Associate Director Licensing
About The Position
Pocket FM is the world’s largest audio-series platform, redefining how stories are created, discovered, and experienced globally. As an Associate Director on our IP Acquisitions team, this is a deal-closing role focused on acquiring and licensing Romantasy IP. The position involves converting leads into signed agreements, negotiating rights, terms, and economics, and building relationships within the Romantasy ecosystem. The ideal candidate is a persuasive, commercially sharp dealmaker with experience in licensing/publishing within the genre or a strong sales background with a passion for the space. The role requires driving deals forward with urgency, hitting acquisition targets, and managing a pipeline of opportunities.
Requirements
- 3–7+ years closing deals in licensing, content acquisition, rights sales, business development, or partnerships.
- A proven track record of independently negotiating and closing deals—you can point to specific wins.
- Genre fit is essential. Either: (a) a licensing/publishing background in romantasy, fantasy romance, romance, fantasy, web novels, or serialized fiction, or (b) a strong sales/BD background paired with genuine fandom and fluency in the space (BookTok, romantasy, web serials, key authors, popular tropes, and what makes a story adaptable).
- Strong negotiation and persuasion skills; comfortable owning commercial terms and holding the line on economics.
- Solid understanding of IP rights, contract structures, and licensing frameworks—or the ability to ramp fast.
- Disciplined pipeline and CRM management; you keep deals moving and nothing slips.
- Thrives in a fast-paced, high-volume, ambiguous environment.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with creator-first or fast-growing content platforms (Wattpad, Royal Road, Substack, Radish, Inkitt, Webnovel, microdrama, or audio) is a strong plus.
Responsibilities
- Convert leads from the commissioning team into signed licensing agreements, owning negotiations end-to-end: rights scope, territories, formats, exclusivity, and commercial terms.
- Drive deals forward with urgency—managing objections, structuring creative terms, and getting to “yes” without losing favorable economics.
- Consistently hit acquisition targets and deal-velocity goals.
- Develop and own relationships with authors, agents, publishers, and platform partners across the Romantasy space.
- Be a credible, enthusiastic ambassador for Pocket FM—articulating why creators should bring their IP to our platform.
- Cultivate repeat and referral pipeline so that relationships compound into future deals.
- Assess the commercial and creative potential of opportunities, developing a sharp point of view on what’s worth acquiring and at what price.
- Use genre knowledge and market signals to prioritize the highest-value targets.
- Manage your deal pipeline in CRM with accurate, real-time visibility into every active and signed deal.
- Track conversion, velocity, and pipeline health, and report clearly to leadership.
- Manage deal documentation—contracts, amendments, renewals, expirations—cleanly from close through handoff.
- Partner with Legal, Editorial, Creative Development, Production, and Finance to move signed deals into production smoothly.
- Onboard newly signed rights holders and give internal teams the creative, legal, and commercial context they need.
Benefits
- Performance-based incentive tied to deals closed
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
