Product Development Manager, Licensing

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. From strategy to business development to ongoing program management, professional back-office administration and industry-leading systems, IMG Licensing provides a full-service solution across all parts of the brand licensing journey. The Role: We’re looking for a Manager, Product Development to support the creative execution, product development flow, and approvals process for a major consumer products licensing portfolio across gaming, entertainment, and culturally relevant brands. This role will serve as a key product development and creative liaison between licensees, internal teams, and client stakeholders. The Manager will help guide licensed products from concept through approval platform routing, creative review, samples, final approval, and market launch, ensuring products are brand-appropriate, commercially viable, and delivered on time. The ideal candidate has strong creative judgment, a solid understanding of consumer product development, and the ability to manage multiple licensee submissions across categories in a fast-paced, client-facing environment. What You’ll Do Product Development Lead the end-to-end product development and approvals process across assigned licensees, ensuring submissions move efficiently from concept through final approval and market launch. Serve as a senior day-to-day partner to the client product development team, supporting key submissions, approval workflows, creative feedback, and platform-related process needs. Review product concepts, artwork, packaging, samples, and related creative assets to ensure they are brand-appropriate, commercially viable, and aligned with client guidelines. Ensure product development remains on track against key launch dates, retail timelines, and client priorities by proactively managing routing, feedback, revisions, and approvals. Stay current on gaming IP updates, style guides, franchise moments, character priorities, visual identity, and product design needs to support high-quality products for fans. Develop creative support materials, including collaboration booklets, inspiration decks, benchmark presentations, product guidance, and look books to improve licensee execution. Creative Support Manage and guide licensed consumer product designs in line with client brand guidelines, ensuring feedback is clear, actionable, and aligned with the product development process. Provide creative direction and product development feedback that improves design quality, strengthens brand consistency, and supports innovation across licensed product submissions. Identify style guide gaps, asset needs, and recurring licensee challenges in partnership with the client business and product development teams. Translate client creative expectations into practical product guidance that licensees can apply across concepts, artwork, packaging, samples, and marketing assets. Client/Licensee Support Manage and support key relationships with licensee creative and product development teams, serving as a trusted partner across submissions, feedback, revisions, and approvals. Provide structured onboarding for new licensees, including approval process guidance, platform training, brand materials, creative expectations, and submission best practices. Lead product brainstorming and ideation with licensees to drive stronger concepts, better execution, and clear points of difference in the marketplace. Proactively identify submission issues, approval delays, or creative concerns, and recommend practical solutions that keep product development moving efficiently. Partner closely with internal licensing, creative, marketing, and client teams to ensure product development priorities are aligned, visible, and moving forward. You Have These: 5+ years of experience in product development, creative approvals, licensing, consumer products, design, or a related field. Strong design sensibility and creative judgment, with the ability to evaluate product, packaging, and marketing assets against brand standards. Experience working within consumer products, licensing, entertainment, gaming, lifestyle, toys, collectibles, apparel, accessories, or adjacent categories. Good understanding of product development timelines across multiple product categories. Ability to manage multiple design projects, approvals, submissions, and deadlines at the same time. Strong interest in market trends, consumer behavior, creative styles, fandom, and culturally relevant brands. Clear verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to provide organized, constructive feedback. Strong relationship-building skills with licensees, clients, internal stakeholders, and creative teams. Highly organized, meticulous, proactive, and able to escalate issues while also recommending solutions. Growth-minded, solution-oriented, and motivated to deliver high-quality products for fans and consumers. Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint and Excel. Experience with licensing approval systems is preferred. Creative software experience, including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, or similar tools, is a plus. How we work: 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 Per local requirements and in the interest of transparency, the rate shown below reflects the prevalent current hiring range for this position. Hiring pay rates are based on a number of factors, including location and may vary depending on job-related qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience. The company strives to provide locally competitive rewards packages, which include base rate along with, as applicable, short- and long-term incentives, growth and developmental opportunities, and robust benefits, such as health care, retirement, vacation and other paid time off, and additional offerings. Hiring Rate Minimum: $53,250 annually (minimum will not fall below the applicable state/local minimum salary thresholds) Hiring Rate Maximum: $71,000 annually 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. WME Group is a global network of businesses that represent the world’s leading talent, intellectual property and brands. WME Group comprises preeminent talent agency WME, global marketing agency 160over90, brand licensing agency IMG Licensing, and nonscripted content business Pantheon Media Group.