Brand Protection Manager - EMEA

Stanley is famous for its high-quality, sustainable drink containers and iconic thermos designs. Last year, the company celebrated its 111th birthday and achieved record-breaking growth. The new Brand Protection Manager EMEA will ensure brand compliance in the entire EMEA marketplace, in a versatile role that combines detailed analytics, big-picture strategy, policy creation, and strong relationship management.

About Stanley

As a result of Stanley’s relentless focus on quality and durability and their products’ unique and attractive styles, the company experienced unprecedented growth in the last few years. Organic consumer engagement on social media has been a major factor in this, allowing Stanley’s sustainable drinkware and containers to gain even more traction. The company, with its omnichannel business model, recently expanded into soft material goods, such as backpacks and cross-body bags.

To achieve and sustain its significant growth, Stanley has focused on its two core strengths: innovation and sustainability. They have added more designs, including a line of products in vibrant colors to appeal to various demographics. Stanley’s products are all made with a “Built for Life” lifetime warranty, promising durability that lasts.

The globally operating brand, owned by HAVI, is headquartered in Seattle, U.S., with a growing regional team in Amsterdam and additional locations such as Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro. The new Brand Protection Manager EMEA will be responsible for safeguarding the integrity of the Stanley brand across the e-commerce and retail landscape.

Vacancy: Brand Protection Manager – EMEA

The Brand Protection Manager EMEA will develop and implement a global marketplace strategy that focuses on brand enforcement. This includes addressing unauthorized sales, volatile advertising practices, and non-compliant trademark or copyright usage. This position requires both strategic vision and tactical execution, to ensure the continued strength of the Stanley brand across all channels.

The Brand Protection Manager EMEA joins the Sales Department and specifically the Sales Operations Team. They will report directly to the Regional Operations Manager EMEA.

Brand enforcement strategy and execution
The Brand Protection Manager EMEA will oversee brand enforcement with a focus on anti-counterfeiting programs, unauthorized reseller activities, and non-compliant content removal, ensuring the highest standards of compliance and integrity. They will identify emerging brand risks, vulnerabilities, and potential infringements based on extensive market analysis and supported by cutting-edge tools and analytics, then implement appropriate mitigation measures.

They will monitor and enforce compliance with company policies for sales and marketing practices and develop a robust system for archival analysis, tracking, and reporting of brand protection efforts and enforcement metrics. The Brand Protection Manager EMEA will act as the company’s subject matter expert in intellectual property (IP) compliance and brand enforcement strategies, cooperating with their counterpart and the Legal team in the US, advising them on European rules and regulations, and supporting them where possible in execution on a case-by-case basis.

Stakeholder engagement
The entire organization should feel ownership over the brand’s robust image – a mindset to be role-modelled and encouraged by the Brand Protection Manager EMEA. Therefore, this person will collaborate cross-functionally with internal EMEA teams, such as Commercial, Consumer Experience, Marketing, and Sales Leadership. They will also work with external stakeholders to develop and deliver brand protection training programs for employees, partners, and distributors.

They will foster strong relationships across departments to drive alignment on compliance initiatives and serve as a trusted advisor for brand protection issues, providing education and support to ensure adherence to IP laws and company policies. Additionally, the Brand Protection Manager will provide actionable insights and company-wide reporting on brand enforcement metrics.

Operational Excellence
The Brand Protection Manager EMEA will also manage the daily operations of the Brand Protection Service within the Sales team. This includes overseeing the Managed Services personnel to remove infringing listings or unauthorized resellers. This person will conduct detailed investigations into accounts and orders to detect signs of infringement or trademark misuse. They will keep informed on relevant trends, tools, and best practices, leveraging emerging technologies to enhance operational capabilities.

“The proper procedures and protocols for brand enforcement in the EMEA region are not yet in place. The Brand Protection Manager EMEA needs to be eager to pioneer and build, in true Stanley-spirit: with the company’s rapid growth in recent years, building the global organization is truly something every colleague plays a role in.” – Owen van der Hall, Regional Operations Manager EMEA

The right candidate for this role combines strong analytical skills with an eagerness to dive deep into the data and zoom out to create strategic policies and ways of working. They are proficient in Excel and relevant tracking and reporting tools and have experience with anti-counterfeiting technologies and large e-commerce platforms. They know how to manage toolsets for detecting, analyzing, and addressing infringement violations, such as digital asset monitoring software, and they possess strong knowledge of global IP laws and enforcement mechanisms. They are skilled at building solid relationships, communicating effectively, and managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects within a global organization.

In this role, a tenacious and self-starting brand enforcement specialist will ensure brand security and exclusivity and have a major impact on building the EMEA and Global organization of a fast-growing, leading brand.

Interested?

Stanley is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Max van Velthove at max.vanvelthoven@topofminds.com