We are seeking an experienced product development leader to drive the creation and commercialization of premium collectibles, toys, games, and licensed fan merchandise from initial concept through mass production.
This role sits at the intersection of fandom, creative development, product engineering, sourcing, manufacturing, packaging, quality, and commercialization. You will partner closely with designers, illustrators, licensors, IP holders, factories, and internal teams to transform beloved characters, stories, and fictional worlds into physical products fans want to collect, display, build, gift, and play with.
The ideal candidate comes from the toy, collectible, licensed merchandise, games, publishing, or specialty consumer products industry and has hands-on experience developing multiple hardgoods categories with overseas manufacturing partners.
Just as importantly, you need to understand fandom. You should be a reader and consumer of pop culture who understands why fans care deeply about characters, canon, Easter eggs, iconic moments, worldbuilding, and the small details that make merchandise feel authentic to the source material.
We are not simply manufacturing products—we are translating stories and worlds people love into collectible experiences.
You must understand both sides of product development: protecting the creative vision and fan experience while ensuring a product can be engineered, manufactured, packaged, shipped, and delivered at the right quality, cost, and timeline.
This is a strategic and highly hands-on role for someone who genuinely loves physical products, storytelling, and fandom.
Responsibilities
NPI & Collectible Product Development
- Own the end-to-end New Product Introduction (NPI) lifecycle across collectibles, toys, games, and licensed fan merchandise, from concept and feasibility through development, engineering, prototyping, validation, production readiness, and mass production.
- Develop products across categories including collectibles, puzzles, games, building sets, book nooks, illuminated products, accessories, and specialty hardgoods.
- Translate books, characters, worlds, and licensed IP into compelling physical products.
- Work with creative teams to identify the characters, environments, references, Easter eggs, and story details that can become meaningful product experiences.
- Evaluate concepts through both a fan lens and a commercial product lens.
- Partner with creative teams to evaluate materials, construction, scale, functionality, finishes, features, and manufacturing feasibility.
- Develop and maintain product specifications, BOMs, packaging requirements, technical documentation, and production standards.
- Manage prototypes, preproduction samples, revisions, approvals, and production sign-off.
- Balance creative vision, fan expectations, cost targets, manufacturability, and retail requirements.
Sourcing & Manufacturing
- Manage relationships with overseas factories, sourcing partners, and specialty manufacturers.
- Source and qualify factories based on product category, capabilities, quality, cost, capacity, and compliance.
- Negotiate pricing, tooling, MOQs, lead times, and production requirements.
- Evaluate manufacturing methods, materials, finishes, and construction to determine the best production solution for each product.
- Build strong vendor accountability around timelines, communication, quality, and deliverables.
Production & Quality
- Own production schedules from approved development through finished goods.
- Establish quality standards appropriate for premium collectible and licensed products.
- Manage preproduction, inline, and final quality control processes.
- Identify and resolve manufacturing defects, engineering challenges, packaging issues, and production delays.
- Ensure finished products consistently meet approved samples, specifications, safety requirements, and brand standards.
Cost & Margin Management
- Manage product costing throughout development and production.
- Monitor FOB and landed costs, tooling investments, packaging costs, MOQs, and margin targets.
- Identify value-engineering opportunities without compromising the fan experience or perceived product quality.
- Maintain clear reporting around product status, costs, risks, production timelines, and factory performance.
Systems & Process
- Continue to edit and enhance our scalable product development and production workflows.
- Build and continuously improve scalable NPI workflows, documentation, approval processes, and product development systems.
- Create and maintain SOPs, product specifications, approval processes, vendor standards, and production documentation.
- Utilize Monday.com and modern AI tools to improve product tracking, reporting, research, documentation, and operational efficiency.
Qualifications
Required
- 5+ years of experience in product development, production, sourcing, or manufacturing within toys, collectibles, games, licensed merchandise, publishing products, or consumer hardgoods.
- 3+ years of hands-on hardgoods product development experience.
- Demonstrated experience taking physical consumer products from concept through mass production.
- Experience working directly with overseas factories and suppliers.
- Strong understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, packaging, tooling, sampling, and production timelines.
- Experience simultaneously managing multiple SKUs, categories, and product launches.
- Strong understanding of product costing, MOQs, margin considerations, and manufacturing negotiations.
- Experience with quality control, inspections, testing, and overseas trade compliance.
- Strong project management, documentation, and organizational skills.
- 2+ years of experience with Monday.com or comparable product/project management platforms.
- Experience incorporating modern AI tools into research, reporting, documentation, and operational workflows.
- Must be an active reader with a genuine understanding of book culture, fandom, and collector communities.
- Strong knowledge of pop culture, fan behavior, licensed merchandise, and what makes a product feel authentic to an established IP.
- Demonstrated experience owning New Product Introduction (NPI) lifecycles for physical consumer products from concept through mass production.
Preferred
- Experience with a major toy, collectible, games, or licensed consumer products company.
- Experience developing products based on books, entertainment, gaming, anime, or pop-culture IP.
- Experience working with authors, publishers, entertainment licensors, or other IP owners.
- Experience working within licensor approval processes and brand guidelines.
- Familiarity with collector expectations, limited editions, premium finishes, Easter eggs, and display-driven packaging.
- Experience developing products for specialty retail, mass retail, and direct-to-consumer channels.
- Experience with international freight, compliance, testing, and production logistics.
- Experience working in a fast-growing company with rapidly expanding product categories and SKU counts.
What Success Looks Like
Success in this role means we consistently turn great stories and creative ideas into beautiful, manufacturable, commercially successful products that fans immediately recognize as being made for them.
Products move from concept through production on schedule. Development issues are identified before they become production problems. Factories are accountable. Costs and margins are understood early. Quality standards are clear and consistently enforced.
And when a fan opens the box, they notice the details.
The references are right. The characters feel right. The Easter eggs mean something. The product feels worthy of the world it represents.
Compensation & Perks
This is a 1099 independent contractor position. While this role does not include traditional employee benefits such as health insurance or a 401(k), we offer a flexible and supportive work environment along with additional perks.
- Paid time off (PTO)
- Flexible work schedule
- Free products
- Employee product discount
- Performance-based bonus opportunities
- Annual compensation reviews and opportunities for raises
- Significant opportunity for long-term leadership growth as the company and licensed product portfolio expand
Work Location: Fully Remote
Pay: $72,000.00 - $85,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Employee discount
- Flexible schedule
- Paid time off
Experience:
- Consumer hardgoods product development: 3 years (Required)
- Monday.com or similar project management platform: 2 years (Required)
- Overseas manufacturing/factory management: 3 years (Required)
- Toys, collectibles, games, or licensed merchandise: 2 years (Required)
Work Location: Remote
