Associate Product Manager, Digital Experiences (Future Lab Product Studio)

Company Description

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

The Team:

The Future Lab team's mission is to pioneer the future of play by identifying, incubating, and implementing new customer-facing, tech-enabled products, experiences and services beyond Mattel's conventional offerings and categories. 

Job Description

The Opportunity: 

We are seeking a skilled and proactive Associate Product Manager to join the Future Lab team. This role is pivotal in developing and maintaining a comprehensive database of all Hot Wheels die-cast vehicles, ensuring it remains current with new product launches. This database will be the authoritative source for all Hot Wheels collector data and imagery, forming the backbone for future digital and physical collector experiences. The database will interface with customer-facing digital services, such as collector apps, necessitating understanding of database architecture and system integration. The ideal candidate will collaborate closely with IT teams, photography units, and external Hot Wheels collectors to ensure the database's accuracy, completeness, and seamless integration. 

What Your Impact Will Be: 

Database Development & Integration 

• Design, develop, and maintain a comprehensive database of all Hot Wheels die-cast vehicles. 

• Collaborate with IT teams to build database architecture that supports integration with customer-facing digital tools like collector apps. 

• Ensure the database supports seamless data exchange with internal systems and external platforms. 

• Work with cross-functional stakeholders to align database capabilities with broader product, marketing, and digital goals. 

Data Integrity & Quality Control 

• Develop and implement automated processes to detect errors, flag inconsistencies, and uphold data integrity. 

• Establish workflows, documentation, and best practices to maintain database sustainability and reliability across teams. 

• Manage incoming data signals from internal teams, partners, and automated tools to ensure ongoing accuracy. 

External Contributor Management 

• Manage a group of external Hot Wheels experts to verify and enhance database entries. 

• Research and retrieve data for legacy and obscure items from external sources to build a complete catalog. 

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For:

• Minimum 5+ years of experience in database management, data architecture, or a related field, preferably in a consumer-facing industry. 

• Demonstrated experience setting up and organizing new or emerging data sets from scratch, ensuring rapid initial growth and long-term sustainability. 

• Experience in organizing or managing databases for collectibles, historical archives, or similar cataloging systems. 

• Prior experience designing and implementing large-scale databases that support product catalogs, digital integrations, or e-commerce platforms. 

• Strong technical expertise in SQL, NoSQL, relational databases, and database management systems such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or Oracle. 

• Experience collaborating with IT teams to develop and maintain API integrations and automated data pipelines. 

• Proven ability to work cross-functionally with creative, marketing, and product development teams. 

• Experience managing external partnerships, contributors, or third-party data providers. 

• Familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git) and data pipelines. 

Personal Attributes Required: 

• Strong attention to detail and ability to ensure accuracy in large datasets. 

• Ability to drive data integrity and process automation initiatives with minimal oversight. 

• Highly resourceful in finding and verifying missing information from external sources. 

• Adept at designing efficient processes for data entry, validation, and updates, optimizing workflows without compromising quality. 

• Proven project leadership skills—defining scope, creating roadmaps, managing milestones, and tracking success metrics. 

• Strong interpers