As the Senior Manager (APAC) of Culture Innovation, you will be responsible for shaping VF Corporation’s culture innovation vision and driving its execution across our portfolio of brands in Asia ensuring that each initiative aligns with VF’s leadership in cultural connection, relevance, creative innovation and strategic impact. This role will serve as a unifying force, fostering collaboration among VF brands while amplifying their unique identities. With an emphasis on cultural innovator connections and relationship management, you will lead the charge in connecting and positioning VF’s brands at the forefront of culture in Asia.
We’re looking for someone with proven experience in Cultural Marketing or Energy Marketing. The ideal candidate has deep familiarity with fashion, art, music and subcultural communities, and the ability to contribute authentically.
Senior Manager – Culture Innovation (APAC/Japan first)-
1) Portfolio Strategy & Annual Planning (APAC /Japan-first)
· Lead the annual and seasonal culture innovation planning cycle for APAC, partnering with brand and regional marketing leads to set priorities across markets, with Japan as the anchor market.
· Build and maintain a rolling 12–18 month roadmap of cultural moments, partnerships, and activations aligned to brand calendars and commercial priorities.
· Identify APAC cultural white spaces and translate them into test-and-learn pilots with clear hypotheses, target communities, and success measures; scale the highest-performing concepts across brands/markets.
2) Culture Innovation Hub (Japan) – Space Management & Programming-
· Own the day-to-day and strategic management of VF’s Culture Innovation Hub in Japan, ensuring the space operates as a credible, community-first platform for cultural innovation across VF brands.
· Develop and maintain an annual/seasonal programming calendar (events, workshops, exhibitions, brand moments, community sessions, creator residencies) aligned to brand priorities and key cultural moments.
· Curate and steward a pipeline of local partners and programming collaborators (creatives, collectives, cultural institutions, community leaders, universities, and industry connectors) to keep programming fresh and culturally relevant.
· Partner with VF brands to translate priorities into hub-based activations, ensuring experiences are brand-right while strengthening VF’s collective cultural credibility in Japan.
· Manage hub operations and readiness: staffing/coverage model, planning, vendor coordination, and onsite execution excellence.
· Ensure a consistent community experience and long-term relationship stewardship—using the hub to deepen trust, not just host one-off moments.
3) Measurement Framework & Business Impact-
· Define an APAC measurement approach for culture innovation (cultural resonance, consumer engagement, community growth, earned impact, brand desire proxies), with clear success definitions per initiative.
4) Budget, Vendor & Resource Management-
· Own regional budget planning, forecasting, and spend stewardship across initiatives, including agency/vendor resources.
· Lead selection and performance management of agencies and partners (experiential, talent/partner sourcing, where applicable).
5) Global Alignment & Liaison (Global Culture Innovation Team)-
· Serve as the primary APAC (Japan-first) liaison to the Global Culture Innovation team, ensuring regional plans align to enterprise priorities, brand direction, and global cultural moments.
· Translate global strategy into APAC-relevant plans—identifying what to adopt, adapt, or decline based on local cultural context, especially for Japan.
· Provide market intelligence to Global (emerging movements, influential communities, partner/talent landscape, competitive activity, and early signals across Japan/APAC).
· Coordinate cross-region collaboration opportunities (global partnerships, activations, talent exchanges, multi-market initiatives) and align on roles, responsibilities, and timelines.
· Share playbooks, learnings, and post-mortems; standardize briefs and reporting inputs to strengthen ways of working across regions.
· Represent APAC in global cadences, communicating regional priorities, resource needs, opportunities, and advocating for investments that accelerate relevance in Japan/APAC.
· Partner with Global counterparts on capability building (training, toolkits, templates) to elevate execution quality across the region.
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