As the Vice President of Product Creation Development, you will shape lead the global strategy and execution of Arc’teryx’s Product Creation Development function across apparel, hardgoods/accessories, and footwear. You will lead the teams responsible for driving the end-to-end development process from concept validation, through commercialization – ensuring consistent level of quality, fit, and performance of our mainline product and innovations. You will guide your team through a transformational journey, evolving our development strategy and capabilities to enable Arc’teryx’s 2028+ organizational vision across apparel, hardgoods/accessories and footwear.
Success in this role will require deep collaboration, where you will work closely with cross-functional leaders to advance our shared vision, while also embracing and navigating healthy tension, balancing creative innovation, technical feasibility, and operational excellence. With a deep commitment to circularity, you will partner with Sustainability leadership and will personally champion the product development shifts required to meet our organizational sustainability commitments and our purpose of leaving it better.
This role is based out of our North Vancouver office and is open to hybrid remote work. Candidates must be eligible to work in Canada.
Meet Your Future Team:
Our Product Creation Development team is a dynamic group spread across the globe, united by deep expertise in apparel, hardgoods/accessories, and footwear. You lead a dynamic group of leaders who coach and mentor teams of best-in-class product developers, pattern makers, sample makers, graders and fit specialists, product engineers, commercialization and product industrialization experts, and more. This powerful team brings concepts to life.
If you were in the Vice President, Product Creation Development role now, here are some of the core activities you would be doing:
- Taking responsibility and ownership of Arc’teryx global Product Creation Development strategy and leading the evolution of a comprehensive, long-term strategy that amplifies innovation and operational excellence as our organization expands and becomes more complex on a global scale
- Formulating and leading the execution of our Product Creation Development five-year roadmap, including the planning and execution of phasing year by year in support of our seasonal strategies for our mainline product, business units, and product innovation
- Acting as an enterprise leader of Supply Chain across the business, amplifying our story, operational excellence, and commitment to innovation across the organization
- Collaborating with key leaders from Global Supply, including Raw Materials and Sourcing, and key cross-functional partners from Design, Advanced Concepts, and Merchandising on strategic alignment of how we achieve our vision together of our mainline and innovation products
- Partner with across the globe with leaders and teams at our Tokyo Creation Center, Hong Kong office, and other regionally placed roles to bring our product creation development strategy to life throughout the organization
- Designing and delivering compelling and persuasive design presentations, to audiences of varying levels, size, and backgrounds, including to team members or senior leadership teams
- Upholding Fair Labor Association’s Workplace Code of Conduct and Principles of Fair Labor and Responsible Sourcing throughout the Arc’teryx supply chain
Here are some of the things you could be working on in the future:
- Designing and implementing the future of Digital Product Creation for Arc’teryx
- Defining opportunities for learning, best practice sharing, and synergies across apparel, hard goods and footwear.
- Lead and partner cross-functionally on the evolution of our product testing program to continue to insure we are the pinnacle outdoor performance brand.
- Evolving our organization structure and processes to insure we are uniquely positioned to protect our core DNA and unlock our next phase of growth.
Are you our next Vice President, Product Creation Development?
- You have 15+ years’ experience in leading product development along with a degree in textile design or other related field, and you may have advanced educationin a focused area of design development or design production
- You have strong influential leadership, with the ability to drive alignment across diverse cross-functional stakeholders at all levels of the business
- You set a clear vision, align your team around common objectives, and foster commitment to these objectives
- You have an in-depth knowledge of apparel and footwear construction, material construction and properties, pattern making, engineering, costing, bill of materials, embroidery and surface applications
- You have proven skills in interpreting design intent and product innovation
- You have proven performance history with domestic and offshore vendors and manufacturers
- You have experience with complex project management, including coordinating multi-stakeholder interests and cross-functional teams
- You have excellent communication skills - interpersonal, written and verbal
- You have a proven track record in developing and leading the execution of a multi-year business strategy
- You have extreme attention to detail
- You have proven business acumen and analytical skills
- You are entrepreneurial with the ability to make decisions and take calculated risks
- You are proactive in identifying the root cause of issues and developing solutions
- You remain highly flexible and adaptable when faced with ambiguity
- You effectively balance autonomy and collaboration
- You inspire breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement
- You seek the best (sometimes not the easiest) solutions, with an unwavering commitment to do what is right
- Your passion for sustainability is paralleled by your passion for getting outside and living it
Equal Opportunity
Arc’teryx is committed to actively creating and fostering a culture of inclusivity where voices are heard, people are seen, and values are respected. We care about the uniqueness of our applicants, employees, and guests, and we do so in a safe space fueled by curiosity and acceptance.
Creating an inclusive workplace is connected to our core value Do Right while also having the added benefit of helping make our business better. We believe inclusion helps us to create a healthier, happier workplace, drive creativity and innovation, and reflect the communities where we operate.
All applicants, employees, and guests can expect equality of opportunity and fair treatment in alignment with our values.
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