Since its launch in 1993 with a collection of six essential handbags, Kate Spade New York has always been colorful, bold, and optimistic. Today, it is a global lifestyle brand that designs extraordinary things for the everyday, delivering seasonal collections of handbags, ready-to-wear, jewelry, footwear, home décor, and more. Known for its rich heritage and unique brand DNA, Kate Spade New York offers a distinctive point of view and celebrates communities of women around the globe who live their perfectly imperfect lifestyles.
Kate Spade New York is part of the Tapestry portfolio – a global house of brands committed to stretching what’s possible.
A member of the Tapestry family, we are part of a global house of brands that has unwavering optimism and is committed to being innovative and wholly inclusive. Visit Our People page to learn more about Tapestry's commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity.
Primary Purpose:
Licensing plays an integral role at Kate Spade New York. This role will be an opportunity to help lead and manage the 15+ licensed portfolio with categories including: eyewear, fragrance, watches, tech, swim, sleepwear, tabletop/kitchen, stationery/gift, table linens/kitchen textiles, bedding/bath and lighting. Our licenses represent brand extensions, customer acquisition opportunities and revenue drivers. This is a dynamic department core to kate spade new york’s heritage and future growth. This role will report to VP of Americas Wholesale, Global Licensing & Collaborations/GM, Jewelry.
The Director, Global Licensing must possess core leadership competencies in order to meet goals and objectives annually as well as lead yourself, navigate through the organization and manage your licensing partners. We want someone with strong business acumen and contract skills who is approachable, empathetic, fearless, accountable, creative, collaborative and customer focused.
The principal role of the Kate Spade New York Director – Global Licensing is to act as the day-to-day point of contact for all licensees, focusing on business strategy and results, contract management, product development, marketing and approvals with external and internal partners.
The successful individual will leverage their proficiency in Licensing to:
Manage day-to-day communications with partners.
Develop, with manager, long-range plan for division and by category.
Continually analyze and identify opportunities to drive/grow the business in both existing and new categories.
Interface with international division to maximize new business opportunities.
Support and help lead Japan local licensing team.
Research and drive business development with licensees.
Partner with legal to amend and update legal documents and work on any contract renewals.
Ensure clear, timely and consistent communication between all licensees partners and management.
Assist in preparation of business reviews, presentations, market recaps and selling information.
Develop working relationship with DTC teams; follow up on selling and request seasonal briefs.
Share appropriate corporate communications with licensees and partners (new management hires, store openings, launches, etc).
Sales/Distribution
Monitor monthly retail sales.
Coordinate monthly financial reviews and quarterly business reviews with licensees.
Research and approve new account requests as well as highlight additional distribution opportunities.
Marketing
Key interface with corporate marketing.
Prepare seasonal marketing plans in conjunction with partners, highlighting key opportunities, presenting to internal marketing teams and ensuring execution.
Initiate all incoming marketing project requests with internal marketing department and follow projects through to final approval. This includes marketing/PR needs, packaging, showrooms, POS and In-store visual/fixture needs, vendor guidelines and seasonal advertising requests.
Product Development & Merchandising
Review and develop with licensee seasonal line plans
Collaborate with Design on seasonal trend information and color/print standards packages prepared by in-house design lead to each of the partners.
Conduct research on concepts, color and trends in the market to facilitate the design process with each partner.
Schedule and attend all seasonal development reviews from initial concepts to final approvals for each category based on development calendars.
Help facilitate communication between both internal and external design leads.
Legal
Working knowledge of contract terms, with the ability to identify key issues and escalate to Legal as needed
Ensure proper documentation for all licensees (e.g. renewals, amendments etc.)
Act as business lead with Tapestry Legal on all contract discussions with licensees.
Create term sheets for and drive negotiation process.
Coordinating with Tapestry Legal teams and manager on legal document creation and updates.
What we’re looking for:
8+ years of experience in fashion and/or home industries - Licensing experience required
Fluent in the tools needed to create presentations, reporting and workflows, including Microsoft Office, Workfront and Adobe InDesign.
People-management experience (this role has direct reports and oversees a team of 4 people)
A proactive, self-directed leader who brings sound judgment, curiosity and a solutions-oriented mindset.
