Licensing careers · Commercial
Senior Licensing Manager / Category Manager
A senior licensing manager or category manager owns a large category, region or new business area. They set the category strategy, win new partners through pitches and RFPs, grow existing licensees through renewals and upselling, and often lead a small team.
Where a licensing manager runs a book of partners, the senior role decides where that book should go next.
- Track
- Commercial
- Level
- Senior
- Typical experience
- 7 to 10 years
- Also called
- Category Manager, Senior Category Manager, Licensing Lead (regional), Senior Licensing & Business Development Manager
- Reports to
- Director of Licensing, Category Director or Head of Licensing
- Next step
- Director of Licensing, Category Director, Head of Licensing
Key responsibilities
What does a senior licensing manager do?
- Set the strategy and long range plan for a category or region
- Build a new business pipeline and lead proposals and RFPs
- Negotiate major deals, renewals and expansions
- Own category revenue and sell through against targets
- Run business reviews with key licensees against agreed KPIs
- Appoint and manage agents and retail distribution partners
- Make sure partners comply with contracts and brand standards
- Lead or mentor licensing managers and executives
- Pitch a prospective licensee or respond to an RFP
- Negotiate a renewal or category expansion
- Review category revenue, sell through and forecasts
- Coach a licensing manager on a difficult partner issue
- Align launch timing with creative and marketing
Where the role sits
The senior licensing manager owns sales management for a category.
The senior licensing manager owns sales management for their category and shapes program strategy with the head of licensing.
The strategy, targets and category priorities.
New business, pitches and RFPs, major deals, renewals and expansions.
THIS ROLESigned deals and renewals, and new partners for the licensing managers who run them.
The conflict check. Before a new deal is agreed, someone has to confirm the rights are free across categories, territories and channels. When that depends on memory, double licensing becomes possible.
How success is measured
Six KPIs for a senior licensing manager.
Few job ads define success for this role. These are the measures Flowhaven recommends.
| KPI | How to calculate it |
|---|---|
| Category revenue against target | Royalties and guarantees in the category against the annual plan |
| New business value | Guaranteed value of new agreements signed |
| Renewal and expansion rate | Share of expiring licensees renewing or adding categories or territories |
| Sell through | Share of licensed product sold to consumers in the category |
| Pipeline velocity | Average days from first contact to signed agreement |
| White space filled | Target sub-categories or markets with an active licensee |
Best practices
What great senior licensing managers do.
Prioritize high value open categories
And territories where demand and brand fit are strongest.
Target the right partners
Brand fit, retail reach, quality and financial stability.
Structure smart deals
With consistent terms and clear minimum guarantees.
Use royalty and sell through data
To decide which partners to grow and which to replace.
Check rights before you pitch
Not after the deal is agreed.
Grow your team’s judgment
By sharing how deals are evaluated.
Skills and tools
What the role asks for.
- Category strategy and long range planning
- Senior negotiation and RFP management
- Commercial analysis: revenue, sell through, forecasts
- Team leadership and mentoring
- Agent and retail partner management
- BI dashboards
Flowhaven and Salesforce experience is a strong plus.
Flowhaven is built on Salesforce, which IDC has ranked the number one CRM for 13 years in a row, with a 20% share of the CRM market in 2025. Licensing platform skills carry across the whole team.
Career path
Where people come from, and where they go.
Hiring?
Senior Licensing Manager / Category Manager job description template.
Copy it, fill in the brackets and post it.
Senior Licensing Manager / Category Manager
We are looking for a Senior Licensing Manager to lead our [category / region] and grow it with new and existing partners.
What you will do
- Set the category strategy and long range plan
- Build the new business pipeline and lead pitches and RFPs
- Negotiate major deals, renewals and expansions
- Own category revenue and sell through against targets
- Run business reviews with key licensees
- Lead and mentor licensing managers
What you will bring
- [7+] years in licensing or consumer products
- A track record of winning and growing licensing partnerships
- Strong negotiation and commercial analysis skills
- Experience with Flowhaven or Salesforce is a plus
How success is measured
Category revenue against target, new business value, renewal rate, sell through and pipeline velocity.
FAQ
Questions people ask about the senior licensing manager role
A senior commercial role that owns one product category, such as toys, apparel or publishing, across all licensees in it.
The senior manager leads one category or region. A director owns several categories, their combined budget and the team.
Free checklist: 64 terms every licensing agreement record should capture
Use it when drafting a new deal or entering a signed one. The terms teams miss most often are flagged.
See open categories, unused rights and partner performance in one place.
See how category teams find white space and grow partners in Flowhaven.
