Head of Collegiate Licensing (Carlsbad)
Job Title: Head of Collegiate Licensing – Sun Mountain Sports Reports To: Director of Green Grass Sales & Partnerships Company Description: Sun Mountain is a leading provider of high-quality golf products, including bags, travel gear, apparel, and accessories. For more than 45 years, Sun Mountain has been an industry icon. Trust, Quality, and Reliability define what we stand for. Job Summary: Sun Mountain is looking for a commercially minded sales leader to build and grow our collegiate licensed business. This role will own the opportunity from relationship to revenue: opening schools and retail partners, developing programs with licensing partners, navigating approvals, and working across Product, Sales, and Operations to ensure great ideas get approved, produced, and sold. This is a growth role. We want someone who already understands the collegiate licensing ecosystem and can hit the ground running with relationships across schools, bookstores, team stores, retailers, licensors, and industry partners. The right person understands how licensed products get to market, where the opportunities are, and how to turn those opportunities into repeatable business. Success requires equal parts sales instinct, relationship building, licensing knowledge, and follow-through. You will be expected to build the pipeline, close business, and own the details required to execute. The goal is simple: make Sun Mountain a meaningful player in collegiate golf and licensed products. Duties/Responsibilities: Own and grow Sun Mountain’s collegiate licensed business across schools, bookstores, team stores, golf shops, retailers, distributors, and other strategic partners. Build a targeted pipeline of new collegiate accounts and programs, prioritizing opportunities where Sun Mountain’s bags, travel gear, accessories, and apparel can win. Leverage existing relationships across the collegiate licensing ecosystem while proactively building new relationships with schools, retailers, licensors, licensing agencies, and industry partners. Lead sales presentations, assortment recommendations, proposals, and follow-up with current and prospective accounts. Own account growth from initial opportunity through sell-in, launch, and reorder, with clear annual sales goals and account plans. Identify co-brand partnerships, special events, tournament programs, and hot-market opportunities that can expand the licensed business beyond traditional bookstore sales. Work closely with Product to translate account and market opportunities into the right licensed products, assortments, price points, and timing. Understand and support the end-to-end licensing workflow, including rights, approvals, artwork, product submissions, and partner requirements. Keep programs moving and resolve issues before they create delays. Partner with Operations and Supply Chain on forecasts, demand, timing, and order execution to ensure programs can be produced and delivered reliably. Analyze sales, account performance, and market trends to forecast demand, identify opportunities, and provide clear reporting to leadership. Travel to key accounts, campuses, trade shows, buying events, and relevant industry events. Represent Sun Mountain independently and build strong relationships in the market. Be willing to do what it takes. This is a hands-on growth role where ownership matters more than where a task sits organizationally. Required Skills/Abilities: Strong sales and relationship-building skills, with the ability to open doors, develop accounts, and close business. Working knowledge of collegiate licensing, wholesale retail, and the process required to take licensed products from concept through approval and sale. Existing relationships within collegiate licensing, schools, bookstores, team stores, retailers, or related sports-industry networks are strongly preferred. Strong commercial instincts and the ability to identify where Sun Mountain can win rather than simply pursuing every available opportunity. Comfort with sales planning, forecasting, account reporting, and Excel. Strong communication and presentation skills, with the confidence to work with buyers, licensing partners, internal teams, and senior leadership. Highly organized with strong follow-through and the ability to manage multiple accounts, approvals, deadlines, and internal workstreams simultaneously. Collaborative and low-ego, with the ability to move comfortably between selling, problem-solving, and hands-on execution. Genuine interest in college sports, golf, and the culture surrounding both. High integrity, sound judgment, and alignment with Sun Mountain’s standards of Trust, Quality, and Reliability. Qualifications: 3 years of relevant experience in collegiate licensing, licensed consumer products, wholesale sales, sports apparel, or a related field. Demonstrated experience growing accounts or licensed programs. Existing industry relationships are strongly preferred, as we are looking for someone who can hit the ground running. Bachelor’s degree preferred but not required; relevant relationships, experience, and demonstrated capability matter more than a specific field of study. Position based in Missoula, MT, or Carlsbad, CA, with approximately 20–30% travel expected. Success in This Role: Success is measured by growth. You will be accountable for annual sales, growth of existing accounts, new accounts opened, and the quality of the pipeline behind them. Just as importantly, you will help make Sun Mountain easier to do business with by owning the licensing process, forecasting demand, communicating clearly, and ensuring opportunities move from idea to approved product to delivered revenue. Over time, you will build a repeatable collegiate licensing engine rather than a collection of one-off programs. Benefits: Salary range of $70,000–$100,000, depending on experience, plus bonus opportunity Health, dental, and vision insurance 401(k) retirement plan Paid time off and holidays Employee discounts on company products Professional development opportunities Sun Mountain Sports is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, color, race, ethnic background, age, religion, marital status, national origin or creed, physical or mental disability, or any other protected status established by law. Sun Mountain Sports participates in E-Verify. To learn more about your rights and responsibilities under E-Verify, please visit www.e-verify.gov.
