Sr. Manager, Innovation/Testing

About the Team

Fanatics Collectibles is a new company operating at the intersection of collectibles, culture, and technology. Backed by world-class investors, operators, and sports & entertainment partners, we are building the global leader in next-generation collectibles. As part of the broader Fanatics ecosystem, we leverage a digital sports platform that spans over 900 sports properties and engages more than 81 million fans. Together, we are reimagining every part of the collectibles experience for fans, partners, and creators.

Summary:   You won’t just run tests—you’ll define how testing is done across the organization. We need a strategic, cross-functional leader to oversee the end-to-end innovation testing and validation lifecycle for new card manufacturing processes, materials, constructions, and technologies.  This is not an IT or software testing role. The focus is on physical product testing, specifically materials, substrates, coatings, and printed/embellished paper-based products. 

This role expands beyond project execution into portfolio ownership, cross-functional alignment, and strategic decision-making, ensuring that innovation initiatives are rigorously validated, operationally feasible, and ready for scale. You will lead the development of enterprise-level testing frameworks, govern the innovation funnel, and serve as the primary point of accountability for driving new concepts from ideation through validation to production readiness. Regular on-site presence at our Allen and Sunnyvale, TX facilities is required.

What you will be doing...

Lead and Scale the Innovation Testing Function

• Own and evolve the enterprise testing methodology, ensuring rigor, repeatability, and alignment with manufacturing, product, and quality standards.
• Manage and prioritize the innovation testing portfolio, balancing near-term experiments with long-term strategic initiatives.
• Build and guide cross-functional testing teams, ensuring clarity of roles, expectations, and success criteria.

Primary Point of Contact for Innovation Readiness

• Serve as the central escalation point for testing-related decisions, issue resolution, and progress tracking across all innovation initiatives.
• Provide clear, concise updates to senior leadership, including risk assessments, mitigation strategies, and recommendations for scale-up or deprioritization.
• Act as the operational liaison between Innovation, Product Development, Operations Planning, Pre-Press, Engineering, and Manufacturing.

Drive Process Improvement and Operational Integration

• Identify and lead process improvement initiatives that enhance testing efficiency, data quality, and downstream manufacturability.
• Partner with Operations Planning to align testing timelines with production schedules, engineering backlog, and vendor capacity.
• Ensure seamless knowledge transfer into production teams through high-quality documentation, testing briefs, validation reports, and change-management materials.

Strategic Testing Leadership

• Develop and govern testing protocols grounded in scientific method, challenging assumptions and elevating testing standards across the organization.
• Evaluate new materials, constructions, and technologies with a focus on durability, compliance, manufacturability, and cost implications.
• Drive data collection and analysis to generate insights that inform product strategy, supplier selection, and manufacturing decisions.

Cross-Functional Influence and Relationship Building

• Build strong partnerships with Product, Tech, Manufacturing, Pre-Press, Engineering, and external vendors to ensure alignment and execution excellence.
• Proactively address urgent testing or production challenges, coordinating rapid cross-functional problem-solving.
• Represent the Innovation function in executive-level discussions, providing strategic recommendations and portfolio-level visibility.

What you will bring...

• 3+ years leading teams or cross-functional workstreams, with demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority.
• 5-7 years of experience in Innovation, Project Management, Manufacturing, R&D, or related technical fields.
• Strong scientific-method orientation with experience developing structured testing protocols for materials, processes, or technologies.
• Experience with printing, finishing, or embellishment processes; familiarity with substrates, materials, and industry testing methodologies.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to synthesize data into actionable insights and executive-ready recommendations.
• Proven success managing complex projects from initiation through validation and scale-up.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, capable of engaging senior leaders, cross-functional teams, and external partners.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, BI) and comfort working with data tools.
• Detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Familiarity with Six Sigma or process improvement methodologies is a plus.
• Spanish proficiency preferred but not required.

Ensure your Fanatics job offer is legitimate and don’t fall victim to fraud.  Fanatics never seeks payment from job applicants. Feel free to ask your recruiter for a phone call or other type of communication for interview, and ensure your communication is coming from a Fanatics email address (including @collectfanatics.com).  For added security, where possible, apply through our company website at www.fanaticsinc.com/careers