Associate Manager, Toy Marketing – Tracks & Playsets

Job Category: Marketing Associate
Job Type: Full Time
Job Location: El Segundo - CA

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 Opportunity:
Work in collaboration with the Toy Marketing Manager to manage the toy portfolio strategy, pricing, and product development pipeline.

What Your Impact Will Be

  • Develop toy strategy by segment (core, premium, collector, preschool, etc.).
  • Manage toy pricing architecture and competitive positioning.
  • Partner with leadership to build 3–5 year toy product roadmaps, balancing innovation and refresh cycles.
  • Own consumer/play insights specific to toy usage and play patterns.
  • Collaborate with Design/R&D to bring toys from concept to shelf.
  • Assist in coordinating with regional commercial teams in gaining buy-in to global product strategies at all levels
  • Own toy business performance (revenue, margin, SKU productivity).
  • Provide input to Brand Marketing on packaging, messaging, and feature storytelling.

What We’re Looking For

  • 5+ years (3 years with MBA) experience in brand marketing (on brand or agency side), franchise management/marketing, content marketing, or purpose-driven strategy/marketing.
  • Project management Managing complex product development timelines.
  • Roles in category management, product marketing, or product development.
  • Experience partnering with design and manufacturing.
  • Background in CPG or toy companies, ideally with exposure to retail buyer dynamics.
  • Strong quantitative/financial skills (forecasting, pricing, SKU productivity analysis).
  • Product strategy & roadmap Ability to define toy segments, pricing ladders, and innovation cycles.
  • Collaboration with design/R&D Comfort working with creative, engineering, and manufacturing teams.
  • Retail/channel knowledge Ability to leverage insights to build mass, specialty, and e-commerce distribution strategies.
  • Business & financial management Strong grasp of SKU productivity, margin targets, and overall toy category P&L.
  • Financial acumen Experience with P&L at the brand or category level.
  • Communication skills Excellent at storytelling, presentations, and influencing senior leadership. Strong PowerPoint creation and presentation skills, proficiency in Outlook, Word and Excel
  • The pay range is indicative of projected hiring range, however base pay will be determined based on a candidate’s work location, skills and experience. Mattel offers competitive total pay programs, comprehensive benefits, and resources to help empower a culture where every employee can reach their full potential.

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 apply. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. 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!

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.