Director, Licensing in London

IMG Licensing is the global leader in brand licensing, managing licensing programs for the world’s best-known brands and trademarks. With over 25 offices worldwide, IMG Licensing provides a unique one-stop-solution for innovative brand growth across a diverse portfolio of clients from business, entertainment, fashion, food, gaming and sports. IMG Licensing is part of WME Group, a global network of businesses that represent the world’s leading talent, intellectual property, and brands.

Who We Are:

IMG Licensing represents renowned brands, institutions, and entertainment properties spanning sports, films, and talent - creating marketing and revenue opportunities through licensed products. Our portfolio includes premier brands such as Harley-Davidson, Gap, Jeep, McDonald’s, Fortnite and many more. As part of the WME Group ecosystem, we create some of the world’s most iconic cultural moments and experiences, with unparalleled access to artists and creators represented by our vast network of talent agencies and businesses.

The Role and What You’ll Do:

• Client Management: Paying particular attention to one of our major Automotive/Lifestyle clients, handle the day-to-day client management and act as the client’s first point of call for general requests and/or updates. Prepare materials for regular client updates to support overall program development/growth. Organising regional office updates, managing a new business pipeline and working closely with IMG teams around the world to ensure efficient client updates.
• Licensee Management: Responsible for ensuring that licensees are activating their license rights, actively designing, producing, distributing and marketing Licensed Products. Supporting 50+ licensees with various requests including general strategy updates, contract amendments (but excluding product development/creative support). Royalty report analysis to ensure that licensees are actively selling into territories and to retailers within their license agreement.
• New Business Development: Identify new category opportunities and conduct research to populate potential new licensee prospecting lists. Conduct outreach to potential licensees and engage in sales conversations with support from team members. Manage sales materials to ensure they are kept up to date and ready for pitch meetings. Attend trade shows in relevant categories for new business opportunities.
• Financial Reporting & Analysis: Responsible for ensuring that licensees report their royalties on a timely basis. Work closely with the finance team to keep on top of slow reporting/paying licensees. Quarterly finance reports and client/licensee records to monitor performance success/failures.
• Legal Administration: Management of contract generation with the legal team for new license agreements. Working with the legal team to input deal terms through CRM platforms for the negotiated commercial terms that need to be drafted into the contract. Review of contracts drafted by the legal team to make sure that all commercial terms have been accurately written before distributing contracts for signature. Keep up to date excel spreadsheets of contract summaries for each of the brands which acts as a quick and easy to read source of all live contract commercial terms.

You Have These:

• Highly organised and adaptable.
• Attention to Detail: the individual accomplishes tasks thoroughly and efficiently and has strong organizational skills.
• Interest and experience in securing new licensees and being able to hold senior-level commercial conversations.
• A quick learner and able to find solutions to problems.
• Team player but able to use initiative and be proactive.
• Personality, attitude and enthusiasm are key in order to build trusting relationships with clients, licensees, prospective licensees and colleagues.
• Communication: the individual has the ability to express thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively (verbally and in writing) without need for supervision.
• Problem Solving: the individual identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner, gathers and analyzes information skilfully, and maintains confidentiality.
• Interpersonal Skills: the individual maintains confidentiality and remains open to others’ ideas.
• Attitude: the individual must always be willing to put the client first and foremost with a positive and friendly customer service attitude.

How we work:

WME Group is at the center of sports, media, entertainment, and fashion and is a largely relationship-based business. To foster an environment of collaboration, develop our future talent, and build on relationships across leadership, peers, and teams, we work from the office 4 days per week. We see immeasurable value internally and throughout the core of the businesses we support.

Don’t meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

IMG Licensing is an equal opportunity employer that encourages applications from qualified, eligible candidates from all backgrounds and life experiences regardless of race, gender identity, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, or belief.