Senior Director, Manufacturing Technology Strategy

About Us Fanatics is building a leading global digital sports platform. We ignite the passions of global sports fans and maximize the presence and reach for our hundreds of sports partners globally by offering products and services across Fanatics Commerce, Fanatics Collectibles, and Fanatics Betting & Gaming, allowing sports fans to Buy, Collect, and Bet. Through the Fanatics platform, sports fans can buy licensed fan gear, jerseys, lifestyle and streetwear products, headwear, and hardgoods; collect physical and digital trading cards, sports memorabilia, and other digital assets; and bet as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. Fanatics has an established database of over 100 million global sports fans; a global partner network with approximately 900 sports properties, including major national and international professional sports leagues, players associations, teams, colleges, college conferences and retail partners, 2,500 athletes and celebrities, and 200 exclusive athletes; and over 2,000 retail locations, including its Lids retail stores. Our more than 22,000 employees are committed to relentlessly enhancing the fan experience and delighting sports fans globally.  About the Company 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. Mission Serve as a subject matter expert in manufacturing scale, automation, robotics, and operational systems while helping leaders define the capabilities, operating models, decision-making operating structures, and strategic priorities required to support future card production growth. The role partners across Operations, Finance, Product, Supply Chain, Facilities, and Manufacturing Technology to identify capability gaps, guide strategic initiatives, develop scalable operating models, and provide expert review and feedback on major investments and improvement efforts. Rather than owning day-to-day execution, this position helps ensure the organization is making sound decisions, building the right capabilities, and developing the foundation required for long-term growth and card production. Why This Role Is Important As we continue to grow, the complexity of manufacturing operations, automation investments, capacity expansion, technology deployment, and cross-functional coordination continues to increase. Today, many strategic initiatives are owned by leaders whose primary responsibility is operating the business on a day-to-day basis. While these leaders possess deep expertise within their respective functions, limited time and competing operational priorities often make it difficult to step back and define the future-state operating model, identify capability gaps, establish governance structures, and develop the long-term plans required to support sustainable growth. As a result, strategic initiatives are often evaluated independently, decisions can become reactive, ownership may be unclear, and critical organizational capabilities may not be developed before they are needed. This increases execution risk, slows decision-making, creates inefficiencies across functions, and can lead to investments being made without a clear understanding of long-term operational requirements. This role provides dedicated expertise and organizational capacity focused on helping the business define where it is going, what capabilities are required to support that future, and what foundational work must be completed to achieve it. By partnering across Operations, Manufacturing Technology, Finance, Supply Chain, Product, and Executive Leadership, this position helps ensure the organization is building the systems, processes, mechanisms, and capabilities necessary to scale effectively Role Positioning This role does not own day-to-day manufacturing operations, project execution, engineering implementation, or continuous improvement activities. Instead, the role serves as a strategic advisor, coach, and subject matter expert focused on helping the organization define future-state capabilities, evaluate strategic opportunities, identify organizational gaps, and establish the decision-making, planning, and operating mechanisms required to support long-term growth. The role works closely with functional leaders and teams, providing guidance, mentorship, constructive challenge, and expert feedback to help improve decision-making, strengthen strategic plans, develop organizational capabilities, and increase execution readiness. While responsibility for implementation remains with the appropriate functional teams, this role helps ensure initiatives are thoughtfully evaluated, aligned to long-term objectives, and supported by the capabilities necessary for success. Problems This Role Helps Solve Lack of a Defined Future-State Operating Model - The organization does not always have a shared view of how manufacturing, automation, planning, finance, and operational systems should function together as the business scales. Reactive Decision-Making - Many decisions are made in response to immediate needs rather than as part of a structured long-term strategy, increasing the risk of misaligned priorities and investments. Unclear Ownership and Accountability - As initiatives become more cross-functional, responsibilities, decision rights, and accountability can become difficult to define and maintain. Missing Organizational Capabilities - Critical capabilities, processes, tools, reporting mechanisms, and subject matter expertise are not always identified and de