About the role
FREE THE SHEEP
Fractional Head of Licensing & Strategic IP Partnerships
Part-Time | 20 Hours per Week | 1099 Independent Contractor | Remote (U.S. Preferred)
About Free The Sheep
Free The Sheep is a fast-growing consumer apparel brand behind the Eden Hoodie™, a distinctive comfort-focused product with strong appeal among gaming, entertainment, pop-culture, and lifestyle audiences. We are building a program of officially licensed Eden Hoodie collections featuring beloved characters, teams, and franchises.
The Opportunity
We are seeking a seasoned, highly connected licensing executive to own the strategy and execution of our intellectual property licensing efforts. This is a hands-on, part-time contractor role for someone who has personally negotiated and closed consumer-products licensing agreements, ideally in apparel. You should be able to identify who controls the relevant rights, open doors through existing relationships, negotiate commercially sound terms, and move opportunities to signed agreements.
Priority Licensing Categories
- ·Anime and character IP: Pokémon, Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece, and similar properties.
- ·Film and entertainment: Harry Potter, Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, and other recognizable franchises.
- ·Sports: NFL, NBA, collegiate universities and NCAA-related properties, teams, and leagues.
- ·Video games: Nintendo-related franchises, major gaming publishers, and popular game properties.
Key Responsibilities
- ·Build and prioritize a licensing pipeline based on brand fit, consumer demand, rights availability, economics, and launch complexity.
- ·Identify the appropriate rights holders, agents, licensees, or authorized sublicensing partners and engage decision-makers directly.
- ·Lead outreach, pitches, proposals, negotiations, and execution of licensing agreements for Eden Hoodies and potential future products.
- ·Negotiate royalty rates, minimum guarantees, advances, contract length, territories, exclusivity, distribution channels, permitted product categories, and renewal terms.
- ·Coordinate with internal product, creative, and operations teams on artwork approvals, samples, compliance, reporting obligations, and launch timelines.
- ·Create a repeatable licensing playbook, including a relationship database, deal pipeline, approval checklist, and standardized commercial evaluation process.
- ·Report progress regularly with clear next steps, commercial risks, projected timelines, and deal economics.
Required Experience
- ·10+ years of meaningful experience in consumer-products licensing, IP partnerships, or licensing business development.
- ·Documented track record personally negotiating and closing major licensing agreements, not simply providing strategic advice.
- ·Direct relationships with licensing decision-makers across entertainment, anime, gaming, sports, licensing agencies, or established apparel licensees.
- ·Strong command of apparel licensing structures, financial obligations, royalty reporting, product approvals, and contractual restrictions.
- ·Able to independently run a deal process from rights research and first contact through signed agreement and launch handoff.
Preferred
Qualifications
- ·Prior licensing leadership at a major licensor, licensed-apparel company, licensing agency, or established consumer brand.
- ·Experience structuring deals for direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, and social commerce distribution.
- ·Experience negotiating limited-edition drops, collaborations, or multiple-property licensing programs.
Engagement & Success
Part-time engagement of approximately 20 hours per week as a 1099 independent contractor, subject to applicable classification requirements. Compensation is competitive and based on experience, with potential milestone- or deal-based incentives. Initial priorities are a ranked licensing roadmap, direct rights-holder introductions, an active qualified deal pipeline, and progress toward commercially viable signed agreements. Timing will vary by property and approval process.
How to Apply
Please provide: (1) examples of specific licensing deals you personally negotiated and closed; (2) the major IP owners, agencies, or apparel licensees with whom you have direct relationships; (3) relevant apparel or direct-to-consumer licensing experience; (4) how you would prioritize and pursue our first three opportunities; and (5) your proposed contractor compensation structure and availability.
We are looking for an operator and proven dealmaker who can secure rights, not just develop presentations or make introductions.