Associate Manager, Customer Marketing

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: 

This is an exciting opportunity to join a highly creative and commercially driven ORM Customer Marketing team responsible for leveraging the richness of the Mattel portfolio through innovative demand creation. Our mission is simple: drive retail sales through best-in-class omnichannel activations, keeping play at the heart of everything we do.

Our work spans the full retail marketing funnel — from BTL activity and in-store theatre to sophisticated, multi-layered retail campaigns supported by ATL media. We deliver programmes aligned to Brand and Sales strategies through an omnichannel approach covering in-store, online, social, experiential and print.

We partner with all major EMEA retailers and channels, including Toy Specialist, Showcase, Grocery & Value, and E-commerce, ensuring our brands show up powerfully and consistently wherever shoppers browse and buy. Collaboration sits at the core of how we operate: we work closely with Sales, Brand and Consumer Products, acting as one team with shared commercial goals and a unified strategic vision.

Job Description

The Opportunity: 

Reporting into the Senior Manager, Customer Marketing, the Associate Manager, Customer Marketing

plays a pivotal role in shaping how our brands appear across retail touchpoints. You will collaborate closely with Sales, Brand and Consumer Products to deliver against aligned goals, driving brand impact and commercial performance.

You will lead end-to-end retail activations within your channel — taking ideas from concept through to execution — and ensure our brands land powerfully across stores and digital platforms. We are looking for an experienced and commercially minded retail marketer who can deliver best-in-class campaigns that drive physical and digital conversion, brand love, shopper impact and category growth.

This role owns the full shopper journey, from fixturisation and retail theatre to retail media, eRetail excellence, in-store activation and promotional execution. You will partner with internal teams and retail partners to deliver high-impact, insight-led programmes that maximise share of voice and accelerate growth across priority brands.

What Your Impact Will Be: 

• Lead end-to-end retail activations, maximising commercial opportunities to drive sales in line with revenue targets and strategy.
• Oversee in-store and digital execution across trade and campaign activity, ensuring retail excellence at every touchpoint.
• Use data and insights to shape strategies, adopting a test-and-learn mindset to drive innovation.
• Translate shopper-centric ideas into scalable, commercially compelling activations delivering strong ROI in key trading and seasonal windows.
• Stay ahead of trends, seasonal moments and consumer behaviours to inform future activation.
• Engage shoppers meaningfully across multiple touchpoints, balancing creativity with commercial effectiveness and tailoring to audience needs.
• Build strong internal and external relationships — including retailers and agencies — to maximise placement and unlock new opportunities.
• Develop and nurture key retailer partnerships, delivering trust, value and flawless execution.
• Create compelling category, channel and retailer pitch decks to support sell-in. Provide retail partners with differentiated, impactful marketing solutions aligned to business objectives and KPIs.
• Work cross-functionally to shape and leverage retail opportunities across channels and franchises. Act as a bridge across global, regional and local teams — PR, Live Events, Brand, Sales, Consumer Products and agencies — collaborating as one team.
• Manage a large and complex portfolio across owned brands, licensor brands and new launches with strong organisation and agility.
• Responsible for budget management, monitoring spend against performance and ROI metrics.
• Provide clear leadership with direct report responsibility, fostering growth, clarity and high performance.

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For: 

• Significant experience in shopper, retail or trade marketing with strong omnichannel activation expertise (in-store and online).
• Degree-level education (or equivalent experience) in Marketing, Business, Digital/Commerce or a related field.
• Proven ability to deliver standout retail marketing execution with strong commercial return.
• Creative thinker with passion for ideation, blue-sky thinking and innovation at retail.
• Demonstrated ability to inspire, motivate and influence internally and externally.
• Deep understanding of the EMEA retail landscape, shopper behaviour and the interplay between brand and sales.
• Strong commercial acumen, able to turn insight into action and deliver ROI aligned to business and brand objectives.
• Confident operating at both a strategic and tactical level with end-to-end project management excellence.
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation communication skills, able to articulate strategy and influence sell-in.
• Highly collaborative team player with the ability to manage multiple stakeholders, functions and priorities simultaneously.
• Ability to stay ahead of consumer trends, seasonal moments and category dynamics to drive future-fit activation.
• Highly organised, able to thrive in a fast-paced environment while managing a demanding and varied workload.
• Experience in the toy, games or entertainment industry is ideal but not essential

Additional Information

What We Offer: 

• Gross annual salary range of GBP 57,040- GBP67,735
•  Bonus scheme: Participation in Mattel Incentive Plan (MIP) with the target of 10% of base salary, payout is determined by company and individual performance results
• Paid time off: 25 vacation days (with option to buy up to 5 extra days) + 2 volunteer days/year + a day off on your birthday!
•  Car allowance
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee assistance program: Access to Help@Hand (Unum), Modern Health, Headspace, and Maven
• Contributory pension scheme
• Private health insurance
• Dental insurance & dental service app
• Life & disability insurance
• Employee discount program "Be well at Mattel"
• Mattel products discounts
• Family benefits program: 24 weeks off (for 1st caregiver) or 12 weeks off (for co-parent) fully paid on the arrival of new child, return to work program, path to parenthood, and family care leave

Mattel’s total compensation package is based on objective, gender-neutral criteria such as job grade, work location, relevant skills, and experience. This information is provided to enable informed and transparent consideration and negotiation of employment terms. If your profile is retained and we schedule an interview, we will share further details on Mattel UK Limited’s total rewards package. Please note that (some of) the benefits above may change over time, due to changes in the company policy or in legislation. We will not ask about your previous salary history.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Mattel, we are dedicated to an inclusive workplace and a culture of belonging. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to Join Mattel's Talent Community and start receiving exciting updates about our company, our employees, and our culture. Also, interested in signing up for job alerts? Do so here!  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.

Our Approach to Flexible Work:
We embrace a flexible work model designed to empower a culture of growth, optimism, and wellbeing, where every employee can reach their full potential. Combining purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility, our focus is to optimize performance and drive connection for moments that matter.

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 collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies. Since its founding in 1945, Mattel is proud to be a trusted partner in empowering generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.

Mattel’s award-winning workplace culture has been recognized by Forbes, Fast Company, Newsweek, Great Place to Work, TIME, and more.

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

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.

Videos to watch:
The Culture at Mattel
Corporate Philanthropy