Director, Innovation Programs & Design Operations

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: 

Named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024, Mattel is just getting started in driving our portfolio of leading family entertainment franchises to new heights.  The Director, Innovation Programs and Design Operations designs and manages strategic and operational capabilities for Mattel’s Design team that enable breakthrough creativity and accelerate profitable growth.  This is a leadership role which requires capability to blur the lines between strategy and creative, and to design new business solutions in support of Mattel’s creative community.  This leader will oversee two critical and complementary teams:

Mattel’s Innovation Programs team designs and leads proprietary workshops, trainings, and events, and progresses multi-faceted, multi-year external creative partnerships.  Our work is grounded in a deep understanding of our consumers’ needs and leverages the principles of Human Centered Design.  We strengthen Mattel’s internal innovation pipeline through amplifying impactful creative collaboration opportunities, upskilling the design community and progressing Mattel’s capabilities supporting strategic topics like AI and Sustainability.

Mattel’s Design Operations team is responsible for driving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Global Design organization including program management, process optimization, budgeting and resource alignment, tracking key analytics and KPIs, and creating impactful departmental-level communications and touchpoints.

What Your Impact Will Be: 

• For Design team, support annual planning and defining departmental goals/key actions processes, ensuring that strategic projects tie to broader organizational and team goals.  Own departmental key milestones and internal communications.  Support key change management initiatives
• Operationalize events and programming that strengthen Mattel’s internal Innovation pipeline. Drive engagement and impact of cross-functional workshops and departmental events and continuously examine results to identify ways to operate more effectively
• Lead Mattel’s AI for Design roadmap and drive meaningful partnerships and trainings to drive adoption of new tools
• Develop case studies and best practices to progress capabilities across enterprise.  Identify ways to scale and broaden communication to maximize organizational impact
• Serve as an active facilitator for executive-level strategic workshops with internal and sometimes external partners.  Ensure strategic workshops drive to outcomes
• Act as an operational liaison between Design and Consumer and Business Insights teams, championing a consumer-centric mindset.  Collaborate on Innovation insights / learning agenda to uncover breakthrough ideas 
• Drive alignment across multiple business functions, including Global Brand Teams, Marketing, Global Supply Chain, Finance, Commercial, IT, and HR.  Serve as a crucial bridge between Design and cross-functional teams, with the goal of alleviating the operational demands on creative stakeholders
• Improve data availability and usage for reporting and dashboards to enable data-driven decision-making across teams

What We’re Looking For:

The ideal candidate will have robust experience from a leading design, brand or management consultancy, and/or significant in-house experience in a strategic or brand management role.  This role necessitates strategic, operational, leadership and problem-solving skills combined with empathy for the unique needs of highly creative teams, and a deep desire to drive positive change across a global organization.  Collaboration will be fundamental to driving results.

• MBA, graduate degree, or equivalent practical experience in a technical, quantitative, or business field.  8+ years post-graduate experience, or 12+ years of total experience
• Ability to combine creative problem solving, consumer insights, and an aptitude for strategic thinking in a fluid environment
• Highly collaborative, with the ability to take initiative and navigate ambiguity
• Ability to work autonomously and keep multiple priorities simultaneously
• Proven ability to embrace, drive and enable change management
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentation-building skills, and the ability to communicate across multiple levels, including cross-functional peers and executive leadership
• Ability to uncover and effectively communicate practical applications of theoretical concepts and frameworks
• Interest in the intersection of consumer products (toys), entertainment and technology
• Experience working with high-powered creative teams is highly desirable.  Innovation and/or Design Operations experience is a plus
• Experience in building and developing high-performing teams is a plus
• Demonstrated a growth mindset by staying curious and continuously learning, embracing challenges, and improving themselves..

The annual base salary range for this position is between $167,000 and $203,000
**This range is indicative of projected hiring range, however annual base salary will be determined based on a candidate’s work location, skills and experience.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Mattel we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

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 more than 195 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies.

Mattel is recognized as a Great Place to Work™ and as one of Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2022.

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

Mattel is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer where we want you to bring your authentic self to work every day. We welcome all job seekers including minorities, females, veterans, military spouses, individuals with disabilities, and those of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

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
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