Assistant Product Manager Footwear - Creation Center Portland
PURPOSE & OVERALL RELEVANCE FOR THE ORGANISATION
- Support the development and execution of North American footwear product strategies, bringing consumer insights, market trends, and commercial opportunities into the product creation process.
- Drive the end-to-end creation of footwear products, including new product concepts and Special Make-Ups (SMUs), in alignment with established category and business priorities.
- Collaborate closely with Design, Development, and cross-functional partners to deliver relevant, innovative, and commercially successful footwear for the North American market.
- Support CCP's mission to deliver locally relevant products with speed, flexibility, and a strong focus on business performance.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Product Creation & Execution
- Support and manage assigned footwear creation projects from initial brief through product commercialization, ensuring alignment with established product strategies, timelines, and business objectives.
- Translate consumer insights, market trends, and commercial opportunities into clear, actionable product briefs in collaboration with key stakeholders.
- Partner closely with Design and Development to create compelling footwear products, balancing consumer relevance, design intent, technical feasibility, cost, and profitability.
- Support both new footwear creation and SMU initiatives, including new silhouettes, product updates, and account-specific color and material opportunities.
- Maintain product creation systems and tools with a high level of accuracy, ensuring product information is updated, complete, and delivered on schedule across all key platforms (e.g., M-3)
Consumer, Market & Commercial Insights
- Maintain a strong connection with NAM consumers, keeping a pulse on footwear, fashion, and cultural trends, competitive products, and retail market dynamics.
- Partner with NAM Merchandising, Sales, and Marketing to understand commercial priorities and translate market needs into relevant product solutions.
- Support product positioning, pricing, and assortment decisions through consumer understanding, competitive analysis, and commercial awareness.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Business Management
- Contribute to and support the strategic category direction under the guidance of the line manager, with strong focus on market needs, trends, and business priorities.
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with CCP Design, Development, and cross-functional partners to ensure effective product creation and execution.
- Prepare and present product concepts, project updates, and business recommendations to internal and external stakeholders, tailoring communication to the audience.
AUTHORITIES
- Personnel managed – no
- Budget managed – no
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
Maintain a strong relationship and ensure regular collaboration with:
- CCP Footwear Product Management, Design, Development, and Costing
- North America Sales and Merchandising
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
- Strong understanding of the NAM consumer, keeping a pulse on footwear, fashion, and cultural trends, competitive products, and retail market dynamics
- Ability to translate consumer insights, trends, and market opportunities into clear product briefs
- Strong organizational and project management skills
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
- Strong communication and presentation skills, including the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and communicate product concepts clearly.
- Collaborative, inclusive approach with the ability to build trusted relationships across functions.
- Ability to travel as required.
REQUISITE EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE / MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- College degree in Marketing, Business, Product Design, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- Previous experience in product management, product marketing, footwear product creation or retail is preferred.
- Proven Track record of collaborative work.
- Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly PowerPoint and Excel.
- Fluent in English.
- adidas celebrates diversity, supports inclusiveness and encourages individual expression in our workplace. We actively encourage individuals with disabilities to apply and will provide reasonable accommodations throughout the recruitment process. We do not tolerate the harassment or discrimination toward any of our applicants or employees. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.
- adidas offers robust and progressive medical, including HSA (Health Savings Account) with employer funding or FSA (Flexible Spending Account) options, dental, vision, prescription drug coverage, adoption, with surrogate and fertility support, short and long-term disability, and basic life and AD&D insurance. Employees are able to enroll in adidas’ 401k plan and Stock Purchase Plan with employer match. Full-time employees are eligible for education assistance and generous Leave policies including 14 weeks of paid parental leave.
- Employees are eligible to earn an annual bonus based on company performance. Employees accrue prorated flexible time off in the amount .4388 hours per day that increases with years of service, twelve paid holidays throughout the calendar year and Service Time Off during milestone years.
- At adidas we offer a Hybrid work policy which requires attendance in the office Monday through Thursday, with the flexibility to work remotely on Friday each week. For work requiring a high degree of collaboration or an in-person presentation, in-office attendance is required even on Friday. The working location of this position is Portland, OR.
- Though our teammates hail from all corners of the world, our working language is English.
At adidas, we strongly believe that embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into our culture and talent processes gives our employees a sense of belonging and our brand a real competitive advantage.
– Culture Starts With People, It Starts With You –
By recruiting talent and developing our people to reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities, we foster a culture of inclusion that engages our employees and authentically connects our brand with our consumers.