SR Director Collaborations & Community

Claire’s is an iconic, beloved retail brand, best known as a go-to trend spot for kids, tween and teen girls and America’s top piercing destination, piercing over 130 million ears over the past forty years. With its 900 retail locations across the US & Canada and a fresh new brand strategy, we are ready to enter a new era and are on a mission to build an inspiring playground for modern girlhood. With a clear remit to evolve the brand to meet the needs of Gen Alpha, we are transforming the brand to continue to be the beloved home of girlhood for generations to come. Join us in helping us realize this ambition and continue to make space and champion girlhood.

Role Overview:

Claire’s is building a next-generation brand fueled by culture, community, partnerships, and experiences. This role is designed for an extremely online and commercially minded builder who knows how to identify culturally relevant opportunities, craft compelling partnership concepts, and bring them to life through best-in-class execution.

We are seeking a SR Director, Collaborations & Community, reporting into the VP of Brand to lead the development and execution of Claire’s collaboration ecosystem.

This is a senior individual contributor role responsible for building a pipeline of:

• Brand collaborations
• Talent partnerships
• Creator collaborations
• Community activations
• Cultural marketing moments

What You’ll Own:

Collaboration Strategy & Partnership Pipeline

Build and manage Claire’s ongoing pipeline of:

• Brand collaborations
• Talent and creator partnerships in partnership with our AOR
• Cultural partnerships
• Community-led activations

Identify whitespace opportunities and emerging cultural moments relevant to Claire’s consumer

Operationalize product collaboration concepts that drive:

• Brand heat
• Consumer engagement
• Social conversation
• Traffic and conversion
• Community participation

Bring a strong point of view on:

• Talent selection
• Brand fit
• Cultural relevance
• Partnership rationale
• Community resonance

Translate cultural insights and trends into actionable partnership opportunities and programs

Develop compelling partnership proposals and pitch materials

Structure partnerships that span:

• Product collaborations
• Marketing campaigns
• Retail activations
• Influencer and creator programs
• Experiential moments

Partner closely with Business Development, Legal, Finance, Design, Merchandising, Brand Marketing, and Creative teams to operationalize partnerships across the business

Ensure partnerships are aligned with:

• Brand priorities
• Commercial goals
• Product timelines
• Marketing plans

Build and maintain relationships across:

• Brands
• Talent agencies and managers
• PR partners
• Creators and influencers
• Media and cultural partners

This role requires both sophisticated deal-making capabilities and the ability to translate ideas to product partnerships that drive scalable, cross-functional business initiatives.

Community Activation

• Architect community-first activations that bring collaborations to life beyond product
• Create culturally relevant moments that drive:
• Participation
• UGC
• Earned media
• Community engagement
• Social amplification
• Lead development and execution of:
• Pop-ups
• Community events
• Creator gatherings
• Retail activations
• Launch events
• Experiential concepts
• Ensure activations feel:
• Social-first
• Shareable
• Brand-right
• Operationally executable
• Build programs that deepen brand affinity while driving measurable business impact

Go-To-Market Leadership & Cross-Functional Coordination

Partner closely with Integrated Marketing and cross-functional teams to ensure collaborations are fully integrated into the broader GTM calendar

Drive execution across:

• Social
• PR
• Influencer
• Retail marketing
• Events
• Creative
• E-commerce

Ensure every collaboration has:

• Clear storytelling
• Launch strategy
• Activation plan
• KPIs and success metrics

Act as the connective tissue between external partnership momentum and internal execution

Influence cross-functional teams to align resources and deliver against partnership commitments

PR, Events & Experiential Oversight

Oversee Claire’s PR agency relationship and help shape communications strategy around collaborations and key brand moments

Drive earned media, placements, and storytelling opportunities

Ensure Claire’s shows up consistently and authentically across all external touchpoints

Lead planning and execution of:

• Brand events
• Influencer experiences
• Retail launch events
• Community activations
• Press moments

Oversee all in-store activation planning and execution tied to collaborations and campaigns

Who You Are:

• Culturally connected with strong instincts for partnerships and collaboration opportunities
• Proven experience developing and executing: Product collaborations, talent collaborations, community activations, experiential programs, & PR and influencer initiatives.
• Strong understanding of: Youth culture / girl culture, creator ecosystems, social behavior, community-driven marketing.
• Exceptional relationship builder with experience navigating: Talent agencies, brand partners, PR firms, creators and media contacts
• Strong commercial instincts with experience evaluating partnership economics and structuring mutually beneficial deals
• Highly organized with strong project management and operational rigor
• Comfortable balancing: Commercial realities and operational execution.
• Strong communicator and storyteller with the ability to craft compelling narratives, concepts, and pitches
• Thrives in fast-paced, high-growth, highly collaborative environments
• Entrepreneurial, proactive, and highly resourceful