Principal Product Manager - NCF
Fanatics
Overview
Fanatics Collectibles is building the future of trading cards and scaling fast. Our licenses span MLB, NBA, NFL, Premier League, UEFA, WWE, UFC, and more. To power this growth, we’re modernizing Topps, one of the most storied brands in sports and entertainment collectibles. As trading cards evolve from a nearly 100-year-old analog craft into a technology-driven, global business, we are rebuilding the systems that power how cards are designed, produced, and manufactured at scale.
We are hiring a Principal Product Manager (Individual Contributor) to own and evolve our Pre-Press and Editorial (PP&E) technology platforms. PP&E represents the software and workflows responsible for transforming creative intent and strategic data into print-ready assets that ultimately become physical trading cards.
Principal Product Manager is our most senior IC Product role, and the role will have exceptionally high ownership and autonomy. This individual will work within our product and technology team and external vendors to tackle some of the most complex, ambiguous, and high-leverage problems in the PP&E workflow.
What You’ll Do
- Own the Pre-Press and Editorial product portfolio that turns card concepts into print-ready files, including software across workflows such as mastering and asset ingestion, image selection, cropping and editing, card composition, imposition, and handoff to manufacturing.
- Decide how work gets done across this portfolio, including when to build new software, stabilize or refactor existing systems, or integrate with third-party and vendor platforms.
- Simplify and automate highly manual, error-prone workflows between creative teams and manufacturing, reducing rework, cycle time, and inconsistencies in print-ready outputs.
- Apply AI and automation to real production problems by improving adoption of existing capabilities (e.g., AI card-back copy generation), delivering in-flight efforts (e.g., validation and error detection), and identifying where AI can remove steps entirely.
- Work hands-on with engineering and data teams to turn AI and workflow ideas into reliable, production-ready systems, not prototypes.
- Deliver results through shared ownership and collaboration with business operations, internal software teams, and external vendors, while maintaining end-to-end accountability across a highly matrixed environment.
- Operate as a Principal-level Individual Contributor, setting the bar for product judgment, execution quality, and cross-team partnership, and influencing other PMs through example
What We’re Looking For
- 10+ years of product management experience, including ownership of complex, operationally critical platforms, and ability to use various product development software (Atlassian Suite, Figma, Text Editors, etc…).
- Proven success operating as a Principal-level Individual Contributor, owning strategy and execution for large problem spaces.
- Deep experience with workflow-heavy systems that involve creative, editorial, media, or production pipelines.
- Strong intuition for how businesses use tools like Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, or similar creative systems, even if you’re not a daily user.
- Demonstrated ability to apply AI and automation to real-world product problems, with strong product judgment around feasibility and impact.
- Experience in building and applying RAG Models and Evaluation frameworks.
- Exceptional collaborator who can drive alignment across teams, vendors, and business partners without formal authority.
- Clear, persuasive communicator with strong executive presence.
Bonus Points
- Experience integrating or extending third-party creative or production systems.
- Experience leveraging AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, or similar) to develop software or accelerate product requirement definition
- Familiarity with DAMs, design systems, print production workflows, or creative tooling ecosystems.
- Passion for trading cards, collectibles, and creative production at scale.
The salary range for this position is $144,000 - $180,000, which represents base pay only and does not include short-term or long-term incentive compensation. When determining base pay, as part of a final compensation package, we consider several factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training.
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
Fanatics Collectibles is a new model and vision for the hobby, fundamentally changing the experience for current and future collectors, leagues, and players across many U.S. and international professional and college sports. The organization has long-term, exclusive rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards for several sports and entertainment properties, including MLB, MLBPA, the Premier League, MLS, UFC, Formula 1 as well as Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars, among others. In January 2022, Fanatics Collectibles announced the acquisition of Topps, establishing the preeminent licensed trading card brand as the cornerstone of Fanatics’ trading cards and collectibles business, and jumpstarted its MLB and MLBPA rights to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards