Director, Hardlines, North America

About the role

Lead the Bluey North America Toys licensing business, driving category strategy, licensee management, retail execution, and growth across the toy portfolio. Partner with the Senior Director, Hardlines to support the overall Hardlines strategy and collaborate across key ancillary categories including toy, plush, seasonal, party, stationery, arts & crafts, social expressions, and pet.

Responsibilities

• Create and execute annual category plans aligned with global franchise priorities and long-term (3–5 year) growth targets.
• Identify, negotiate, and manage best-in-class licensees, ensuring strong product development pipelines and retail execution.
• Partner with retail strategy, sales, and marketing teams to align product assortments with key retail accounts across mass, specialty, ecommerce, and value channels.
• Drive innovation within the toy and adjacent hardlines categories, ensuring products reflect consumer trends, brand positioning, and storytelling.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with regional/global brand, creative, and retail teams to ensure consistency and quality of licensed products.
• Analyze category performance and market trends, providing data-driven insights to optimize product mix, pricing, and placement.
• Lead line reviews, product approvals, and commercialization processes with licensees and internal stakeholders.
• Maintain frequent in-person engagement with Los Angeles–based partners, including licensees, creative stakeholders, to drive alignment on product development, approvals, and franchise priorities.
• Support go-to-market strategies tied to key content launches and franchise moments.
• Manage forecasts, budgets, and revenue targets for the Hardlines portfolio.

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in toys, games, plush or seasonal categories.
• Proven track record managing toy and adjacent categories (plush, seasonal, etc.) within licensed IP environments.
• Experience negotiating and managing licensee partnerships and driving product from concept to retail.
• Strong understanding of North America retail landscapes, including mass, ecommerce, specialty, and value channels.
• Established relationships with licensees preferred.
• Experience working with major entertainment or media brands highly desirable.

Skills

• Strong understanding of toy industry dynamics and consumer trends.
• Excellent negotiation, relationship-building, and communication skills.
• Strategic thinker with strong commercial and analytical capabilities.
• Ability to manage multiple product categories and timelines simultaneously.
• Collaborative, proactive, and solutions-oriented team player.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word).
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills.

Pay

The anticipated annual base salary for this position is $155,000 to $165,000. This range does not include bonus compensation or other benefits that an individual may be eligible for. The actual base salary offered depends on the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, specific and unique skills, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and geographic location of the position.

Schedule

This role offers a hybrid schedule.