Director, Brand Strategy & Operations

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER.It's our heritage and it's also our future. Because we don't just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard-when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

The Opportunity:

We are looking for a dynamic and experienced Director, Brand Strategy & Operations to drive the strategic vision and execution for Mattel's Global Brand Teams. This leader will play a key role in evolving, developing, and implementing consistent processes across all Global Brand Teams (GBT), including product approvals, assortment management, and new product development. By creating templates and tools to improve communication and reporting you will act as a bridge between senior leadership and internal teams, ensuring seamless execution of brand strategies and operational alignment.

This role reports direct into, and serves as a trusted advisor to the EVP & Chief Brand Officer, providing strategic guidance on key initiatives and ensuring alignment across all brand categories and GBT functions. Working within GBT (which includes Design, Packaging, GCI, Product Marketing, and Brand Marketing) and with cross-functional partners like Product Development, People & Culture, and Commercial leads, you will ensure our teams are empowered to deliver their best work-strategically empowered, and with clarity.

What Your Impact Will Be:

Operational Leadership

• Shape and prioritize key GBT initiatives, ensuring alignment with the company's strategic goals and vision. Track and report progress ensuring goals are met and results are communicated across leadership.
• Drive end-to-end operational excellence by supporting strategic planning, resource allocation, workflow optimization, and execution.
• Build and maintain an operational infrastructure that scales with business complexity-balancing creative freedom with enterprise accountability including onboarding, training, technology tools, and more.
• Champion the evolution of processes, toolsets, and governance that elevate the GBT as an innovation engine, positioning the company for future growth.

Strategic Program Management

• Partner with GBT Leadership to define priorities, shape integrated roadmaps, and manage capacity against critical business initiatives. Facilitate executive sessions and work with leadership to synthesize results.
• Manage cross-functional teams and stakeholders to drive progress on strategic initiatives (i.e., Functional Academies, AI for Design, Grand & Nash).
• Develop and implement tools, systems, and best practices for project intake, planning, status reporting, and cross-functional collaboration.

Cultural Impact

• Regularly partner with senior executive stakeholders, translating needs into operational strategy and advising on tradeoffs that directly impact time-to-market, innovation impact, and financial performance.
• Identify and remove operational bottlenecks that hinder innovation or speed to market.
• Champion an inclusive, high-performing, and resilient creative culture-reducing friction and amplifying team impact while fostering collaboration and shared understanding between creative and business teams.

What We're Looking For:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or related field (MBA preferred).
• Minimum 10+ years of leadership experience in brand strategy, marketing, or business operations, with a proven track record of success in executive roles.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience using data-driven insights to make high-impact decisions and resolve complex organizational challenges.
• Expertise in managing large-scale projects, ensuring successful execution on time and within budget, while effectively allocating resources across teams.
• Strong strategic thinking, communication, and influencing skills across disciplines and leadership levels.
• Ability to inspire innovation and lead organizational change while aligning with company values and fostering a high-performance, inclusive culture.

• Demonstrated agrowth mindset by staying curious and continuously learning, embracing challenges, and improving themselves.

The annual base salary range for this position is between $172,000 and $210,000

**This range is indicative of projected hiring range, however annual base salary will be determined based on a candidate's work location, skills and experience.Mattel offers competitive total pay programs, comprehensive benefits, and resources to help empower a culture where every employee can reach their full potential.

Don't meet every single requirement?At Mattel, we are dedicated to an inclusive workplace and a culture of belonging. If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

How We Work:

We are a purpose driven company aiming to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. We live up to our purpose employing the following behaviors:

• We collaborate:Being a part of Mattel means being part of one team with shared values and common goals. Every person counts and working closely together always brings better results. Partnership is our process and our collective capabilities is our superpower.
• We innovate:At Mattel we always aim to find new and better ways to create innovative products and experiences. No matter where you work in the organization, you can always make a difference and have real impact. We welcome new ideas and value new initiatives that challenge conventional thinking.
• We execute:We are a performance-driven company. We strive for excellence and are focused on pursuing best-in-class outcomes. We believe in accountability and ownership and know that our people are at their best when they are empowered to create and deliver results.

Who We Are:

Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We engage consumers and fans through our franchise brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Monster High, MEGA and Polly Pocket, as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include toys, content, consumer products, digital and live experiences.Our products are sold in collaboration with the world's leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.

Mattel's award-winning workplace culture has been recognized by Forbes, Fast Company, Newsweek, Great Place to Work, TIME, and more.

Visit us athttps://jobs.mattel.com/andwww.instagram.com/MattelCareers.

Mattel is an Equal Opportunity Employer where we want you to bring your authentic self to work every day. We welcome all job seekers, and all applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran and protected veteran status, disability status, and or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Pursuant to the Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

Videos to watch:
The Culture at Mattel
Corporate Philanthropy