Director, Brand Licensing

NYBG Job Description

Position Summary:

The Director, Brand Licensing will play a pivotal role in expanding the reach of one of the world’s leading cultural and scientific institutions. NYBG’s licensing partnerships allow the institution to share the Garden’s beauty and mission with global audiences while supporting vital work in plant research and conservation, horticulture, and education.

The Director, Brand Licensing will oversee the day-to-day management of NYBG’s licensing business, ensuring that licensed products and partnerships uphold the Garden’s standards of excellence while driving growth, while serving as a point of contact for NYBG’s exhibition content licensing initiatives. Reporting to the Vice President, Retail, this role manages licensed product development workflows, partner relationships, contract administration, and category growth initiatives, and supports NYBG’s Exhibitions team with outbound pitches for Garden developed content. The ideal candidate will be highly organized, creative, and entrepreneurial, with a strong background in licensing, brand management, and product development.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities:

Brand Stewardship & Product Development

•Become an expert in NYBG’s brand guidelines, institutional archives, and creative assets, as well as NYBG’s prior and future exhibition content

•Manage product development workflows from concept through launch, ensuring milestones and deadlines are met.

•Oversee product, packaging, and marketing submissions from licensees using NYBG’s proprietary approval systems.

•Participate in product innovation and trend reviews, identifying white space opportunities and category expansion.

Partner & Project Management

•Serve as the primary liaison between NYBG and licensing partners, maintaining consistent communication and follow-ups.

•Create and manage project timelines, coordinating with internal teams and external partners.

•Support day-to-day client and licensee relationship management, driving successful collaboration.

•Work closely with licensees to expand product, territory, and retail opportunities.

•Work closely with NYBG Shop, Exhibitions team, and Marketing team to ensure licensing partners are supported, merchandised and marketed within our owned retail channels.

•Coordinate photoshoots, activations, sponsorship projects from strategy to execution with internal and external partners.

Business & Contract Administration

•Support leadership in negotiating commercial terms and finalizing contracts with NYBG’s legal department.

•Manage internal contract workflows and licensee governance to ensure compliance with contractual obligations.

•Track, monitor, and analyze royalty reports, preparing internal financial updates, forecasts, and quarterly budgets.

•Research market and retail trends, monitoring the competitive landscape and consumer feedback to inform strategy.

Marketing & Launch Support

•Collaborate with internal and external marketing teams to ensure smooth and successful product launches.

•Contribute to creative campaign development and execution aligned with NYBG’s licensing goals.

•Work with various teams to develop pitch decks and proactive sales outreach for licensing opportunities.

•Represent NYBG at select product licensing and content/exhibition licensing events and conferences.

Other related duties as assigned

Some related domestic and international travel will be required

Qualifications:

•6-8 years of experience in licensing, product development, brand management, or related fields.

•Strong understanding of licensing processes, museum exhibitions, licensed product development, and contract management.

•Working knowledge of cultural intuitions, museums and botanic gardens in the United States and around the world is ideal.

•Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

•Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

•Strong relationship-building skills and a professional, collaborative demeanor.

•Proactive problem solver, resourceful, and able to work both independently and as part of a team.

•Computer fluency and well as proficiency with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint) and working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite.

•Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or commensurate work experience.

Physical Demands & Work Environment:

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to,at minimum, stand; walk; sit for extended period. The employee must be able to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and work outdoors under a variety of weather conditions.Work under low, moderate or loud work conditions.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.

Baseline Work Schedule:

Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. This role is eligible for NYBG’s hybrid work policy.

Salary:Commensurate with experience within the range of $90,000-$98,000.