Senior Director, Global Category Growth - Footwear

ARC'TERYX • Portland, OR

10d • $188,000 - $235,000 • Onsite

About The Position

As the Senior Director of Category Growth - Footwear, you define the Footwear category vision and drive global marketplace execution with Regional teams, while strengthening the connection between product engines, specialty retail partners and our Product Creation and Commercial teams. Your work shapes and accelerates the long‑term growth strategy for the Trail Running category, through stewarding the evolution of our trail running and footwear ecosystems, while scaling Project Beta as a core partnership model across regions. This role requires a strategic, cross‑functional leader who can operate at altitude while staying close to the ground—balancing long‑term category direction with the realities of marketplace execution, consumer insight, and retailer partnership.
This role is primarily based at our Portland, Oregon Footwear office. You’ll work closely with regional specialty wholesale teams and key mountain‑town retail partners as you drive the strategic growth of our Trail Running category and the broader specialty Footwear business across regional commercial teams and retail accounts. Candidates must be eligible to work in the US.
Meet Your Future Team:
We are results‑driven problem solvers—skiers, runners, climbers, and creatives—who thrive in a fun, dynamic, and fast‑paced environment. As the Global Footwear business continues to accelerate, our vision and commitment to building an integrated, sustainable, and mutually profitable business model for our partners remains essential. We are focused on creating a marketplace that positions specialty retailers at the forefront—serving core consumers where they shop, play, and compete.

This opportunity will work cross functionally with all our key partners and business units across, Sales, Product Management, Merchandising, Operations and Brand teams, partnering to enable Arc’teryx to drive marketplace growth, relationships and further embed ourselves with the communities.

Since 1989, Arc’teryx wholesale partners have played a vital role in the brand’s journey, bringing the first Arc’teryx products to market. Today, our regional Wholesale teams are dedicated to supporting, growing, and managing our business in close partnership with key retailers across the globe.

Requirements

• You have a 4-year college degree with12+ years’ of senior leadership experience in product, merchandising, category management, or commercial strategy—ideally within performance footwear, outdoor, or specialty retail
• You have a proven track record of building and scaling category strategies across global markets
• You have a deep understanding of specialty retail dynamics, consumer behavior, and technical product ecosystems
• You have strong cross‑functional leadership skills, with the ability to influence at all levels
• You inspire breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement
• You have the ability to partner cross-functionally and lead complex projects across diverse groups of stakeholders in a global, cross-cultural matrix environment
• You have a creative lens and the unique ability to help make innovative concepts come to life through operational excellence
• You have detailed knowledge of the product creation process
• You remain cool under pressure, work to deadlines, and successfully manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, accelerated environment
• You are an organized, resilient, and driven self-starter with the willingness to see things through to the end
• You foster a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• You coach and develop talent across regions, strengthening category expertise and commercial capability
• You can lead cross functional teams to operate with clarity, alignment, and shared purpose
• You seek the best (sometimes not the easiest) solutions, with an unwavering commitment to do what is right
• You can balance strategic thinking with hands‑on execution in a fast-moving environment
• You have a passion for mountain sports and the trail running community
• Your passion for your work is paralleled by your passion for getting outside and living it

Nice To Haves

• You have experience working with athlete programs, product testing, and insight‑driven product creation is an asset

Responsibilities

• Driving the global growth strategy for Trail Running and Footwear to ensure alignment across Regional teams, bringing the full category expression to all consumers through our partners
• Building a multi‑year roadmap that strengthens category positioning, franchise health, and marketplace differentiation
• Translating on the ground consumer, athlete, and retailer insights into actionable category direction and product opportunities
• Partnering with Regional leaders to drive a disciplined, specialty‑first marketplace strategy across NAM, EMEA, and APAC
• Ensuring consistent execution of category priorities across channels, with a focus on premium distribution, sell‑through health, and long‑term brand equity to maintain a pull marketplace
• Leading seasonal marketplace readiness, ensuring clarity of story, assortment, and commercial priorities
• Owning and evolving Project Beta as a global partnership framework, strengthening two‑way collaboration with key specialty retailers
• Establishing clear processes for insight sharing, early product feedback, and marketplace co‑creation
• Scaling the model across regions, ensuring consistency while adapting to local needs
• Partnering closely with Product Creation, Design, Development, Merchandising, Marketing, Finance, Planning, and Operations teams to ensure category alignment and execution
• Leading cross‑functional forums that drive clarity on priorities, risks, and opportunities
• Ensuring operational readiness across inventory, delivery, sample management, and Go To Market (GTM) processes

Benefits

• competitive bonus program
• benefits

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director