Director, Costing - Footwear
About The Position
The Director, Costing - Footwear leads the end-to-end footwear costing process from concept through final cost approval. This strategic leader partners with Product Development, Supply Chain, Design, Merchandising, Materials, Planning, Finance, and factories to achieve seasonal margin targets, improve profitability, and provide clear visibility into costs and business risks. The role oversees factory negotiations, costing documentation and governance, costing calendars and systems, KPI reporting, and executive-level reporting. It evaluates factors affecting product and landed costs, including commodities, labor, duties, tariffs, freight, transportation, and foreign exchange. The Director also leads continuous improvement and strategic costing and analytics projects, and manages two direct reports: an Associate Manager and a Manager of Footwear Costing.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in footwear costing, sourcing, manufacturing, gross margin management, or a related area, including people leadership.
- Deep knowledge of footwear construction, materials, labor, overhead, manufacturing processes, and key cost drivers.
- Proven ability to identify cost-saving opportunities and negotiate costs successfully with factories and suppliers.
- Strong understanding of footwear duty classifications, tariffs, landed-cost impacts, and global sourcing dynamics.
- Advanced Excel and analytics skills, including complex formulas, macros, scalable tools, and executive-level reporting.
- Ability to estimate footwear costs from sketches, CADs, specifications, materials, and construction details.
- Demonstrated success reducing margin risk and driving profitability through strategic costing decisions.
- Strong leadership and communication skills.
Nice To Haves
- Proficiency in PLM, RLM, Tableau, or other reporting tools.
- Strong analytical and mathematical skills.
- A detail-oriented and organized mindset.
- Strong planning and time-management skills.
- Experience with large-scale data analysis.
- Excellent data organization, documentation, and follow-through.
Responsibilities
- Lead the end-to-end Footwear costing process from concept through final cost approval.
- Align with Product Development, Design, Merchandising, and Materials to achieve seasonal margin targets.
- Identify cost drivers, mitigate risks, and implement cost-saving opportunities to optimize margins.
- Lead factory cost negotiations and maintain accurate costing documentation and governance.
- Manage costing calendars, systems, and processes to support timely decisions and business visibility.
- Educate and influence cross-functional teams on cost drivers, margin impact, and financial trade-offs.
- Monitor factors affecting product costs, including commodities, labor, duties, tariffs, freight, transportation, and foreign exchange.
- Partner with Planning, Finance, and Supply Chain to assess landed costs, tariff exposure, and margin implications.
- Develop executive-level leadership reports and presentations on margin performance, risks, and opportunities.
- Establish KPI reporting for factories and cross-functional partners, including cost-target performance, variance analysis, and adoption of cost-effective solutions.
- Oversee costing systems, tools, and reporting to ensure accuracy, milestone readiness, and clear business visibility.
- Lead continuous improvement of costing processes, analytics, and reporting capabilities.
- Lead strategic costing and analytics projects that support business objectives.
- Manage two direct reports: an Associate Manager and a Manager of Footwear Costing.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
Education Level
No Education Listed
