Associate Manager, Toy Marketing, Barbie

Mattel•El Segundo, CA

About The Position

This role involves working collaboratively with the Toy Marketing Manager to oversee the toy portfolio strategy, pricing, and product development pipeline. The Associate Manager will develop toy strategies by segment, manage pricing architecture and competitive positioning, and partner with leadership to build 3-5 year toy product roadmaps. This position will also own consumer/play insights related to toy usage and play patterns, collaborate with Design/R&D to bring toys from concept to shelf, and assist in coordinating with regional commercial teams to gain buy-in for global product strategies. Additionally, the role is responsible for toy business performance, including revenue, margin, and SKU productivity, and will provide input to Brand Marketing on packaging, messaging, and feature storytelling.

Requirements

5+ years (3 years with MBA) experience in brand marketing (on brand or agency side), franchise management/marketing, content marketing, or purpose-driven strategy/marketing.
Project management: Managing complex product development timelines.
Roles in category management, product marketing, or product development.
Experience partnering with design and manufacturing.
Background in CPG or toy companies, ideally with exposure to retail buyer dynamics.
Strong quantitative/financial skills (forecasting, pricing, SKU productivity analysis).
Product strategy & roadmap: Ability to define toy segments, pricing ladders, and innovation cycles.
Collaboration with design/R&D: Comfort working with creative, engineering, and manufacturing teams.
Retail/channel knowledge: Ability to leverage insights to build mass, specialty, and e-commerce distribution strategies.
Business & financial management: Strong grasp of SKU productivity, margin targets, and overall toy category P&L.
Financial acumen: Experience with P&L at the brand or category level.
Communication skills: Excellent at storytelling, presentations, and influencing senior leadership.
Strong PowerPoint creation and presentation skills, proficiency in Outlook, Word and Excel.

Responsibilities

Develop toy strategy by segment (core, premium, collector, preschool, etc.).
Manage toy pricing architecture and competitive positioning.
Partner with leadership to build 3–5 year toy product roadmaps, balancing innovation and refresh cycles.
Own consumer/play insights specific to toy usage and play patterns.
Collaborate with Design/R&D to bring toys from concept to shelf.
Assist in coordinating with regional commercial teams in gaining buy-in to global product strategies at all levels.
Own toy business performance (revenue, margin, SKU productivity).
Provide input to Brand Marketing on packaging, messaging, and feature storytelling.