Licensing Operations Coordinator in London

Get to know The Pokémon Company International. The Pokémon Company International manages the Pokémon property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing and marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world.

Get to know the role.

Job Summary: This role is about leading and forward planning operational execution for all matters related to the licensing team, including but not limited to licensing systems, legal, finance, logistics and marketing administration. Licensing consists of Product Licensing, Brand and Product Promotions. The Licensing Coordinator for Licensing Operations EMEA will actively lead the design and administration of the Licensing team systems (such as Salesforce, WestEnd, Tableau, Oasis, etc.), by identifying where the operational output of the EMEA licensing department could be optimised, and ensuring all operations run smoothly. They will execute licensing processes (related to legal, finance, and product samples matters), support deal and royalty operations, use reports to track compliance and performance and maintain data accuracy. They will also provide general assistance with Retail, Product and Brand promotion administration when required. The Licensing Coordinator for Licensing Operations EMEA reports to the Manager, Licensing EMEA. This is not a Sales, Business Development, Product and/or Marketing role.

What you’ll do:

• Licensing Operations: Plan the operations roadmap and core focuses for the upcoming year, supported by Licensing Manager, EMEA, with responsibility to deliver business systems and processes for operational efficiency. Identifying business risks and solutions for optimisation across the licensing team. Leading operations meetings – Lead on managing all operational projects and status updates in weekly team operations meeting, with clear agendas, minutes and status updates.
• Licensing Systems and Portals: Salesforce (contract lifecycle support) – Identify needs and implement flow automations and features to streamline the licensing contract lifecycle and other internal workflows (i.e., marketing and franchise calendars). WestEnd (internal system management) – Work closely with the business system analyst for WestEnd across all system bugs across royalties, product approvals, contract details. Anticipating roadblocks and proactively taking measures to address them, working closely with line manager, EU royalties coordinator and business system team. Tableau (analytics) – Work with the Licensing and Data and Analytics teams to create sales reports. Oasis (product samples) – Recommend solutions to streamline the product samples process for the Licensing and Facility teams by jointly managing our storage solutions partner. Co-ordinate the licensing team to ensure samples are recorded for and monitored.
• Legal/Paralegal: General – Act as point of contact for internal paralegal queries from licensees and retailers by working closely with the Paralegal and Infringement teams. Manufacturer Agreements and Custom Letters – Deal with paralegal queries efficiently and in a timely manner by escalating requests to other members of the Licensing team as appropriate, across multiple licensees as a weekly task. Infringement – Responsible for tracking and actioning infringement requests from the team, managing priority orders with the infringement team. Contract Administration – Responsible for contract data entry in the WestEnd portal on behalf of the Licensing team. Responsible for the contract tracker on behalf of the Senior Licensing Director and Team.
• Finance: General – Maintain accurate and up to date financial records on TPCi information systems (SharePoint, WestEnd). Royalties (Account Receivables) – Act as point of contact for internal financial queries from licensees by working closely with the Royalty teams. Track missing royalty reports quarterly. Host royalty process webinars with Licensees throughout the year and quarterly financial updates. Vendors (Account Payables) – Deal with financial queries efficiently and in a timely manner (PO tracker, invoicing, etc.) by escalating requests to other members of the Licensing team as appropriate. Track outstanding invoices sent on behalf of Finance and the Licensing team quarterly. Managing monthly meetings with the finance team and EU royalties coordinator across outstanding issues. Royalties (Forecasting) – Send forecast reminders and requests on behalf of the Licensing team on a quarterly basis to existing licensees.
• Retail Marketing Budgeting: Managing the retail marketing budget across the team, ensuring the retail marketing team are up to date with all invoices paid on time.
• PR, and Trade Show Support: PR Editorial – Coordinate a yearly B2B editorial plan with the B2B PR consultant and UK PR manager for the team, coordinating all editorial talking points laddering up to the B2B PR plan to support the EU licensing goals. Trade Shows – Participate and assist with the planning and attendance of annual European trade shows and events as necessary (Brand Licensing Europe, Bologna Licensing Show, Cobrandz Licensing Show, etc.).
• General Administration: Provide efficient and professional administrative support to the Licensing Manager, EMEA as required. Act as point of contact for administrative queries from internal and external stakeholders such as licensees and retailers (co-ordinate orders from the licensing team across retail POS and GWP giveaway items e.g. TCG).

What you’ll bring:

• Four (4)+ years of relevant professional experience or a demonstrated equivalent level of expertise.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field or a demonstrated equivalent level of applicable experience.
• Project management across business systems and stakeholders.
• Problem solving skills.
• Excellent oral and written English.
• Proven organizational skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure with unpredictable schedules and tight deadlines.
• Proficient in MS Office.
• Strong team-player.
• Knowledge of and passion for Pokémon brand a bonus.
• Basic previous licensing administration a bonus.
• Additional European languages a bonus.

Base Salary Range: For this role, new hires generally start between £41,974.00 - £54,773.00 per year. The full range is £41,974.00 - £73,454.00 per year. This range is applicable for the labor market where the role is intended to be hired. The final base salary is directly related to the candidate’s qualifications and professional experience uniquely.

How you’ll be successful:

• Passion for Pokémon: Develops an understanding of the Pokémon brand, the impact it has on our people, culture, business, fans, and communities, and applying that knowledge and passion to everything you do.
• Challenging the Expected: Approaches challenges with curiosity and creativity, embracing the possibility of failure as an opportunity to learn something new, develop innovative ideas, solve complex problems and identify unique opportunities.
• Integrity and Respect: Demonstrates integrity and respect by leading with empathy, listening to others, seeking out different perspectives, and taking personal responsibility for decisions, actions, and results.
• Dedicated to Quality: Takes ownership to maintain and promote high standards, looks for new ways to learn and improve, and embraces a growth mindset to seek and apply feedback from others in an effort to continuously improve.
• Building Relationships: Develops and strengthens relationships, adopting a “team first” mentality and working collaboratively to solve problems and meet shared goals.
• Delighting Customers: Listens and understands the interests and needs of our customers and stakeholders, making them feel heard and important, and embracing these learnings to continue delivering a unique Pokémon experience.

What to expect:

• An innovative culture driven by impact, delivering meaningful outcomes.
• Company events that celebrate the spirit of Pokémon.
• Competitive cash-based compensation programs.
• 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums for you.
• Generous paid family leave.
• Employer-paid life insurance.
• Employer-paid long and short-term income protection insurance.
• US Employees: 401k Employer Matching.
• UK/IRE/MX Employees: Pension Employer Contributions.
• Fitness reimbursement.
• Commuter benefit.
• LinkedIn learning.
• Comprehensive relocation package for certain roles.
• Hybrid work environment.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this role. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed. For roles in the United Kingdom, candidates will need the right to work. In some cases, and for some roles, the Company may be able to arrange a visa. For roles in Ireland, this role requires candidates to have the right to live and work in the Republic of Ireland. However, we welcome applications from all nationalities and may consider supporting an employment permit application, in appropriate and suitable cases. The Pokémon Company International is committed to the inclusion of all qualified applicants for consideration in our job application process. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, or a job interview, or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact the Talent Acquisition team at accommodationrequest_ta@pokemon.com.