Softlines Manager, Licensing

Purpose of the Role:

You will be responsible for the day-to-day category management and commercial performance of key licensing partners within the McLaren Racing portfolio, ensuring contractual rights are fully leveraged through well-structured, commercially driven product ranges. With ownership across apparel, home and accessories (softlines-led), the role drives end-to-end range strategy, from category architecture and creative direction through to development milestones, launch execution and KPI delivery, including revenue, margin, SKU productivity and speed to market, while building strong, long-term partner relationships that enable sustained category growth and brand consistency.

With licensing at its core, this role ensures all products are brand-authentic, trend-relevant and retail-ready, underpinned by strong fashion and product development expertise. This includes trend forecasting, fabrications, silhouettes, grading, technical specifications and fit, alongside the ability to translate strategic direction into commercially viable ranges. You will also play a key role in onboarding and developing new partners and emerging softlines categories, identifying growth opportunities through consumer insight, trend intelligence and product innovation, while holding licensees accountable to agreed creative, quality and commercial KPIs.

• Reports to Senior Manager, Consumer Products & Licensing

• Owns the end-to-end management of assigned product categories, with primary responsibility for softlines and accessories, and selective oversight of hardlines product development where required

• Leads category execution across the full product lifecycle, from range planning and development through to launch and in-market support, ensuring alignment to brand, quality and commercial objectives

• Partners closely with internal stakeholders across Creative, Brand, Partnerships, Digital and eCommerce to deliver cohesive, retail-ready product ranges

• Provides account and category support across the wider licensing team as required, contributing specialist product and development expertise

• Based at the McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, with some domestic and international travel required

Principal Accountabilities:

Licensee Management

• Develop a deep understanding of McLaren Racing’s commercial and brand objectives, and proactively leverage licensing partnerships to deliver against revenue, category growth and brand-equity goals.

• Build strong knowledge of McLaren’s fanbase segments and consumer behaviours, using these insights to inform product strategy, range architecture, pricing and targeted marketing opportunities.

• Develop, manage and deliver licensee business plans covering strategy, activation, target growth markets, competitive landscape, KPIs, engagement and performance measurement, ensuring each partner has a clear, commercially driven framework for success.

• Lead the softlines product development process from concept through to retail, overseeing range planning, technical development, sampling, quality and launch readiness, while ensuring alignment with McLaren’s brand values, partner strategies and long-term category growth plans.

• In partnership with the Senior Manager, provide subject-matter product expertise across apparel, home and accessories, identifying white-space opportunities, elevating product quality and driving incremental commercial value across the portfolio.

• Deliver robust, commercially aligned seasonal product development timelines, holding licensees accountable to agreed design, quality, compliance and delivery milestones to support on-time, in-full launches.

• Support the Senior Manager in defining creative and asset requirements, contributing to the evolution of style guides and asset direction based on market insight, trend analysis and category growth opportunities.

• Own and maintain core development and governance tools including product trackers, range plans, catalogues, approval logs and critical paths, ensuring clear visibility across all licensees and partners managed.

• Manage the application and usage of IP rights, guiding and approving all product submissions through McLaren’s product approval system to ensure brand consistency, creative integrity and compliance with licensing terms.

• Collaborate closely with the Senior Manager to plan and execute product strategies, launches and go-to-market activity, including 360° marketing activations and campaigns that maximise commercial return and deliver against agreed KPIs.

• Lead account-level relationships with global stakeholders, acting as the primary point of contact and ensuring strong alignment across product, commercial and marketing objectives.

• Apply a commercially minded approach to proactively identify, develop and convert brand and revenue opportunities, initiating actions that strengthen partner performance and long-term partnership value.

• Implement and champion best practices across product development, processes, multi-channel marketing, budget management and reporting, working in close partnership with Brand, Digital and Communications teams.

• Manage financial performance across assigned partners, including royalty reporting, sales tracking and forecasting, ensuring accuracy, transparency and alignment to commercial targets.

Team Management

• Act as the direct line manager for the Licensing Senior Executive, with clear accountability for their performance, capability development and progression into a senior specialist role. Set structured development goals, provide regular coaching and feedback, and support ownership across product, category management and partner relationships.

• Build and maintain succession readiness within the licensing function by identifying skill gaps, developing capability plans and supporting the onboarding and development of additional team members as the business grows.

• Drive continuous improvement across licensing processes, ways of working and documentation, proactively identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, clarity and consistency at team and partner level.

• Support the establishment and delivery of regular partner performance reporting, ensuring KPIs are clearly tracked, understood and actioned, and that insights are shared internally to support decision-making.

• Communicate requirements, timelines and processes clearly to internal stakeholders, enabling effective collaboration and smooth delivery of licensing programmes across product, brand and commercial teams.

• Contribute to the wider Licensing team through shared responsibilities, administration and ad-hoc support, fostering a collaborative, accountable and high-performing team culture

Knowledge, Skills and Experience: 

• Proven experience in global Softlines product development, category management or brand management within licensing, apparel or fashion retail, with demonstrable ownership of licensed product categories and partner performance.

• Strong technical product development expertise across apparel and accessories, including fabrications, trims, garment construction, fit, grading, costing, manufacturing processes, quality control and compliance, with a clear understanding of seasonal critical paths.

• Solid experience managing and developing a team, with the ability to coach, upskill and build capability in product, category ownership and partner management.

• Extensive experience working with and managing licensees, agencies and suppliers, including partner onboarding, range development, approvals, in-market delivery and seasonal performance reporting.

• Strong understanding of licensing fundamentals, category growth levers, go-to-market strategy and multi-channel marketing principles, with the ability to connect product decisions to commercial outcomes.

• Demonstrated experience building and executing marketing and launch campaigns across digital and physical channels, working beyond owned channels in partnership with retailers, platforms and licensees.

• Proven ability to manage the end-to-end category and partner lifecycle, from onboarding and strategy setting through to seasonal reviews, KPI tracking and performance optimisation.

• Highly collaborative, with experience working cross-functionally across Creative, Brand, Digital, Commercial and external partners to deliver cohesive, on-brand outcomes.

• Strong planning and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise workload, manage multiple projects and deliver against complex critical paths and deadlines.

Personal Attributes  

• Creative – Passionate about product and innovation, with a strong eye for detail.

• Organised – Able to manage timelines, approvals and partner expectations with precision.

• Collaborative – Works well across departments and builds strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

• Resilient – Thrives in a fast-paced, high-expectation environment with shifting priorities.

• Strategic – Can translate brand values and insights into commercially successful, on-brand product ranges.

• Energetic – Shows up with curiosity, commitment, and a love for creative product execution.

What can McLaren offer?

We constantly strive to be better tomorrow than we are today. Our ambition is to be the most pioneering and exhilarating racing team in the world, and our collective task is to set the standards for high performance in sport. We show up every day with energy and enthusiasm, ready to play our part.

We encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion. We will actively promote a culture that values difference and eliminates discrimination in our workplace.

McLaren Racing is based at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) near Woking. Here at McLaren, we offer hybrid working with 3 days a week based in the MTC.

Our state of the art, sustainable campus offers many facilities including a gym, restaurant and indoor and outdoor break-out areas, as well as direct access to park and common land. The MTC is connected to Woking mainline station via regular shuttle buses, from which London Waterloo is a 30 minute train ride.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including private healthcare, car schemes, life insurance and generous pension contributions.