Strong communicator who can build trust, influence cross-functional partners and navigate complex conversations with clarity.
Business planning and analytical skills.
Proficiency with legal documents and negotiations.
Excellent product sensibility with experience in fashion and home categories.
A collaborative, positive and adaptable working style, with the ability to bring teams together around shared goals.
Thrives in a fast-moving, creative environment that values high standards, accountability and a team-first approach.
Excellent organizational and prioritization skills with extreme attention to detail.
#LI-DC
Our Competencies for All Employees
Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.
Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.
Our Competencies for All People Managers
Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
Developing Direct Reports and Others: Provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; holds frequent development discussions; is aware of each person's career goals; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes people to accept developmental moves; will take on those who need help and further development; cooperates with the developmental system in the organization; is a people builder.
Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.
Kate Spade. is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and we pride ourselves on hiring and developing the best people. All employment decisions (including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, transfer, training, discipline and termination) are based on the applicant’s or employee’s qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under consideration. These decisions are made without regard to age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic characteristics, race, color, creed, religion, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship, disability, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or any other legally-recognized protected basis prohibited by applicable law.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Tapestry, Inc. will provide applicants and employees with reasonable accommodation for disabilities or religious beliefs. If you require reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact Tapestry People Services at 1-855-566-9264 or [email protected]
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Base Pay Range
$140,000.00-$175,000.00Here are some of the benefits that we offer: Medical insurance, Dental insurance, Vision insurance, 401 (K), Paid Paternity and Maternity leave, Commuter Benefits, Disability insurance and Tuition assistance. Please click here for a complete list of U.S Corporate Compensation & Benefits.
Skills Required
- 8+ years of experience in fashion and/or home industries
- Licensing experience
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office
- Proficiency with Workfront
- Proficiency with Adobe InDesign
- People-management experience
- Business planning and analytical skills
- Proficiency with legal documents and negotiations
- Product sensibility and experience with fashion and home categories
- Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Excellent organizational, prioritization, and attention-to-detail skills
What the Team is Saying
Tapestry - Coach and Kate Spade Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Parental & Family Support — Paid parental leave for eligible full‑time employees, adoption assistance, backup child and adult care, and a phased return‑to‑work program are front‑and‑center. Family‑building support and a global standard for self‑care, parental leave, and family care indicate a sustained focus on caregivers.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Flex Fridays, wellness days, hybrid/flexible work for many corporate roles, volunteer time off, and mental‑health resources are emphasized. Substantial cross‑brand merchandise discounts and recognition for mental wellbeing round out the lifestyle offering.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) savings plan with company matching is a core benefit, with recent materials also noting a Roth 401(k) option. These elements signal ongoing investment in long‑term financial security.
Tapestry - Coach and Kate Spade Insights
What We Do
A tapestry is made of many threads woven into one story. So are we. Our global house of brands unites the magic of Coach and Kate Spade New York. By intertwining different people and ideas, we push ourselves in our work, pull out the unexpected in what we create, and expand the bounds of possibility. Our brands were created by dreamers who were determined to turn ideas into icons and, with passion, made it happen. We’ve grown by finding people similarly dedicated to the dream all over the world. We hold ourselves to high standards in every material, process, and person that plays a part in our work, and we embrace difference by design because diverse perspectives are at the heart of creativity. We find brilliance in the intersections—of beauty and function, of heritage and innovation, of accessibility and aspiration—which is how we break through with magic and logic in our culture and our craft. The result is that we stand taller together. Tapestry elevates the best in our people and brands. We use our collective strengths to move our customers and empower our communities, to make the fashion industry sustainable, and to build a house that’s equitable, inclusive, and diverse. Individually, our brands are iconic. Together, we can stretch what’s possible.
Why Work With Us
We believe that difference sparks brilliance, so we welcome people and ideas from everywhere to join us in stretching what’s possible. At Tapestry, being true to yourself is core to who we are. When each of us brings our individuality to our collective ambition, our creativity is unleashed.
Gallery
Tapestry - Coach and Kate Spade Teams
Tapestry - Coach and Kate Spade Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
