Head of Licensing

About Us

Glitch Productions is an independent animation studio based in Australia, creating original, long-form animated shows distributed on YouTube. Our channel has over 22 million subscribers, tens of millions of views per episode, and continues to grow rapidly.

Our studio is filled with incredibly talented and passionate artists determined to change the way animation is produced and treated in the industry. One of our latest IPs, The Amazing Digital Circus, has amassed over 400 million views on its pilot alone, with many more projects and opportunities ahead.

Role Overview

The Head of Licensing will own the development and growth of Glitch's global licensing program across our expanding portfolio of IP, including Murder Drones, The Amazing Digital Circus, Gaslight District, Knights of Guinevere, and more.

They will establish the strategy, structure and processes of the licensing function, while scaling and overseeing the team responsible for day-to-day partner development, deal execution and licensee management.

The Head of Licensing will develop licensing roadmaps alongside senior leadership for each IP, identifying priority categories, markets, channels and partnership opportunities,while owning licensing business development and expanding partner relationships. 

Key Responsibilities

Team Building & Organisational Development

• Determine the team structure, roles, capabilities and resourcing requirements needed to support Glitch’s licensing strategy across IP, categories, territories and partners.
• Lead the hiring and development of the licensing team by determining hiring priorities, defining roles, and upskilling team members.
• Identify and plan scalable licensing workflows, processes and systems that enable efficient partner acquisition, approvals, contracts, reporting and ongoing licensee relationships.

Licensing Strategy & Partnerships

• Align closely with senior leadership on the overall direction, priorities and objectives of Glitch's licensing function for its IPs by developing goals and roadmaps for the team to achieve.
• Set the standard for licensee terms and agreements, and oversee the negotiation and execution of licensing agreements across merchandise, physical activations, digital goods, collaborations, and other strategic licensing categories. 
• Collaborate cross-functionally with the Consumer Products, Sales, Events, and Brand teams to ensure licensed activations and products do not cannibalise internal results, while simultaneously using licensee relationships and opportunities to enhance Glitch-initiated activations.
• Assess and prioritise product categories, retail channels, markets, territories and partnership opportunities for each IP, creating a robust and nuanced global licensing plan.

Leadership & Oversight

• Oversee the progress and performance of the licensing team and ensure they achieve commercial goals, licensing roadmaps, timelines, and deliverables.
• Provide guidance on significant partner, commercial or strategic decisions.
• Work closely with Brand, Events, Marketing, Legal, Finance, Product and other relevant teams to ensure licensing strategies are aligned across the organisation.
• Ensure licensing opportunities are developed in a way that protects the integrity and long-term value of Glitch's IP.
• Represent the licensing function at a senior leadership level and provide regular visibility into pipeline, performance, opportunities and challenges.
• Creating the licensing department trade show and convention travel roadmap, as well as planning any related required marketing collateral and showcase materials. 

Partner Development & Acquisition

• Build strategies for business development, including market research, industry networking, outbound development and identification of emerging licensing opportunities. 
• Establish and build strong long-term relationships with licensees, retailers, collaborators and strategic partners.
• Understand the key commercial components of a strong licensing agreement and identify when proposed terms require further negotiation or escalation.
• Regular assessment and evaluation of existing licensees for the purpose of renewal negotiations and partnership management.
• Creating efficient workflows and communication channels that accommodate each licensee’s submission and co-operation style, while also ensuring compatibility with internal company-wide systems.

 

Key Requirements

• Strong experience in licensing, franchise management or a closely related field with significant leadership experience. 
• A successful history of representing IP-based licensors and matching them with an appropriate portfolio of licensees, particularly within merchandise licensing, character licensing, entertainment licensing, brand collaborations or related fields.
• Strong understanding of licensing workflows, organisational structures and the operational requirements needed to scale a licensing function.
• Proven experience leading and scaling a licensing function or team, including determining organisational structure, recruitment needs and areas of responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience developing licensing strategies, roadmaps and partner development programs.
• Experience working with major retailers and/or significant licensing partners.
• Ability to evaluate the strategic and financial value of licensing opportunities, including royalty structures, minimum guarantees, advances, territory, distribution, category rights and other key commercial terms. 
• Proven ability to lead managers and hold teams accountable for objectives, commercial targets, timelines and deliverables.
• Demonstrated ability to pro-actively identify and develop new licensing opportunities and partnerships aligned with company goals.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to align senior leadership and cross-functional teams around licensing priorities.

What Success Looks Like

First 6 months

• Establish a clear licensing strategy and roadmap for each major IP.
• Assess the current licensing organisation, capabilities and gaps.
• Define the future licensing team structure and recruitment plan.
• Establish licensing processes, workflows and reporting.