Principal Product Line Manager - Women's Footwear

Columbia Sportswear • Portland, OR

15h • Hybrid

About The Position

The SOREL Principal W omen’s P r oduct Line M anager is a voice of confidence within the footwear creation engine. You lead and inspire with the aim of delivering functional and distinct product solutions to consumers around the world. You will join an invigorated creation engine, curating and managing products through the authentic SOREL lens. This position manages multiple projects with unique distribution needs each seaso n and leads by example of respect, clear communication, timely decision-making, accountability, and a triad- centered way of working. You will work to brief category-specific women’s products to design and development that achieve margin targets. You have a strong understanding of footwear materials and build , and a sharp product eye in design reviews and prototype reviews . You have comfortability giving respectful feedback in large settings alongside the product creation team . This role will work with in the product management team to s eek out an d socialize consumer i nsights, forward thinking product ideas and work together to execute a seasonal and longer-term line architecture strategy. This role also plays a key voice in North America merchandising , driving and curat ing assortments for a dynamic wholesale distribution and segmentation strategy. Working alongside marketplace teammates in the sales org , the merchandising aspect in USA and Canada is within the role and responsibility of the Global PLM team. You have a clear passion and understanding for footwear, curiosity of insights and a respectful and collaborative approach to product creation. Working alongside design and development, you will be responsible to achieve target margins at a product and category level, assist in proofing product line needs including data integrity, sales tools, hang tags, packaging and label/logo information.  You will help organize preparation for key milestone meetings, working in collaboration with your product management team to build compelling and accurate presentations. Building strong cross-functional relationships with sales, marketing and planning to help facilitate on-time and on-target product launches is essential in this role.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree
• 8-10 years’ experience in product line management
• Strong presentation and creative writing/thinking skills
• Strong technical skills, specifically, PowerPoint, Excel and briefing systems.
• An expert understanding of the full product creation life cycle, footwear category preferred.
• Ability to travel domestically and globally >20% of the year

Nice To Haves

• Confident to present your product line point of view with cross functional partners.
• Passionate about footwear and fashion.
• A Women’s product enthusiast.

Responsibilities

• Assist in the product preparation process for key retailers, internal stakeholders and sales representatives.
• Drive seasonal product briefs in accordance with brand, category and strategy.
• Manage and maintain inputs to system data with timeliness and accuracy.
• Able to apply your consumer pulse, trend information, and analytical inputs to drive a vision that brings life consumer-right product solutions and experiences
• Be a knowledgeable resource, providing ongoing category product input to creation partners.
• Comfortable presenting to internal and external key-stakeholders
• Detail oriented , organized and strong time-management skills respecting the seasonal product calendars and cross-functional collaboration needs

Benefits

• Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services).
• In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24/7/365 counseling services.
• We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees