Licensing Sales Manager - Fashion

About The Role & Team

Drive long-term and fiscal strategies while managing key commercial accounts. Streamline the licensee base to support focused growth and strategic planning. Identify and secure new licensees that significantly enhance category performance.

Success in this role hinges on strong internal and external relationships. You’ll lead engagement and joint business planning with partners to negotiate regional contracts and grow EMEA licensing sales.

Apply creativity and commercial insight to product development, leveraging digital, social, and retail marketing trends. Use consumer insights to shape agile, cross-functional strategies and seize new opportunities.

This role requires being in the Hammersmith, London office 4 out of 5 days per week.

What You Will Do

• Support long-term softlines strategy with senior leadership and key partners
• Use trend, consumer, and commercial insights to shape agile, cross-functional plans
• Lead annual planning and forecasting for softlines licensees, aligning with category, franchise, and finance teams
• Manage and grow EMEA softlines accounts through joint business planning
• Negotiate and communicate softlines contracts across global, regional, and local teams
• Partner with creative and marketing teams to support softlines product development and retail sell-in
• Act as liaison for International Labour Standards (ILS) compliance in softlines
• Drive new business pitches and research scalable softlines opportunities
• Contribute to market meetings and share softlines best practices
• Collaborate with Disney market teams to align softlines strategy and local needs
• Build connections with global DCP teams to exchange softlines knowledge
• Champion integrity, inclusion, and continuous improvement in softlines
• Own your development and support training for direct reports
• Recommend process improvements and leverage tools to enhance softlines performance
• Build cross-functional links to broaden softlines business understanding
• Promote an inclusive culture and ensure team access to training and resources

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Background in fashion buying, product development, merchandising, or commercial sales
• Degree or equivalent experience in a related field
• Experience in consumer products, ideally softlines
• Proven ability to build relationships, lead change, and collaborate cross-functionally
• Team leadership and performance development experience
• Strong financial and data analysis skills to drive business planning
• Agile mindset with ability to spot and act on new opportunities
• Resilient and adaptable in a fast-paced environment
• Proficient in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Keynote)
• Fluent in business English; other European languages a plus
• Strong grasp of digital, social, and retail marketing
• Strategic thinker with commercial problem-solving skills
• Excellent planning, organisation, and influencing abilities
• Trend-aware with ability to translate insights into growth strategies
• Culturally aware with understanding of EMEA markets
• Willingness to travel occasionally (UK, Europe, international)
• Flexible to support ad-hoc projects and business needs beyond standard hours

The Perks

• 25 days annual leave
• Private medical insurance & dental care
• Free Park Entry: the opportunity to enter any of our parks with your family and friends for free
• Disney Discounts: entitled to discounts on designated Disney products, resort F&B and ticketing
• Excellent parental and guardian leave
• Employee Resource Groups – WOMEN @ Disney, Disney DIVERSITY, Disney PRIDE, our new disability & neurodiversity focused group - ENABLED, and our Mental Health & Wellbeing Group, TRUST.

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to be a diverse workforce that is representative of our audiences, and where all can thrive and belong. Disney is committed to forming a team that includes and respects a variety of voices, identities, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.