Job Description
🎀 Welcome to Sanrio! 🎀
Sanrio is the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty. We’re also home to an endearing cast of characters, including the newly crowned #1 favorite Pompompurin, alongside Cinnamoroll, Pochacco, Kuromi, and many more. Since 1960, our “small gift, big smile” philosophy has inspired a World of delight—where even the tiniest token can spark happiness and an enduring connection.
Hello Kitty is heading to the ballpark, the arena, the pitch, and beyond. ⚾🏀⚽🏒🏈
Sanrio North America is looking for a Brand Sports Collaborations & Events Manager to lead the planning and execution of Sanrio’s growing portfolio of sports collaborations across major professional leagues, including MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, and NFL .
This role sits within the Brand Development team and serves as the central owner of Sanrio’s sports collaborations—bringing Hello Kitty and friends to life through unforgettable game-day moments, fan experiences, and collaborative storytelling. This is experiential marketing, not traditional sponsorship.
🎯 What You’ll Do
🏟️ Sports Collaborations & Event Execution
- Own end-to-end execution of Sanrio sports collaborations, including themed game nights, in-venue activations, and fan experiences
- Serve as the primary point of contact for league and team marketing partners
- Manage timelines, approvals, assets, budgets, and on-site execution from concept through post-event wrap
🔄 Integrated Project Management & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Act as the central project lead, aligning Brand, Creative, Content, Social, PR, Influencer, Licensing, and Character Appearance teams
- Build and manage detailed project plans, timelines, and run-of-show documents
- Lead cross-functional working sessions, status updates, and post-event recaps
- Proactively identify risks, dependencies, and solutions to keep projects on track
🎨 Brand, Content & Fan Engagement
- Partner with Creative, Content, PR, and Social teams to develop integrated storytelling before, during, and after each event
- Coordinate on-site content capture and character appearances to maximize moments across owned and earned channels
- Serve as the on-site brand lead, ensuring all fan-facing executions align with Sanrio’s brand standards and tone
🧸 Licensing & Internal Collaboration
- Partner closely with Licensing to align merchandise programs, promotional items, and concessions with each collaboration
- Coordinate with Legal, Finance, and Operations on agreements, budgets, approvals, and compliance
🎤 Vendor & Production Management
- Lead sourcing and oversight of external vendors, event production agencies, and on-site support teams
- Manage scopes of work, timelines, and budgets to deliver best-in-class execution
- Serve as the primary external partner contact for large-scale and marquee activations
🚀 Program Development & Optimization
- Build scalable processes, playbooks, and toolkits for repeatable sports collaborations
- Track performance metrics, fan engagement, and partner feedback
- Identify opportunities to evolve activations and grow Sanrio’s sports presence
🤝 Relationship Management
- Build strong, long-term relationships with leagues and teams rooted in creative collaboration
- Represent Sanrio as a brand ambassador, ensuring thoughtful and consistent brand representation across all partnerships
🌟 Why This Role Is Special
- You’ll own iconic sports moments, not just manage decks
- You’ll work across major leagues and marquee events
- You’ll shape how a global brand shows up for fans in real life
- You’ll blend experiential marketing and sports culture in one role
If you’re energized by live events, love cross-functional leadership, and want to bring a beloved global brand into the heart of sports fandom—we’d love to meet you. 💖⚾
📚🤝✨ What do YOU bring to the table (AKA: Requirements, Skills & Attributes:)
✅ Required
- 4–6 years of experience in sports marketing, brand collaborations, experiential marketing, or live events
- Proven track record executing large-scale, multi-market events or brand activations from concept to on-site delivery
- Strong project management skills with the ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage multiple initiatives simultaneously
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with both internal stakeholders and external partners
- Willingness to travel as needed to support live events and on-site execution
🌟 Preferred (Nice to Have, Not a Must)
- Experience working directly with professional sports teams or leagues
- Background in entertainment, lifestyle, or consumer brands
- Experience managing external vendors, agencies, or event production partners
- Familiarity with merchandise programs, promotional items, or fan-facing activation
- Background in entertainment, lifestyle, or consumer brands
- Experience managing external vendors, agencies, or event production partners
- Familiarity with merchandise programs, promotional items, or fan-facing activations
🎯 Bonus Points If You…
- Thrive in fast-moving, high-visibility environments
- Consider yourself to be personality PLUS, love live events, and don’t panic when timelines shift
- Can balance creative ambition with operational discipline
- Understand that the fan experience is the brand
👉 Apply now and help bring Hello Kitty to the game.
🌈 Additional Details
This is a hybrid position, requiring on-site presence 2–3 days per week at our Torrance, CA office. You must already be living in Southern California; out-of-state candidates will not be considered .
*Candidates must have reliable transportation🚗.
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Employee discount at Sanrio.com
- Flexible schedule
- Flexible spending account
- 100% Paid Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Tuition reimbursement
- Vision insurance
Salary: $100,000-$110,000 per year
Job Tags
Live in, Work at office, Flexible hours, Shift work, Night shift, 2 days per week, 3 days per week,