Product Developer, Footwear

About the Role
The Footwear Developer will manage and execute the footwear development process, He/she will work with a cross-functional product creation team from the collection of insights through commercialization to deliver products that exceed consumer expectations. Have knowledge of the total footwear construction process including outsole/midsole drawing, pattern engineering, material construction and properties, and costing. Other critical responsibilities include understanding manufacturing capabilities, anticipating issues, problem solving, and timely resolution.
You'll Make a Difference By

• Project Management - Manage assigned seasonal development from line start to commercialization to achieve on time buy ready. Workload to be concentrated on medium to high complexity projects with exposure to increasingly complex projects, including new materials or platforms. Manage pre-costing and seasonal cost analysis and problem solving on all assigned projects.
• Participating in product related meetings including design hand-off meetings and tear-down meetings. Manage seasonal development of leather and non-leather materials for seasonal projects. Maintain and continue to develop competitive intelligence and market awareness. Work with PM to understand distribution channel, target consumer, competitive brands, and product.
• Planning and executing product development according to the seasonal critical dates that lead to on-time delivery of samples.
• Recommending and specifying to product team the material, component, and construction options to meet pricing targets and product's functional goals, as well as assure product performance integrity through product testing (physical and field testing).
• Collaborating with Research, Design, Development, Engineering, Marketing, Material and Costing team to show sample materials that meet the criteria for the category based on material performance data.
• Creating and building a knowledge base and staying informed about vendor capabilities and performance, factory relationships, quality issues, materials pricing, and lead times.
• Ensuring the timely and effective management and maintenance of product development databases and processes for tracking prototypes, samples, specifications, and materials data from concept through commercialization; maintain active role through ongoing communication with vendor and sourcing partners and product development resources to assure adherence to critical date schedules.

About You

• 3+ successful years' of experience leading the development of footwear projects.
• Proven ability to lead and influence in a collaborative, cross-functional groups without command/ control to meet strategic objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to develop highly productive relationships with individuals and teams that are made up of diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds resulting in effective working relationships across the company
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with an advanced ability to communicate new ideas, concepts and functional expertise within project teams and to external stakeholders.
• Keen attention to detail in planning, organization and execution of tasks (self and through others), while still seeing the big picture and understanding how all of the pieces fit together and affect one another.
• Travel to overseas manufacturing facilities 2 - 3 times per year to manage problem solving of seasonal development projects and to gain experience with vendors and suppliers.
• Quantitative and PC skills, PLM experience preferred.
• Embraces and lives Ariat values!

About Ariat
Ariat is an innovative, outdoor global brand with roots in equestrian performance. We develop high-quality footwear and apparel for people who ride, work, and play outdoors, and care about performance, quality, comfort, and style.
The salary range for this position is $100,000 to $115,000 per year.
The salary is determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data for geographic locations. Ariat in good faith believes that this posted compensation range is accurate for this role at this location at the time of this posting.
This range may be modified in the future.
Ariat's holistic benefits package for full-time team members includes (but is not limited to):

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance options
• Expanded wellness and mental health benefits
• Paid time off (PTO), paid holidays, and paid volunteer days
• 401(k) with company match
• Bonus incentive plans
• Team member discount on Ariat merchandise

Note: Availability of benefits may be subject to location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements. Ariat reserves the right to alter these benefits in whole or in part at any time without advance notice.
Please note that Ariat does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Agreement, Ariat will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter/agency placement fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously signed Agreement, Ariat explicitly reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted directly to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Ariat.
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