Location: Seattle
Position: Full Time
About Outdoor Research
At Outdoor Research®, we built a company from a feeling: the urge to get out. It’s what drives us. We love coming to work every day and inventing ever better solutions to what nature throws our way. But we’re more than just the gear we build. We’re part of a community of friends whose lives are connected by our common need to be outside. Our community is devoted to exploring our outdoor passions and challenging ourselves in the mountains, water and deserts of the planet we love so much.
And we want you in it, because we’re pretty sure that the bigger our community gets, the better off the world will be.
About this role
The Product Manager (PM) of Gloves/Pro is responsible for the overall direction, planning, and financial success of the Glove and Pro business at Outdoor Research.
The Gloves/Pro PM has a unique opportunity to lead two different segments of our business, each critical to our long-term growth. As an industry leader in gloves, the focus will center on scaling the business and distribution. In Pro, the opportunity draws on your passion for start-ups and will require extensive industry and competitive research, line planning, and consensus building.
They will strive to increase the profitability of existing products while also helping to develop new products in partnership with their Design and Development counterparts. The Glove/Pro PM will work across two sectors of our company, the Pro and Commercial sides, as well as the cross-functional departments of the company, including sourcing, materials, sales, operations, design, tech design, innovation, marketing, and manufacturing associated with both. They must be able to effectively collaborate and communicate with these departments to meet company expectations and account and consumer demands.
The Gloves/Pro PM must possess mathematical and analytical abilities to develop pricing models and forecast product profitability, requiring the product manager to analyze technical, financial, marketing, and sales information. Using this data, they must prepare product development objectives and schedules for all product development and product launch strategy phases. To ensure the success of various product lines, the product manager must use a combination of marketing data analysis, personal experience, and customer/athlete/influencer input. In addition, the product line manager must stay updated with market changes and current market perceptions. They must then be able to communicate these results to cross-functional counterparts, which may include executive members of the company, making suggestions on how to improve current product lines better and/or how Outdoor Research can enter underdeveloped market segments.
Lastly, in this role, the Gloves/Pro PM will have the opportunity to work directly with our in-house and overseas manufacturing partners, which may include overseas travel to meet in person.
Curiosity is a prized trait in this role and is fed by the partnership with our Lead Glove designer, who has built an in-house workshop to which the PM of Gloves and Pro will have access. This quiver of tools will be especially advantageous in testing out new technologies, techniques, and prototyping
Anticipated work split will vary by season, with gloves being a primary focus in the Fall time and Pro in the Spring.
Gloves:60%
Pro: 40%
What you should bring to the table:
• Strong working knowledge of product creation timelines and apparel manufacturing processes and capabilities for outerwear and sportswear
• Commercially oriented experience with the selection, testing, and end use of technical apparel textiles
• Strong business orientation with superior retail math skills
• Ability to analyze and process large amount of data to frame product strategy
• Strong understanding of the outdoor sports market trends and retail environment
• Strong sense of design and color
• Works effectively within a team atmosphere
• Excellent presentation and communication skills
• Experience managing outside design resources
• User /consumer level awareness of outdoor products
• Self-starter that can influence, persuade, and negotiate effectively to achieve brand mission
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally when required.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Marketing, Business or a related field
• Minimum 3-5 years’ experience managing an apparel line
• Fluent in written and spoken English
• Proficient in Excel, Power-Point, Word
• Experience with Illustrator and In-Design, a plus, will be required to use Illustrator
• Prior managerial experience with direct report(s), a plus but not required
What do we bring to the table?
• 11 paid holidays each year and 3 floating holidays
• PTO/PSST
• Transportation benefits
• Paid volunteer time
• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans
• 401K with company match
• Bouldering wall, work out room, gear rentals
• Product discounts
• Employee interest groups including various sports activities and our one and only Fun Force club
Outdoor Research is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal law.
Our company’s Core Mission is to provide innovation and inspiration for the relentless adventurer. Please visit us at www.outdoorresearch.com for more information.
Updated 10 27 2022