Sr Manager, Art and Licensing Operations

Job Overview

The Senior Manager of Art and Licensing Operations oversees the end-to-end pre-production processes for licensed sports apparel, ensuring all artwork meets brand, quality, and league licensing standards. This role bridges creative design, licensing compliance, and production execution—serving as a key liaison between internal design teams, production vendors, and licensors such as National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and others.

Unrivaled Teamwear serves as the parent company of Champion Teamwear, Gear for Sports, and Knights Apparel, each an industry leader in the sports and team apparel space. Our family of brands know what goes into great decorated garments, using top-quality fabrics and offering creative decoration options. Each brand offers customers a premier selection and exceptional service for all their sportswear needs, from t-shirts and caps to fleece, performance wear, and outerwear.

• Manage and oversee the creation, revision, and release of all production-ready artwork for licensed sports apparel.
• Lead internal and external teams to translate design concepts into accurate, print‑ready art for screen print, embroidery, heat transfer, sublimation, and other decoration methods.
• Manage capacity to ensure seasonal demands and customer commitments are achieved.
• Maintain organized digital art libraries and version control systems.

• Serve as the primary point of contact for all licensing approvals and submissions.
• Manage artwork submission, revision, and approval processes with licensors via company systems or league‑specific portals.
• Work with brand and sales teams to enforce brand style guides and usage requirements for all licensed partners.
• Track approval timelines and ensure on‑time product release within each league’s compliance framework.

• Supervise a team of production artists and coordinate workloads to meet tight deadlines.
• Collaborate closely with sales, brand and production teams to ensure customer timelines are achieved.
• Partner with marketing and sales to ensure assets are license‑compliant across all channels (e-commerce, packaging, etc.).
• Manage 3rd‑party vendors’ delivery, cost, and quality to meet business needs.

• Develop and implement efficient workflows for art production and licensing submissions.
• Identify opportunities to streamline communication and reduce approval cycle times.
• Stay informed of new printing technologies, materials, and licensing trends in the sports apparel industry.
• Own the reporting lifecycle for art and licensing, ensuring total transparency on project risks and delivery status for internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead exception management for artwork, licensing approvals, and pre‑production workflows, ensuring issues are identified, escalated, and resolved quickly.

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• 5–10 years of experience in production art, creative operations, or licensing within apparel or consumer products.
• Experience managing licensed products for professional or collegiate sports properties strongly preferred.
• Strong proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and digital asset management systems.
• Knowledge of apparel decoration techniques and print production processes.
• Excellent attention to detail and strong organizational skills.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced environment.
• Strong interpersonal communication and leadership skills.
• Familiarity with licensing management platforms and approval systems.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the associate. Other duties will be assigned as needed.

EOE/AA:
Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled

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

We maintain a drug‑free workplace and perform pre‑employment substance abuse testing as well as participate in E‑Verify.