Head Of Licensing & Retail

As the organiser of some of the biggest and most iconic sport events in the world, we lead the way in the sport and event industry.

Join the team and support us on our mission.

THE POSITION

The Head of Licensing and Retail (L&R) is responsible for leading the Licensing & Retail team, which reports directly to this role and is based in Zurich. The position also includes the functional leadership of Licensing & Retail teams within applicable FIFA subsidiaries, such as FWC26 Inc. (Miami) and FWWC27 LTDA2 (Brazil).

The Head of L&R is tasked with driving commercial growth in licensing and retail through new business opportunities and brand propositions, across both physical and digital platforms. Combining exceptional strategic vision with strong leadership skills and solid business acumen, they will work closely with the L&R, Brand, Commercial Partnerships, Marketing, Gaming, and other functional teams at FIFA, as well as external stakeholders, to establish brand and tournament licensing and retail as leading benchmarks in football fandom.

This includes identifying and developing innovative and creative new revenue streams through product development, retail initiatives, collaborations, and marketing activities.

The role sits within the Partnerships & Media Division and requires cross-functional collaboration to deliver contemporary, fan-oriented engagement opportunities, while building a broad network and strong relationships with key stakeholders.

These are your key tasks:

• Bring strong convincing leadership working with direct reports, peers, senior management and external stakeholders.
• Further develop the future models, tactical implementations, operational processes and necessary resources and capabilities to deliver the strategic objectives.
• Together with relevant functional areas and the L&R team develop compelling and sustainable FIFA brand licensing propositions and strong retail environments (incl global B&M retail and ecommerce), enveloping both competition and non-competition value propositions.
• Build strong and collaborative relationships with external stakeholders including licensees, agencies, retail operators, suppliers, and any other strategic partners.
• Ensure relevant and necessary commercial terms, applicable legal and financial parameters are considered and implemented whilst overseeing and leading negotiations with contractual partners.
• Lead all RFP initiatives from draft, issuance, evaluation to eventual decision.
• Collaborate with supporting functional areas and together set the processes and systems in place to ensure efficient and effective workstreams.
• Develop the strategy for FIFA onsite and offsite retail programmes and oversee the delivery of such FIFA retail programmes for all events. Ensure strong collaboration with relevant internal and external commercial and operational teams in order to deliver best in class tournament and event retail experiences.
• Work closely with FIFA legal team to have a robust and effective counterfeit prevention and detection program and process in place.
• Lead and mentor team members to drive performance, delivery of the objectives and to ensure a future talent pipeline.  
• Oversee financial planning, forecasting and budgeting, including developing solid reporting and controlling structures and processes. 
• Represent FIFA’s licensing and retail business at key occasions, shows, workshops, meetings and other relevant events.
• Be a proactive contributor to the Partner and Media leadership team and develop the internal understanding of licensing & retail business.
• Implement and manage, together with other functional areas, a pro-active, effective, economic and relevant premiums and give-aways program for external and internal partners. 
• Support related FIFA organisations such as FIFA Museum in their licensing and retail programs and development. 
• Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to deliver effective marketing support.

YOUR PROFILE

We work hard at FIFA.
We are dedicated, ambitious and innovative.

And we respect our values. Always.

For all roles, we seek talented people with an entrepreneurial spirit and a global mindset.

The specific competencies we require for this position are:

• At least 8 years’ experience in a relevant business role of which at least 5 years in a leadership position
• Experience and with honed skills in working in complex multi-stakeholder environments
• International experience of working in international and multi-cultural business environments
• Experience building business across product, retail and marketing
• Solid & proven 360 understanding of commercial business in consumer products, retail, go-to-market, marketing
• Understanding of consumer trends in physical, digital and virtual brand and event revenue generating markets 
• Solid commercial, financial acumen with excellent analytical skills 
• Energetic, positive, and confident with a can-do, hands-on attitude
• Excellent communicator and strong relationship builder with persuasive presentation skills
• Strategic yet detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to multitask effectively
• Creative problem solver and resilient leader who thrives under pressure
• Skilled negotiator with commercial, financial, and legal acumen; inspires and develops talent
• Proficient in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Skilled in licensing contract and approval platforms
• Experienced with digital archives and budgeting tools
• Digitally savvy
• Willingness to travel on a frequent basis, including for longer periods during competition times

PERKS & BENEFITS

The biggest benefit of a career at FIFA is the privilege to work for the beautiful game and create something that matters.

Alongside that privilege, we also offer some extra perks and benefits:

• Health and fitness: Regular football sessions for all abilities, plus on-site gym.
• Home office: Up to two days of home office per week if work permits and home office allowance for all.
• Language courses: Offered to all staff to aid personal and professional growth.
• Continuous learning: We care about your development and encourage internal mobility, offering a variety of training and education to help achieve it.
• Pension: Flexible pension benefits with generous employer contributions.
• Relocation assistance: A dedicated team will be on hand to support your relocation.
• Sustainability: We support all employees using public transport.
• Vacation: Maintain a healthy work/life balance with a generous vacation allowance.
• Volunteering: Make an impact beyond your regular role and bond with colleagues by volunteering with one of our partners.

About FIFA

We are FIFA, the global governing body for football.

Our vision is to make football truly global, diverse and inclusive, for the benefit of the entire world. The last FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022 attracted more than 5 billion viewers and the last FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 was the greatest-ever FIFA Women's World Cup that inspired millions of girls and women around the globe. The opportunities for growth are exciting.

We are a modern organisation with over 800 passionate employees who are Living Football every day. Our headquarters are based in Zurich, Switzerland, and we have offices in Miami, Paris and Rabat, plus eleven regional offices from New Zealand to India, South Africa, Panama and Paraguay.