JAKKS Pacific, Inc., a leading designer and marketer of toys and consumer products, with a wide range of products that feature some of the most popular brands and children's toy licenses in the world, currently seeks an energetic, self-starter for the role of Brand Manager – Disney Division for their Santa Monica office. The ideal candidate will be a strategic thinker with a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude.

 This is a two-pronged role perfect for a Brand Manager who enjoys many different types of projects. The Brand Manager – Disney Division will support both the VP, Marketing and Director, Marketing in a unique role supporting international markets as well as several opportunistic brands. This role will be responsible for ensuring international business priorities are met and that international markets have what they need to drive growth. This role will interface with the local teams in those markets and will gain an understanding of the category and retail landscape. This role is also responsible for assisting in the brand and product development aspects of 1-2 brands. 

Responsibilities:

INTERNATIONAL

• Support regional markets with all sales, marketing, creative asset needs including:
  1. Item set-up
  2. product and packaging samples
  3. customized presentations for different markets and brands
  4. product images
  5. global price list
• Develop strong relationship with global teams to understand the market landscape
• Support regional marketing requests, acting as liaison between the regions and cross-functional global teams
• Collaborate with global product team to ensure intl product needs are being met
• Participate in product development milestone meetings to understand the full scope of the line and gather feedback
• Share best practices across the regions
• Assist in validating international forecasts and proactively identify opportunities
• Ad-hoc category & geographic analyses to identify market share and/or expansion opportunities
• Interface with Disney Consumer Products teams as necessary
• Be proactive in identifying assortment/packaging needs for international
• Present product lines and marketing plans to sales teams and customers

BRAND/PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:

• Facilitate relationships with cross-functional teams (Costing, Design, Planning, Packaging, Sales) to develop a compelling and profitable product line, which meets licensor’s approval, hits target cost and adheres to schedule
• Interface with licensor on regular basis, ensuring all product and marketing plans are in adherence to brand standards and are on strategy
• Support the business by managing communication tools such as line lists and product decks
• Identify business opportunities by monitoring and analyzing retail trends, competitive products and reviews, and sales data 
• Analyze and provide category, consumer, competitor, customer and product-specific insights, trends and market research, as needed
• Serve as brand champion for product lines; manage, coordinate and attend tradeshows & internal sales meetings

Skills & Experience Required: 

• Bachelor’s degree preferably in Business Administration, Marketing, or related field
• 3-5 years of experience of working in toy, consumer products, retail or brand marketing field, preferably with some international exposure
• Strategic thinking skills coupled with ability to tactically execute plans 
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Resourceful; ability to be a proactive self-starter to get things accomplished with minimal oversight
• Ability to make strategic decisions to maintain deadlines
• A collaborative, team oriented working style
• A deep level curiosity about customers and consumers
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and prioritize workload
• Ability to build relationships & willingness to help as needed across global regions
• Interest in international business and understanding of different cultures
• Highly organized with attention to detail and ability to multitask
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• A positive, “can do” roll-up-your-sleeves attitude with an eagerness to learn
• Strong computer skills, including Excel, PowerPoint, Keynote etc. 
• Ideally, have experience in the toy industry or working in an industry that markets to retailers, such as Target, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and/or international retailers is a plus

Our Benefits:

• Health and Wellness: Medical, dental, vision, disability, life & accident insurance and employee assistance program
• Savings: 401K matching, pre-tax spending accounts, and employee discount programs
• Compensation: JAKKS Pacific offers a competitive salary. Compensation for this role commensurate with experience, qualifications, location, and education and typically ranges from $75,000-$95,000.

Company Overview

A leading designer and marketer of children’s toys and consumer products, JAKKS Pacific® is always on the lookout for talented, bright and creative individuals to join our ever-growing team.

Best known for our toy and entertainment products, JAKKS produces impressive and innovative products across multiple categories spanning from action figures, collectibles, and dolls to high performance activity toys and vehicles, and let’s not forget our deep portfolios of beloved licensed characters. In other words, we work hard to make play more fun, and we believe it has paid off.

Included in Fortune’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies for four years in a row, and Forbes’ 100 Best Small Companies for three years, JAKKS is an aggressive and passionate company, with a commitment to customers and a dedication to growing our business. 

Our goal is to continuously cultivate a talented and diverse workforce while providing a safe and productive work environment and an excellent career growth opportunity while working with a dynamic team who loves what they do and for a Company that ultimately makes children smile, play and succeed!

Jakks Pacific, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

No Recruiters Please. No Relocation is associated with this position.