Manager, Licensed Product Compliance & Approvals

Manager, Licensed Product Compliance & Approvals

Maxima Apparel • Long Island, NY

A product-first licensing compliance role. This manager is the operational owner of how every licensed SKU moves through licensor approval — not a contracts or royalties role.

Position Overview

The Manager, Licensed Product Compliance & Approvals is the operational owner of Maxima Apparel's licensed-product approval process. This role ensures every licensed SKU moves through required licensor approval gates — concept through final — and keeps Design, Merchandising, Product Development, and Production aligned on guidelines, submission deadlines, and licensor feedback. The Manager is the connective tissue between the creative teams and the licensing function: protecting brand integrity, keeping the production calendar on track, and maintaining audit-ready records across every licensed program.

This is a product-first role for an operator who's lived inside licensor approval portals, knows style guides cold, and can push back on Design when needed without breaking the relationship.

Reports to: Director of Licensing

Department: Licensing

Location: Long Island, NY — Full-time onsite

Travel: Minimal

Key Responsibilities

Approval Workflow Management

• Shepherd every licensed product through each approval stage: concept, artwork, pre-production sample, pre-pack / packaging, and final.
• Maintain the master approvals tracker; flag at-risk items against production calendar milestones.
• Drive daily follow-up on open submissions to keep the pipeline moving.
• Own approval turnaround SLAs and report weekly on pipeline health.

Style Guide & Guideline Enforcement

• Audit designs, graphics, trims, and packaging against licensor style guides before any submission.
• Build and maintain internal cheat sheets that translate licensor guidelines into actionable rules for each team.
• Conduct pre-submission reviews with Design and PD to reduce rejection rates.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Design: artwork placement, logo usage, color accuracy, character/property rules.
• Merchandising: assortment against contract-approved categories, channels, and territories.
• Product Development: construction, materials, trims, and sample accuracy.
• Production: labeling, country-of-origin, hangtags, care labels, and packaging execution.

Submission & Portal Management

• Manage submissions through licensor portals (Brand Comply, MediaBox, Flywheel, and licensor-specific systems).
• Route licensor comments and revisions back to the appropriate internal team and track to closure.
• Maintain organized digital records of submissions, approvals, and rejection history for each SKU.

Contract Scope Compliance

• Ensure royalty-bearing categories, distribution channels, and territories stay within contract scope.
• Partner with the Director of Licensing on any contract gray areas or scope questions before product goes to market.

Hologram Compliance & Factory Authorizations

• Manage licensor-required hologram sticker and security tag programs for customs clearance and anti-counterfeiting across all licensed product.
• Coordinate with licensors and authorized hologram vendors on quantities, specifications, and delivery timing to factories.
• Ensure every shipment has the required hologram application before it leaves the factory and clears customs on import.
• Maintain factory authorization records for every licensor — submit new factories for approval, track expirations, and manage renewals before they lapse.
• Ensure licensed production only occurs at licensor-authorized factories; flag any production risk at unauthorized facilities.
• Partner with Sourcing and Production on factory onboarding, authorization packets, and compliance verification.
• Maintain the master list of authorized factories by licensor and communicate changes promptly to Sourcing, Production, and PD.

Training & Education

• Lead onboarding and refresher sessions so Design, PD, and Merch internalize each licensor's rules.
• Communicate style guide updates, new licensor policies, and common rejection reasons across teams.

Documentation & Audit Readiness

• Own approval records, rejection logs, and audit-ready files for each licensed program.
• Support licensor audits with organized documentation and SKU-level traceability, in partnership with Finance and the Director of Licensing.

Qualifications

Required

• 5–7 years in licensed-product approvals, product development, or product compliance within apparel or softlines.
• Hands-on experience with licensor approval portals (Brand Comply, MediaBox, Flywheel, or equivalent).
• Proven experience enforcing licensor style guides and managing submission workflows for major IP (sports leagues, collegiate, entertainment, or character).
• Strong cross-functional project management skills — comfortable pushing back on creative teams when needed.
• Detail-obsessed, organized, and calm under calendar pressure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to translate licensor feedback into clear action items for internal teams.
• Bachelor's degree in Fashion Merchandising, Apparel Production, Business, or a related field.

Preferred

• Direct experience with pro sports league or collegiate / NIL licensor approvals.
• Hands-on experience managing hologram / security tag programs and customs-related licensing requirements.
• Prior experience with factory authorization processes — submissions, renewals, and licensor audits of approved factories.
• Experience with PLM systems (Centric, Bamboo Rose, FlexPLM, or similar).
• Prior experience at a sports-licensed apparel company (e.g., '47 Brand, New Era, Fanatics, Mitchell & Ness, Outerstuff, FOCO, G-III, or similar).

Success Measures (First 12 Months)

• Master approvals tracker live, accurate, and trusted across Design, Merch, PD, and Production.
• Measurable reduction in licensor rejection rates and rework cycles.
• Clear, documented pre-submission review process adopted by Design and PD.
• All licensed programs audit-ready with complete approval documentation.
• Every internal team has a current, easy-to-use cheat sheet for the licensors they work with most.