated, you are also adept at handling senior stakeholder management.

Sponsorship

Candidates wishing to apply who would require sponsorship for this role will be required to meet the Home Office sponsorship requirements. We encourage early applications for our roles, as our recruitment process begins as soon as the role is advertised. If we successfully fill the position, this advert may close earlier than planned.

At NEXT, we believe the best work happens when there are no barriers to collaboration. That’s why we are a Google-powered workspace. From your very first day, you’ll be using the full Google Workspace suite; Docs, Drive, and Meet, to stay connected and move fast. If your previous experience is rooted in other software suites, don’t worry! We’ll point you to a digital Google toolkit the moment you join, packed with handy guides and insider tips to help you transition smoothly and hit the ground running.