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 and win new partners through pitches and RFPs. Growing existing licensees at renewal is just as much of the job, and many also 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; regional roles often ask for a second language
- Also called
- Category Manager, Senior Category Manager, Licensing Lead (regional), Senior Licensing & Business Development Manager, Senior Manager, Licensing (Toys, Softlines, Hardlines), Senior Manager, Licensing Out
- 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
In smaller teams
When the team is small, the role stretches.
In smaller teams the senior licensing manager runs a full category alone: deals, partner reviews, product approvals with creative and royalty follow up with finance.
- Full category ownership
- Approvals with creative
- Royalty follow up
- Mentoring executives
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. Those that do mention revenue against budget and partner KPIs. 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
Ask where they sell today and whether they can fund a minimum guarantee.
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
A clash found after signature means renegotiating with two partners at once.
Grow your team's judgment
By sharing how deals are evaluated.
AI and this role
Where AI changes the work.
Fewer than 1 in 25 licensing job ads mention AI yet. These are the tasks where it already helps this role most.
Conflict check before a deal
Exclusivity and territory clashes raised while the deal is still open.
Business review pack
Sales, approvals and royalty status for each licensee, drafted from your records.
Renewal signals
Partners with approved products but weak or no reported sales, flagged well before renewal.
Works through an integration with AI tools such as Claude, connected to your licensing records. A person confirms every change. See how Flowhaven works with AI.
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
Still have a question? Talk to our team, or see Flowhaven on your own program in a 30 minute demo.
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.
