Vans: Director, Global Go-to-Market

Now that you’ve found the job description, what’s next?

Vans is the original brand rooted in the authentic lifestyle of skateboarding. We are driven by our mission to inspire and empower everyone to live “Off The Wall” – embracing the youthful spirit of freedom, non-conformity, and relentless progression. Yesterday’s “Off The Wall” moment is today’s new normal, and at Vans, we believe in constantly outdoing ourselves. Together with our communities across the globe, our vision is to push culture forward because we believe that the pursuit of progression never ends. We are constantly inspired by the future generation of positive catalysts within our community.  

So, before we get to the job details, take a minute to learn a little more about us – our values and our culture. If you can see yourself working side-by-side with a team of people who think and live “Off the Wall,” Vans just may be the place for you.

To learn more about our values and our culture, visit Vans Careers or www.vans.com.

What will you do?

A day in the life of a Director, Global Go-to-Market at Vans looks a little like this.

Reporting directly to the Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, this leader is responsible for GTM strategies from pre-season planning to market exit, aligning all regions with brand strategy, ensuring region insights are  incorporated into the brand efforts, and driving adoption and adherence to milestones and deliverables across functions. They are responsible for driving the transformation of the GTM process within the brand to align to the "VF Way". They are accountable for establishing ongoing improvements to GTM processes and advising counterparts at other brands and in regions to drive global line adoption. Additionally, they drive consistency in brand representation across regions, and increased speed to market. This role is also responsible for the development of new GTM ideas in response to competitor GTM strategies.

Let’s break down that day-in-the-life a bit more.

Drive GTM Transformation in Brand

• Drive the development and adoption of new processes and deliverables across all functions, aligning to overarching Company objectives and market dynamics

• Establish the KPIs that will used to track effectiveness

Preparation for seasonal execution

• Ensure regional milestones are aligned with global objectives for cohesive execution. 

• Partner closely with Regional GTM leads, supporting retail partners & distributors to strengthen and unlock mutual growth opportunities

E2E process execution

• Lead the global GTM process from concept through exit, in partnership with the product creation ops and merch ops teams

• Collaborate with regional GTM partners for cross-region visibility, adjusting plans to meet local needs while staying true to global brand strategy.

• Drive alignment & enforce adherence to calendar deadlines, decisions, etc., ensuring launch readiness for timely and successful product rollouts

• Identify and prioritize growth opportunities across regions, channels, and customer segments, building frameworks for market-entry strategies, product launches and regional scaling efforts

Ongoing process optimization

• Define and and evolve the overall VF GTM process, conduct regular reviews with regional teams to both establish and evaluate GTM performance, track KPIs, and identify areas for improvement

• Review competitor GTM strategies to identify opportunities for differentiation and improvement in brand positioning

• Refine objectives, outcomes, and participant lists for key global GTM meetings as needed.

What do you need to succeed?

We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skills you’ll need to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your 8-10+ years of progressive experience and professional achievements in GTM, Strategy, or Retail Operations within a Global organization.

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• Communication and influence to drive adoption to new ways of working, serving as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, while providing proactive updates to GTM performance, opportunities and risks

• Strategic alignment & operational execution (ability to connect GTM plans to long-term brand strategy,