Director of Product

Director of Product

We are seeking a deeply experienced Director of Product to oversee product flow at all company sales outlets and ensure that the Buying Team meets their sales targets, margin goals, and inventory sell-through metrics. 

Next Adventure’s Director of Product is the overseer of all functions related to the company's products.

The Director of Product identifies key categories and knows both the percentage of the overall business that each represents, as well as that of all the subcategories beneath it. This gives the Director of Product visibility into the performance of the individual products within the categories. Products have to flow in at the right levels and out at the right levels to achieve high performance. The Director of Product is constantly watching, predicting, guiding, and tracking all elements of the product flow at any given time.

While the Director of Product does not lead or govern the overall company retail strategy, financial strategy, or marketing strategy, they participate and contribute to all three. Aside from those three, the Director of Product leads all other areas of the Retail Planning Cycle. Trust and a spirit of collaboration is critical in these Director relationships. 

This position reports directly to the company’s CFO/COO, serves on the Board of Directors, and is instrumental in forming the overall direction of the enterprise. 

Responsibilities: 

• Supervise, direct, and coach all category Buyers. Develop their group culture, sustain their morale, manage their inventory, communicate constantly, refine systems, and create efficient Buying processes. 

• This person must be an instinctive “Merchant” who is able to recognize, and capitalize on, product-related  opportunities in our industry and our region.

• Leverage the Buying Team to stay fully immersed in industry trends and constantly capitalize on opportunities using all available tools and resources. 

• Set clear expectations of the Buying Team that they stay ahead of industry trends and report on them regularly.

• Develop product strategies that best position Next Adventure in an omni-channel market.

• Collaborate on the strategy for SMU and Next Adventure branded products.

• The Director of Product has to constantly communicate with the Director of Retail, Marketing Team, Finance Team, and Buying Team, all day, every day. This has to be in their nature and automatic. 

• Share best practices across the organization and create a uniform set of policies and processes company-wide. 

• In collaboration with the other Directors, create a company-wide Next Adventure merchandising strategy, for both brick-and-mortar locations and for our ecommerce operation.

• Be a master of the Retail Planning Cycle and the metrics that Next Adventure uses to measure performance. 

• Serve on the Board of Directors and implement the policies and initiatives decided upon. The Director of Product reports to the CFO/COO, takes additional direction from the company’s two owners, and collaborates very closely with the Director of Retail, Marketing Manager, and Director of Ecommerce.

• Ensure that the company is consistently hitting its margin goals.

• Oversee the company’s overall mark-down and sell-through strategy.

• Protect and promote the company’s brand, values, and vision. 

• Create consistency and integrity of our company’s merchandising efforts, including store layout, seasonal changeover, displays, and more.

• Responsible for the Next Adventure’s relationships with our vendors, which includes warranty program, coop dollars, clinics, and more.

• Collaborate on marketing initiatives to ensure they are fully implemented at the store level. 

• Develop and monitor operating budgets for each category in collaboration with the CFO/COO.

• Ensure coordination between our ecommerce and brick-and-mortar operations for the benefit of both. 

Requirements:

• BA/BS degree in business-related fields, or equivalent. 

• Significant experience as a Buyer in a business of at least $25M in annual sales.

• 5-10 years high-level retail management/leadership experience, with a strong preference for work in the Specialty Outdoor Retail industry.

• Track record of successfully developing positive, productive work teams.

• Significant experience with CRM, POS, and project management systems.

• Proven track record of building vendor relationships that produce “win-win or no-deal” results.

• Able to work with our vendors’ senior executives at a peer level.

• Proven leadership and communication skills. 

• High level of skill with the most commonly-used POS, software, and technology platforms. 

• The ability to thrive in a fast-paced, rapidly changing work environment.

• Willingness to travel between our five locations on a weekly basis and to national trade shows quarterly. 

DISCLAIMER: This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the job or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned.