Licensing Manager

Job Title: Licensing Manager

Department: Licensing
Location: Stamford Bridge, London

Contract: Permanent, Full Time

 

Closing date: 20th April

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the position may be filled before the listed closing date. To avoid missing out, please submit your application at your earliest convenience.

 

 

Role Overview

The Licensing & Retail Manager will be responsible for managing key product categories and licensee relationships, while driving the growth and visibility of Chelsea FC licensed products across retail channels.

 

Working closely with licensees, retailers and internal stakeholders, the role combines category management, business development and retail expansion, ensuring that licensed products are successfully developed, distributed and delivered to market.

 

The role will play a key part in strengthening Chelsea FC’s licensing programme by improving partner performance, with a strong focus on expanding presence across the UK retail landscape and supporting international opportunities.

 

 

 

Key Responsibilities

Category & Licensee Management:

• Manage assigned product categories and associated licensees, ensuring strong commercial performance and alignment with Chelsea FC brand strategy.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with licensees, acting as a key day-to-day contact.
• Lead regular business reviews with partners to assess performance, identify opportunities and drive growth.
• Identify gaps and opportunities within categories, proactively driving new licensee acquisition and product extensions to deliver incremental growth.
• Support product development direction to ensure ranges are commercially viable, retail-ready and aligned to consumer demand.

 

Business Development:

• Identify and secure new licensing opportunities within assigned categories, including new licensees, product extensions and retail-led partnerships.
• Build and maintain a pipeline of prospective partners aligned to category strategy and retail opportunities.
• Work closely with the Head Of Licensing, Senior Business Development Manager and other key stakeholders to support outreach, pitching and negotiation of new deals.
• Identify and address category white space, ensuring Chelsea FC maximises opportunities across key product areas.
• Support the onboarding of new licensees, ensuring successful integration into the licensing programme.

 

Retail Partnership Development:

• Develop and manage relationships with key retail partners across the UK and priority international markets.
• Work with licensees to expand distribution and improve visibility of Chelsea FC licensed products.
• Identify opportunities to introduce new products and categories into relevant retail channels.
• Support licensees in building strong retail relationships and commercial programmes.
• Identify new retail opportunities across key categories and subcategories.
• Collaborate with licensees and retailers to develop exclusive retail programmes, launches and promotional activations.
• Support the development of retail presentations, range reviews and buyer meetings.

 

Performance Monitoring & Insights:

• Monitor licensee and retail performance, identifying opportunities to optimise distribution and sell-through.
• Gather retail insights and market intelligence to inform category strategy and partner decisions.
• Track retail trends, competitor activity and new opportunities within the market.

 

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Work closely with internal teams including Merchandising, Retail, Marketing, Creative and Product to ensure alignment across product development and retail initiatives.
• Support the wider licensing team by sharing retail insights and contributing to category strategy.

 

 

Key Performance Indicators:

• Delivery of revenue targets across assigned categories.
• Growth and performance of managed licensees.
• Securing new licensing partners and delivering incremental revenue within assigned categories.
• Expansion of Chelsea FC licensed product distribution across key retail partners.
• Increased retail sell-through and visibility of licensed products.
• Successful execution of retail programmes and product launches.

 

 

Skills & Experience

• Experience within licensing, consumer products, retail or brand partnerships.
• Strong understanding of both licensing and retail environments.
• Experience managing partners, accounts or product categories.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to identify opportunities and drive growth.
• Good understanding of how products are developed, ranged and sold at retail.
• Excellent relationship management, negotiation and presentation skills.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.

 

Personal Attributes

• Commercially driven with a proactive approach to opportunity development.
• Strong relationship builder with the ability to influence stakeholders.
• Able to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
• Collaborative team player who thrives in a fast-paced environment.

 

 

Our Expectations:

• To embody the club’s BLUE behaviours (Brave, Lead, Unity, Edge) in the approach to work and interaction with others
• To adhere to the club’s policies and procedures, including Health & Safety, Financial Authorisation, Confidentiality and GDPR.
• To act as an ambassador for diversity, equality, and inclusion, and demonstrate a positive commitment by treating others fairly in line with our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and reporting any acts of discrimination through appropriate channels
• To create a safe environment and act to protect all young people and vulnerable adults that are either in your care or attending club premises, and report any concerns to the Safeguarding Lead
• To report any misconduct or suspected misconduct to the HR Department.

 

 

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: 

At Chelsea we recognise that the diversity of our people is one of our greatest strengths and we are taking positive action to ensure our existing colleagues and job applicants can fully be themselves and bring their own unique experiences and perspectives to Chelsea FC. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity.   

 

If you need reasonable adjustments made to the recruitment process, please reach out to your recruiter, who will be able to advise and support you.

Chelsea FC is fully committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children, young people and adults at risk (vulnerable groups). We therefore require all successful applicants to complete a DBS Check prior to starting employment. Depending on the role, successful applicants may also be required to undergo other child protection screening where appropriate.