Footwear Materials Manager
About The Position
As our Footwear Materials Manager you will lead our Materials Development team and manage our relationships with our most important Tier 2 partners. You will work most closely with our Materials Designers, Footwear Developers and Engineers, and our teams in Asia as we create the most innovative products for the mountain athlete. You will directly manage our footwear product developers, and have dotted line responsibility for our materials analysts in Asia. You will be a member of the Footwear Product Creation leadership team, and will work with your fellow leaders as we execute our seasonal product creation process and create and deliver on our innovation agenda. Your responsibilities will focus on upper materials, but you will also heavily influence our strategy related to foams and rubbers. This role is based out of our Portland office and is expected to be performed on-location.
Requirements
- 15 + years of experience in footwear materials, either with a brand or a vendor.
- Proven experience with upper materials, waterproof membranes, foams, rubber, and other footwear materials
- Familiarity with rubbers, foams, plates and other materials used in footwear bottom units
- Experience with managing people.
- Extremely collaborative, and value in-person work with cross-functional teams.
- Excellent communication skills, ability to relate to all levels of stakeholders.
- Strong leadership, interpersonal, facilitation, and project management experience.
- Ability to think both strategically and tactically.
- Highly flexible and adaptable when faced with ambiguity.
- Familiarity with Centric, Plasma, PCX or other footwear materials systems
- Inspires breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement
- Seeks the best (sometimes not the easiest) solutions, with an unwavering commitment to do what is right
Responsibilities
- Leading our Footwear Materials Development Team in Portland and Asia
- Owning our relationships with our most strategic Tier 2 partners (Gore, Chamatex, TLC, etc.), and collaborating with our Tier 1s.
- Representing the function in cross-functional leadership meetings and ensuring decisions around materials developments are aligned with our long-term product and business priorities
- Partnering with our cost engineering team to ensure we hit financial targets.
- Closely collaborating with our Footwear Engineering team on creating and executing strategies related to foams, rubbers, sock liners, etc.
- Providing training, guidance and mentoring to the cross-functional footwear team, ensuring foundational understanding of materials topics.
- Proactively identifying and addressing potential issues with vendors or specific materials
- Calculating and sharing material forecasts with vendors
- Resolving issues associated with lead times, timelines, colors and costs
- Collaborating with raw materials teams in Vancouver when onboarding new vendors, addressing quality challenges, etc.
Benefits
- Extended health, dental, and vision coverage, including mental health support, fertility benefits, and a 24/7 Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
- Immediately vested 401(k) retirement savings plan matching, eligibility for Arc'teryx Annual Incentive Plan and access to Employee Stock Purchase program (ESPP) where applicable.
- Paid time off and No Wasted Day program (dedicated paid days to get outside & explore).
- Parental leave for birthing and on-birthing parents, including an option to ease the transition back to work.
- Professional development opportunities, Arc'teryx Academies (outdoor skill-building events), Employee Belonging Councils, and access to employee discounts and Pro Deals (exclusive discounted pricing on gear).
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
