CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

The Opportunity: 

Mattel is seeking a visionary and commercially driven Director of Music Commercialization to build and lead a best-in-class music engine that spans our content, toys, live experiences, digital platforms, and global marketing campaigns.

This role will sit at the intersection of entertainment, consumer products, and culture—responsible for developing a scalable music strategy that drives revenue, brand heat, and audience engagement across Mattel’s portfolio. The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in music publishing, recorded music, licensing, distribution, and marketing with strong industry relationships and a proven ability to structure innovative partnerships.

This leader will create a pipeline of artists, songwriters, producers, labels to power Mattel franchises with culturally relevant, commercially viable music—while unlocking new monetization streams across platforms.

What Your Impact Will Be: 

Music Strategy & Engine Development

• Build and lead Mattel’s centralized music commercialization strategy across film, television, digital content, toys, gaming, consumer products, marketing, and live experiences.
• Design scalable frameworks for music sourcing, licensing, original music creation, publishing participation, and distribution.
• Identify and develop new music-driven revenue streams, including soundtrack releases, streaming monetization, publishing participation, merchandise integration, and experiential activations.

Artist & Industry Partnerships

• Cultivate and manage high-level relationships with record labels, publishers, artist management teams, distributors, and music platforms.
• Establish a proactive pipeline of emerging and established artists aligned with Mattel’s brands and audience segments.
• Structure strategic partnerships including co-branded releases, soundtrack collaborations, tour integrations, and music-led marketing campaigns.

Licensing, Publishing & Distribution

• Oversee music licensing strategy for global campaigns, content productions, toys, and experiences.
• Partner with Legal and Business Affairs to negotiate favorable licensing, publishing, master use, and distribution agreements.
• Evaluate opportunities for publishing ownership, co-publishing, original IP creation, and long-term catalog value.
• Manage relationships with distributors to maximize reach and monetization of Mattel-owned music assets.

Cross-Functional Integration

• Collaborate closely with Film & TV, Franchise, Marketing, Consumer Products, Experiences, and Digital teams to embed music into brand ecosystems from inception.
• Identify opportunities for music integration into toys (embedded audio, interactive formats), retail activations, live events, and immersive experiences.
• Ensure music strategy supports franchise storytelling, brand positioning, and global growth priorities.

Marketing & Cultural Impact

• Drive music-led marketing strategies that generate cultural relevance and audience engagement.
• Leverage social, streaming, live performance, and influencer ecosystems to amplify campaigns.
• Track performance analytics and cultural impact metrics to refine strategy and inform future investments.

What We’re Looking For:

• 10+ years of experience in music industry roles spanning publishing, recorded music, licensing, distribution, or artist partnerships.
• Demonstrated experience structuring music-driven commercial partnerships.
• Strong existing relationships across labels, publishers, artist managers, agents, and music platforms.
• Experience integrating music into film/TV, consumer brands, or global marketing campaigns strongly preferred.
• Background working with family, youth, or pop culture brands is a plus.

Skills & Capabilities

• Deep understanding of music publishing, master rights, synchronization, distribution economics, and royalty structures.
• Strategic mindset with strong commercial acumen and deal-making capability.
• Ability to build new organizational capabilities from the ground up.
• Cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Strong creative instincts with a pulse on emerging artists and cultural trends.
• Global perspective with experience navigating international markets.
• Leadership Attributes
• Entrepreneurial builder with a growth mindset.
• Culturally fluent and forward-thinking.
• Collaborative, adaptable, and solutions-oriented.
• Data-informed decision-maker with creative intuition.

Impact

This role represents a foundational opportunity to build a music commercialization engine that powers Mattel’s evolution into a leading IP-driven entertainment company. The Director will help define how music amplifies our brands, deepens fan engagement, and creates long-term enterprise value.

*The pay range is indicative of projected hiring range, however base pay will be determined based on a candidate’s work location, skills and experience. Mattel offers competitive total pay programs, comprehensive benefits, and resources to help empower a culture where every employee can reach their full potential. 

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Mattel, we are dedicated to an inclusive workplace and a culture of belonging. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Join Mattel's Talent Community and start receiving exciting updates about our company, our employees, and our culture. Also, interested in signing up for job alerts? Do so here!

How We Work:
We are a purpose driven company aiming to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. We live up to our purpose employing the following behaviors:

• We collaborate: Being a part of Mattel means being part of one team with shared values and common goals. Every person counts and working closely together always brings better results. Partnership is our process and our collective capabilities is our superpower.
• We innovate: At Mattel we always aim to find new and better ways to create innovative products and experiences. No matter where you work in the organization, you can always make a difference and have real impact. We welcome new ideas and value new initiatives that challenge conventional thinking.
• We execute: We are a performance-driven company. We strive for excellence and are focused on pursuing best-in-class outcomes. We believe in accountability and ownership and know that our people are at their best when they are empowered to create and deliver results.

Who We Are:
Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We engage consumers and fans through our franchise brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Monster High, MEGA and Polly Pocket, as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include toys, content, consumer products, digital and live experiences. Our products are sold in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.

Mattel’s award-winning workplace culture has been recognized by Forbes, Fast Company, Newsweek, Great Place to Work, TIME, and more.

Visit us at https://jobs.mattel.com/ and www.instagram.com/MattelCareers.

Mattel is an Equal Opportunity Employer where we want you to bring your authentic self to work every day. We welcome all job seekers, and all applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran and protected veteran status, disability status, and or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Pursuant to the Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

Videos to watch:
The Culture at Mattel
Corporate Philanthropy