Head of Footwear Sourcing Strategy

Role Overview

This position is aimed at uniting global footwear sourcing with development processes, positioning sourcing as a vital strategic enabler from the onset. By building robust partnerships across Innovation, Creation, Quality, Supply Chain, and Sustainability teams, you will cultivate a culture of learning that elevates quality and ensures timely delivery. Ultimately, your effectiveness will be measured by your ability to present a sourcing roadmap that guarantees the flawless execution of our product portfolio while harmonizing cost, quality, and delivery goals.

About the Team

You will be integrated into the Product Organization, recognized as the innovation engine responsible for designing, developing, and sourcing avant-garde products.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Alignment: Foster close collaboration between the footwear sourcing organization in Vietnam and the broader footwear product organization in Switzerland.
• Integrate Sourcing Considerations: Strategically embed sourcing requirements into the product roadmap, ensuring projects are fully 'sourcing ready' by the product freeze date.
• Stakeholder Management: Serve as a strategic partner across cross-functional teams, including Innovation, Creation, Quality, Supply Chain, and Sustainability.
• Learning Culture: Instill a culture of learning and process improvement within the product development workflow to enhance quality and ensure timely delivery.
• Portfolio Execution: Develop a sourcing roadmap that facilitates the flawless execution of the product portfolio, balancing cost, quality, and delivery objectives.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in strategic footwear sourcing and production operations.
• Deep understanding of the footwear product development lifecycle, from concept to commercialization, with a focus on integration points for sourcing, and experience in upstream product strategy, innovation, product creation, and quality management.
• Ability to connect the dots across various functions and navigate ambiguity while adapting to shifting priorities.
• Leadership skills to oversee a portfolio of cross-functional projects effectively.
• Proven strategic thinking and execution capabilities, converting strategic goals into actionable plans across a complex organizational structure.
• Experience in cross-cultural collaboration within a global organization, evidencing successful partnership with geographically dispersed teams, especially between Europe and Asia.
• Exceptional stakeholder management ability, building and maintaining strong relationships with diverse internal stakeholders at all levels to influence outcomes and achieve consensus.
• Continuous improvement mindset with experience in implementing methodologies that foster a learning-oriented environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, capable of evaluating complex trade-offs (cost, quality, delivery) and formulating effective solutions, while simplifying complex challenges.
• Excellent communication skills, with a talent for articulating complex ideas clearly and persuasively to various audiences, engaging, influencing, and aligning with senior leaders.