Director of Licensing (Hybrid)

Purple•Draper, UT

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

Purple is a digitally-native vertical brand with a mission to help people feel and live better through innovative comfort solutions. To us, comfort means more than great products, it means empowering every employee to feel comfortable being themselves. We believe your career at Purple will be a one-of-a-kind “Career in Comfort” because our workforce is one-of-a-kind. We are committed to a culture of collaboration where every voice is heard and understood. As an innovation company at our core, we believe a diversity workforce brings better insights, solutions and products and serves as the backbone to bettering our company. Join with us as we add to our team of exceptional individuals who will help us take over the world — one mattress at a time. Compensation The compensation target for this role is: $161,500 - $190,000 Job Summary Reporting to the Chief Innovation Officer, the Director of Licensing leads Purple’s licensing strategy to extend the Purple brand and commercialize the company’s proprietary comfort technologies and intellectual property (IP). This role originates and evaluates licensing opportunities, negotiates and structures agreements, and oversees ongoing partner performance and compliance. The Director partners closely with Legal, Product/R&D, Finance, Sales/Wholesale, and Marketing to ensure licensed programs protect Purple’s premium brand standards and deliver profitable growth.

Requirements

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.

Nice To Haves

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).

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.