Director of Licensing (Hybrid)

Essential Duties & Responsibilities 

Licensing Strategy & Business Development 

• Develop and implement a comprehensive IP licensing strategy aligned with Purple’s strategic growth priorities. 

• Partner with Finance to develop pro forma P&L and business plans for the licensing strategy. 

• Identify and evaluate licensing opportunities across new product categories, geographies, and brand extension channels. 

• Build and maintain a pipeline of prospective licensees, from initial outreach through signed agreement. 

• Lead negotiations for inbound and outbound licensing deals, including royalty structures, exclusivity terms, territory rights, and quality standards. 

• Define category, territory, and channel licensing priorities by building white-space analyses, evaluating strategic fit, and recommending where Purple should (and should not) extend its brand and technologies. 

Licensing IP Portfolio Support 

• Partner with IP counsel to translate licensing priorities into IP portfolio recommendations (e.g., filing focus areas, claim scope needs, and brand protection priorities). 

• Support IP counsel with commercialization inputs for patents, trademarks, and trade secrets (including GelFlex Grid® and related comfort technologies), ensuring licensing use cases and differentiation are reflected in protection strategies. 

• Monitor market activity and competitive offerings for potential IP misuse; document findings and escalate to IP counsel, supporting investigations and enforcement decisions with business impact assessments as needed. 

• Lead ongoing licensee compliance oversight (contractual obligations, brand standards, quality requirements), coordinating with Legal and internal stakeholders to address gaps and drive corrective action. 

Partnership & Relationship Management 

• Manage existing licensing relationships to maximize value and ensure performance standards are met. 

• Lead licensee onboarding and go-to-market governance, including product briefs, internal approvals, packaging/claims review, and launch timelines to ensure a consistent brand and consumer experience. 

• Serve as the primary point of contact for licensees, fostering strong, long-term partnerships. 

• Collaborate with Sales/Wholesale teams to align licensing activity with broader channel strategy. 

Financial Oversight & Internal Governance 

• Own licensing revenue forecasting, royalty tracking, and reporting. 

• Develop business cases and ROI analyses for new licensing opportunities. 

• Own royalty reporting governance, including defining reporting requirements, verifying statements, managing audit rights and periodic royalty audits, and ensuring accurate and timely royalty payments. 

• Establish internal licensing governance, including an approval cadence, decision rights, escalation paths, and documentation standards to enable timely, well-controlled deal decisions. 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Partner with Product and R&D to identify licensable innovations, define licensing-ready use cases, and package technology value propositions for external partners. 

• Partner with Marketing to set brand-extension guardrails (positioning, claims, packaging, and creative guidelines) and ensure licensed programs uphold Purple’s premium brand standards. 

• Coordinate with Legal on licensing contract terms, including drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and executing agreements, and support issue resolution throughout the contract lifecycle. 

Required Skills, Education, Experience 

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Law, Marketing, or a related field. 

• 8+ years of experience in licensing, business development, or IP commercialization — preferably in consumer goods, home furnishings, or adjacent industries. 

• Demonstrated track record of negotiating and closing complex licensing deals. 

• Strong understanding of intellectual property (IP) fundamentals, including patents, trademarks, and trade dress. 

• Excellent analytical skills, including experience building financial models and royalty forecasts. 

• Outstanding communication and negotiation skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership and external partners. 

Preferred 

• JD or advanced degree in Business, Law, or an intellectual property (IP)-related field. 

• Experience with retail and wholesale licensing in the sleep, home goods, or consumer wellness industries. 

• Familiarity with manufacturing-enabled licensing models (e.g., contract manufacturing paired with technology and/or brand rights). 

• Experience with brand licensing in an omnichannel environment (DTC, retail, and e-commerce).