Director Strategic Initiatives, Digital Gaming

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:

Mattel’s Digital Gaming team is seeking a Director of Strategic Initiatives to play a central role in driving execution across a dynamic and growing digital portfolio. This role partners closely with the Head of Digital to translate strategic priorities into measurable outcomes, leading high-impact initiatives from planning through delivery. The Director will own cross-functional coordination, operating cadences, and governance across teams and external partners such as Mattel163, ensuring alignment on roadmaps, milestones, and decision-making. This position serves as a critical hub for visibility, execution, and collaboration—bringing structure to complex initiatives, accelerating decision velocity, and ensuring consistent progress across the product lifecycle.

The Opportunity: 

Mattel is hiring a high-agency operator to help the Head of Digital turn priorities into outcomes across Digital Gaming, Digital Experiences, and Future Lab. This role owns the planning, cross-functional execution, and operating mechanisms behind critical initiatives so leaders have clarity, teams have momentum, and work lands with measurable progress. You will lead high-priority initiatives end-to-end, create visibility across the digital portfolio, and improve decision velocity in a matrixed environment, including tight collaboration with Mattel163.

What Your Impact Will Be: 

• Own the strategic initiatives portfolio "single source of truth" across Digital Gaming, Digital Experiences, and Future Lab (priorities, milestones, dependencies, risks, decisions) so leadership can make timely trade-offs.
• Lead high-priority strategic initiatives end-to-end, from framing and planning through execution, stakeholder alignment, and delivery.
• Own the operating cadence and collaboration model with Mattel163, including joint planning, roadmap and release alignment, monthly performance reviews, and a shared risk/decision log.
• Coordinate cross-functional approvals and dependencies that sit between Mattel and Mattel163 (e.g., brand, legal, finance, marketing, product/tech), including clear handoffs, turnaround expectations, and escalation paths.
• Build and run an operating cadence for the Head of Digital's leadership agenda (e.g., weekly leadership syncs, monthly initiative/performance reviews, quarterly planning/offsites), including agendas, pre-reads, decision logs, and follow-through.
• Drive decision-quality by structuring options, surfacing constraints, and packaging recommendations into clear, executive-ready narratives and materials.
• Partner with Finance and functional leaders to coordinate planning cycles, resource allocation conversations, and performance reporting (scope of ownership to be confirmed).
• Create lightweight governance for cross-functional execution, including clear owners, timelines, and escalation paths, especially for initiatives that cut across product, tech, brand, legal, and finance.
• Operationalize Future Lab work by setting a repeatable pipeline (e.g., intake, experiment design, learning review, scale/stop recommendation), ensuring experiments are purposeful and learnings are captured.
• Coordinate stakeholder management on behalf of the Head of Digital: prepare briefings, synthesize updates, and ensure tight follow-through on action items.
• (If applicable) Lead and develop program talent (project/program managers) by setting standards, coaching, and establishing reusable templates and rituals.

What Success Looks Like in 6-12 months

• A clear, adopted operating rhythm is in place (cadences, pre-reads, decision logs, action tracking) and reduces last-minute escalations.
• Leadership has a reliable view of the digital initiatives portfolio with visible risks/dependencies and clear escalation paths.
• Mattel163 collaboration runs on a predictable cadence with clear owners and fewer late-stage surprises (e.g., approvals, priorities, release readiness).
• Priority initiatives show predictable execution (clear owners, timelines, decision points) with fewer stalled cross-functional handoffs.
• Planning cycles produce crisp priorities and usable operating plans, not just presentations.
• Future Lab has a disciplined pipeline with clear hypotheses, learning goals, and scale/stop recommendations.
• Key partners (e.g., Finance, Legal, Product/Tech, Brand) report improved clarity and responsiveness from the Digital org.

Ways of Working / Interfaces

Primary partner: Head of Digital (daily/weekly). Core interfaces include leaders across Digital Gaming, Digital Experiences, and Future Lab; Mattel163 leadership and operational counterparts; and cross-functional partners such as Finance, Legal, HR, Brand/Marketing, Product/Engineering/Tech, Data/Analytics, and external partners as needed. Decision rights (intended): you own the operating mechanisms (cadence, artifacts, governance) and drive recommendations on priorities and trade-offs; final decisions sit with the Head of Digital and/or functional owners (to be confirmed during role setup).

Why Mattel / Why This Team

You will operate at the intersection of beloved brands and digital innovation, helping a senior leader drive outcomes across a portfolio that spans games, interactive experiences, and innovation. This role is designed for an operator who wants to build the operating system behind a modern digital portfolio and be accountable for execution, not just coordination, including strong collaboration with Mattel163.

Mattel is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

What We’re Looking For:

• 7+ years in strategy, strategic initiatives/programs, business operations, product ops, program management, consulting, or equivalent, ideally in gaming, interactive experiences, tech, entertainment, or consumer digital.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives with multiple senior stakeholders and ambiguous inputs.
• Experience partnering with an internal or external studio/partner and driving outcomes across organizational boundaries (e.g., portfolio governance, planning cadence, shared metrics).
• Strong structuring and problem-solving: you can turn messy problems into clear options, trade-offs, and decisions.
• Demonstrated strength in executive communication (clear writing, sharp decks, decision-oriented readouts).
• Comfort operating with ambiguity and urgency while maintaining high standards and strong follow-through.
• Practical analytical and financial fluency (e.g., KPIs, business cases, scenario thinking)-depth required will depend on scope.
• A track record of process design that teams actually adopt (rituals, templates, governance that reduces friction).
• Domain curiosity and working knowledge of digital products, gaming, and interactive experiences (no need to be a career game designer).
• Trusted partner style: you can influence without authority, give direct feedback constructively, and build alignment across functions.
• Comfort working across geographies and time zones with an asynchronous-first approach when needed.

*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.

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 without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, veteran and protected veteran status, disability status, and or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state or local law.

Pursuant to the Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

Videos to watch:
The Culture at Mattel
Corporate Philanthropy