SVP, Licensing Sales

About the Company

U.S. News & World Report is a multifaceted digital media company dedicated to helping citizens, consumers, business leaders, and policy officials make important decisions. We publish independent reporting, rankings, data journalism, and advice that has earned the trust of our readers and users for nearly 90 years. Our platforms on usnews.com include Education, Health, Money, Travel, Cars, News, and 360 Reviews, reaching millions of people monthly during moments when they are most in need of expert advice.

Our signature franchises include the “Best” series of consumer guides on colleges, graduate schools, hospitals, diets, cars, financial services, and more. These guides help consumers understand and compare options when making decisions. We continue to publish annual guides of the authoritative Best Colleges and Best Hospitals rankings on our website and in print. U.S. News Live flagship conferences highlight important national conversations, including Healthcare of Tomorrow.

We believe in fostering a broad range of talent and backgrounds, striving to maintain a welcoming and inclusive workplace where everyone is given an opportunity to succeed and contribute.

About the Role

We are seeking a dynamic and results-driven Senior Vice President, Licensing Sales for our accolade and logo licensing group. You will lead the full marketing and revenue engine for the operation, supervising a sales manager and a large and growing sales, customer success, and research team. This role blends leadership, operational excellence, and product-minded systems thinking to improve how our revenue functions run.

Responsibilities

• Set and meet licensing revenue targets both across verticals and in the aggregate.
• Build, execute, and optimize licensing commercial strategies, setting the licensing commercial vision and holding the organization accountable to it.
• Monitor licensing revenue pacing, conversion metrics, forecasts, and operational KPIs.
• Identify opportunities for licensing revenue expansion, new markets, and improved commercial processes.
• Collaborate with editorial and business leadership while maintaining the separation between editorial content and sales efforts.
• Work closely with shared resources from multiple departments, including Finance, Tech, and Legal.
• Guide the creation and implementation of branding and licensing communications, including email campaigns, personal emails, phone sales, and direct mail.
• Continue the build-out of the marketing website, integrating it into sales and marketing efforts and ensuring high search and AI inquiry rankings.
• Hone processes and incorporate AI in research workflows for identifying and categorizing relevant sales contacts.
• Collaborate on initiatives to raise awareness of U.S. News rankings and licensing availability.
• Lead and elevate the licensing sales organization, maintaining a performance culture, clear accountability, and a winning mindset.
• Personally engage in high-value enterprise opportunities to set the tone for the broader team.
• Build out international sales capabilities.
• Develop a proactive, data-driven account management model with clear coverage, escalation paths, and expansion playbooks.
• Ensure a seamless handoff from Research/Prospecting to Sales to Account Management, creating a unified client experience.