Sr. Manager, Sample Operations & Project Mngm

JAKKS Pacific, Inc., a leading designer and marketer of toys and consumer products, with a wide range of products that feature some of the most popular brands and children's toy licenses in the world, currently seeks an Senior Manager, Sample Operations & Project Management to lead the planning, prioritization, and cross-functional coordination of global product sample requests.for our headquarters in Santa Monica, CA.

The ideal candidate is a strong project and operations manager who can balance competing priorities, anticipate seasonal demand, coordinate across departments, and ensure the Sample Shop is focused on the right work at the right time.

Responsibilities include:

The Senior Manager will own the overall sample request pipeline—ensuring requests are properly prioritized, production-ready, and completed against business deadlines. The Sample Shop Manager will continue to manage the day-to-day operation of the shop, including staff, production execution, quality, and workflow

• Own and prioritize the global pipeline of product sample requests from submission through completion.
• Manage and provide leadership to the Sample Shop Manager and partner on workload, capacity, staffing, and production planning.

• Primary liaison between the Sample Shop and Marketing, Sales, PR, Design, Packaging, Operations, and Executive Management.

• Coordinate requests from Marketing, Sales, PR, Design, Packaging, Operations, Executives, and other internal stakeholders.
• Establish priorities based on business needs, deadlines, product launches, customer meetings, marketing campaigns, PR events, and available capacity.
• Develop an understanding of seasonal sample demand and proactively plan resources and capacity for peak periods.
• Establish and manage a “Ready for Sample” process to ensure requests are complete and accurate before Sample Shop resources are committed.
• Partner with Marketing, Packaging, and Design to confirm the correct and most current product/item is being sampled.
• Ensure accurate product dimensions, specifications, packaging structures, artwork, and other required assets are available before production begins.
• Identify incomplete or conflicting requests and drive cross-functional resolution before releasing work to the Sample Shop.
• Maintain visibility into request status, priorities, deadlines, dependencies, backlog, and at-risk projects.
• Resolve competing departmental priorities and escalate significant conflicts when necessary.
• Establish realistic timelines and communicate status, risks, and changes to stakeholders.
• Monitor sample volume, turnaround time, on-time completion, backlog, capacity, rush requests, and rework.
• Identify opportunities to improve the existing sample request system, workflow, planning process, and cross-functional accountability.

Required Qualifications:

• 5 + years of experience in project management, operations, product development, production planning, creative operations, or a related field.
• Experience managing high-volume projects or requests with multiple stakeholders and competing deadlines.
• Experience managing managers, supervisors, project teams, or operational functions.
• Strong project management, prioritization, resource planning, and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross-functional dependencies and drive issues to resolution.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills, including experience working with senior leadership.
• Ability to anticipate workload and capacity requirements and adjust priorities as business needs change.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to identify incomplete or inaccurate requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in the toy, consumer products, entertainment, retail, or packaged-goods industry.
• Experience managing product samples, prototypes, mockups, packaging samples, or similar physical deliverables.
• Understanding of product development and packaging processes.
• Experience working with Marketing, Design, Packaging, Sales, PR, and Operations teams.
• Experience with seasonal product-development and retail calendars.
• Experience with project management, workflow, ERP, PLM, or product information systems.

Our Benefits:

• Health and Wellness: Medical, dental, vision, disability, life & accident insurance and employee assistance program
• Savings: 401K matching, pre-tax spending accounts, and employee discount programs
• Compensation: JAKKS Pacific offers a competitive salary. Compensation for this role commensurate with experience, qualifications, location, and education and typically ranges from $110,000-$115,000.

Company Overview

A leading designer and marketer of children’s toys and consumer products, JAKKS Pacific® is always on the lookout for talented, bright and creative individuals to join our ever-growing team.

Best known for our toy and entertainment products, JAKKS produces impressive and innovative products across multiple categories spanning from action figures, collectibles, and dolls, to high performance activity toys and vehicles, and let’s not forget our deep portfolios of beloved licensed characters. In other words, we work hard to make play more fun, and we believe it has paid off.

Included in Fortune’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies for four years in a row, and Forbes’ 100 Best Small Companies for three years, JAKKS is an aggressive and passionate company, with a commitment to customers and a dedication to growing our business. 

Our goal is to continuously cultivate a talented and diverse workforce while providing a safe and productive work environment and an excellent career growth opportunity while working with a dynamic team who loves what they do and for a Company that ultimately makes children smile, play and succeed!

Jakks Pacific, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer.