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Senior Manager, Brand Creative

Mattel, El Segundo, CA, United States


Compensation: USD 148,000 - USD 186,000 - yearly

Company Description 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 Team:

Mattel’s Brand Creative team is responsible for driving best-in-class strategic and creative thought leadership in the development and execution of best-in-class global marketing campaigns, activations and assets that consistently communicate the distinct and powerful identity of the Mattel Masterbrand and other Mattel IP across all internal and external touchpoints.

Job Description The Opportunity:

Mattel’s Brand Creative team is looking for a Sr. Manager, Account Management to lead account strategy and operations across both the Mattel Masterbrand and Mattel Creations.

This role sits at the center of the business, connecting Global Brand Teams (GBT), Marketing, Creative, and external agency partners to ensure work is strategically grounded, operationally sound, and executed at the highest level.

You will oversee the full lifecycle of creative work, from brief through delivery, while managing agency scopes, budgets, and workflows across a growing and highly visible portfolio.

What Your Impact Will Be:

Account Leadership & Cross-Functional Integration

Serve as the central account lead across Mattel Brand and Mattel Creations, ensuring alignment across GBTs, Marketing, Creative, and Production.

Act as a trusted partner to cross-functional teams, maintaining a clear understanding of business priorities, timelines, and deliverables.

Lead regular touchpoints with global brand teams to intake needs, clarify priorities, and ensure strong upstream planning.

Drive clarity, focus, and accountability across multiple concurrent workstreams.

Creative Briefing & Strategic Intake

Lead development of clear, insight-driven creative briefs that set teams and agency partners up for success.

Partner with Marketing and Brand to translate business needs into actionable creative direction.

Ensure all work ladders up to broader brand strategy and campaign objectives.

Establish consistent briefing standards and intake processes across the organization.

Agency Management & Scoping

Own relationships with external agency partners across all scopes of work (creative, social, ecomm, activations, bespoke).

Lead scoping conversations, define deliverables, and ensure resources align to business needs.

Oversee agency workflows to ensure efficiency, clarity, and quality of output.

Partner with Creative leadership to guide agency direction and maintain a high bar for execution.

Manage budgets across all accounts in close collaboration with Marketing leadership.

Oversee forecasting, scoping, and ongoing financial tracking across projects and retainers.

Identify opportunities to optimize spend, improve efficiency, and balance internal vs. external resources.

Ensure financial transparency and accountability across all lines of business.

Operational Excellence

Establish and evolve processes that enable scalable, consistent ways of working across Mattel Brand Creative.

Drive timelines, prioritization, and workflow management across a complex, matrixed organization.

Partner closely with Project Management and Production to ensure work is delivered on time and on budget.

Create visibility into project status and key milestones for stakeholders at all levels.

Executive Communication & Visibility

Develop and present clear, concise updates to senior and executive leadership.

Navigate a high-visibility environment with confidence, professionalism, and strong point of view.

Anticipate needs, flag risks early, and drive solutions proactively.

Qualifications What We’re Looking For:

8–12+ years of experience in account management, marketing, or agency leadership roles.

Agency experience required , with strong understanding of integrated campaigns and creative workflows.

Proven ability to manage complex, multi-stakeholder projects across global teams.

Strong financial acumen, including scoping, budgeting, and forecasting.

Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence executive stakeholders.

Strategic thinker who can connect business objectives to creative outcomes.

Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Natural collaborator who builds strong relationships across teams and functions.

*The Sr. Manager will be overseeing ALL projects and lines of the business. They will be responsible for all new agency scopes, budgeting, and account management and strategy across all of the team’s lines of business.

*The Manager will be leading both external agencies (NEMO / Think Jam) on scope and asset management across Ecomm, social and Mattel creations bespoke specifically.

*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.

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.

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