Smartwool: Product Line Manager

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

At Smartwool, we are a group of insatiable outdoor adventurers who want to share the joy of crisp powder turns, hard first ascents, scrambly summit sunrises, pine needle-cushioned hikes, and s’more-filled weekends with everyone. We’re committed to transparency, sustainability, and getting out there. And we're serious about having fun while doing it.

We are a team committed to creating products with Merino wool at their core, reducing our environmental impact, and working with our advocacy partners to help protect wild places and increase equitable access for anyone looking to spend more time outside.

If this sounds like a team you would like to be a part of, Smartwool just might be the place for you.

To learn more about our values and our culture, visit Smartwool Careers  or www.smartwool.com.

Global Product Line Manager

What will you do?

A day in the life of a Global Product Line Manager at Smartwool looks a little like this.

The Product Line Manager (PLM) is ultimately responsible for the global merchandising and product strategy for the global Smartwool product line. With expert level thinking, communication and heavy emphasis on storytelling and presentation skills, the PLM fosters a highly collaborative work relationship with Design, Development, Sales, Marketing, Operations and other key internal and external stakeholders. This person plans and briefs a product line that is focused on meeting and exceeding the needs of the consumer, creating commercially compelling lines, drives the brand forward and manages to the business goals of the line for revenue, margin and SKU efficiency. The Product Line Manager reports to the Sr. Manager of Merchandising.

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

• Strategic category product planning to deliver product solutions that enhance the brand and meet the needs of consumers globally.
• Prepare a consumer compelling product line strategy and pricing through the formulation of product briefs that meet revenue and margin targets.
• Build & maintain accuracy of seasonal product plans &/or briefing tool up until seasonal VLP is created. 
• Lead the merch function representing the sock category in the Seasonal Creative process, culminating in documenting the seasonal line plan and creating product briefs.
• Partner with Merch partners in SWAT and SMU intros to plan a comprehensive global sock presentation.
• Deliver clear and concise product direction to design and development teams through briefing and the product creation process.
• Create and deliver compelling and inspirational sales meeting, tradeshow and key account product presentations
• Focus on story telling.   Plan, create, and merchandise the product line to ensure an intuitive presentation of technologies and aesthetics that align with seasonal stories and trends. 
• Manage an efficient and profitable line that drives seasonal revenue targets. Build tightest possible line to best use design/development resources, maximize supply chain agility and achieve SKU productivity/margin goals. Develop, maintain and communicate line metrics.
• Partner with Demand Planning to generate initial seasonal style level forecasts.
• Carry out regular market visits and attend relevant trade shows. Solicit input and feedback related to products.
• Engage with wholesale and digital partners domestically and internationally to achieve a high level of market knowledge
• Be the consumer expert and mine consumer insights (both research and reviews) to inform, continuously improve and validate product direction
• Be the category expert on the competitive landscape.   Know market competitors including their respective positioning, price points, products and market share, build and maintains timely and accurate line tools.  
• Leads the merchandising vision for the category including assortment planning and packaging.

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 5+ years of experience and professional achievements within product management or merchandising.

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• Strong presentation skills, verbal & written communication, problem solving & analytical skills required.
• Demonstrated leadership capability, including a