VP, Global Merchandising

Job Summary

The Vice President of Global Merchandising is a visionary leader who fuses creativity with commercial precision to craft KEEN’s global product expression. This role balances the art of storytelling with the science of business analytics, ensuring that KEEN’s global assortments are both emotionally resonant and financially sound. They drive the creation and adoption of newness, influence global and regional line builds, and act as a lead curator of fan-first innovation. With a sharp understanding of margin drivers, productivity levers, and trend cycles, this leader elevates KEEN’s merchandising strategies to meet future fans where they are.

Essential Functions

Description

• Owns and evolves KEEN’s Globally Aligned Price (GAP) framework to ensure consistent, fan-right pricing across all regions.
• Partners closely with Regional Merchandising, Planning, Finance, and the U.S. team to gather inputs, evaluate tradeoffs, and align on final pricing recommendations.
• Leads the U.S.-derived pricing analysis that establishes GAP benchmarks and guides downstream regional price alignment.
• Curates and influences global seasonal product lines through an artful balance of emotional brand resonance and margin contribution analysis.
• Champions fan-first thinking in seasonal segmentation plans, ensuring regional relevance while protecting global brand equity.
• Guides the flow and prioritization of newness, maximizing early adoption through trend forecasting, style benchmarking, and fan listening.
• Builds powerful, authentic product narratives that integrate with brand and seasonal marketing campaigns.
• Owns global margin architecture, ensuring margin targets are met by partnering closely with Finance, Demand Planning, and Product.
• Establishes and monitors SKU-level margin health dashboards, identifying SKU productivity boosters and margin improvement initiatives.
• Influences regional margin optimization strategies through storytelling value perception, not just discounting.
• Launches AI-powered pricing tools that drive both operational rigor and enhanced fan value delivery.
• Actively participates in regional seasonal reviews to shape and fine-tune local adaptations without compromising brand storytelling.
• Leads regional line reviews to ensure major newness, top volume drivers, and fan-first innovations are globally understood and championed.
• Drives SKU rationalization with a creative lens to ensure strong productivity metrics (SKU vitality rate target of 30%).
• Enhances inventory predictability through closer integration of fan insights, sell-in forecasts, and global merchandising analytics tools.
• Advances margin predictability through lifecycle management, driving in- season newness (target 15%) and SKU turnover improvement.
• Leadership and Team Development
  • Mentors a high-performing global merchandising team that blends artistry with analytical precision
  • Inspires a culture of creative risk-taking, operational discipline, and global alignment
  • Represents KEEN externally as a thought leader at key retail, innovation, and industry forums.
• Fan and Market Insights
  • Integrates qualitative insights (fan storytelling, cultural listening) and quantitative date (SKU turns, sell-thru analytics, regional vitality rates) into all major merchandising decisions/
  • Builds robust processes for continuous fan pulse-checks, rend reporting, and competitive benchmarking.
  • Leads global sustainability storytelling through product assortment, enhancing KEEN's leadership in regenerative footwear innovation.

Please note this job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without cause.

Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree in Merchandising or related field required.

Minimum twelve (12) years of experience in merchandising, product creation, and/or retail.

Any equivalent combination of experience and education which clearly indicates the ability to perform the essential functions of the position may substitute on a year for year basis.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong project management skills and experience managing cross functional internal and external teams.
• Strong knowledge of footwear landscape and consumer insights.
• Outstanding data analytics and articulation skills.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills with an ability to compel action at all levels of the organization.
• Exceptional influencing skills, with experience engaging diverse set of cross-functional partners
• Proficient in MS Office Suite, particularly Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to provide clear direction, set measurable goals and give insight on industry benchmarks.
• Ability to inspire and motivate a team, both direct and non-direct reports and peers.
• Ability to successfully supervise and lead a team of direct reports and influence a team of cross functional peers.
• Key Performance Indicators
  • Increased SKU vitality rate to 20% annually.
  • Achievement of global SKU productivity targets while enhancing creativity.
  • Adoption rate of newness in global and regional lines. 
  • Revenue growth and brand perception improvement aligned with LRP goals. 
  • Positive impact on fan satisfaction and brand storytelling resonance. 

Travel Required: Yes, up to 10% of the time.

Salary Range: $258,000 - $273,000

This range represents the low and high ends of the anticipated base salary range for this position. The actual base salary will depend on numerous factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, and location. Our base salary is just one component of our competitive total rewards strategy, which includes numerous benefits and perks as well as specific health and welfare benefits.

Why Work at KEEN:  Driven by a passion for life outside, KEEN is a values-led, independently owned brand from Portland, Oregon, that’s on a mission to create original and versatile products, improve lives, and inspire outside adventure. Founded in 2003, KEEN launched a revolution in the footwear industry with the introduction of the Newport adventure sandal, and has donated more than $18 million to non-profit organizations and causes around the world to promote responsible outdoor recreation, including conservation efforts to protect open spaces. KEEN strives to show the world through its products and its actions that a business for good can actually be good for business. By giving back, reducing impact, and activating communities and individuals to protect the places where we work and play, KEEN puts its values in motion and takes action to leave the world a better place.  

At KEEN, we believe in a more just and equitable future for all people. As a global brand, we acknowledge that our business, buildings, and daily lives exist within the traditional territories of indigenous peoples. We strive for a future that recognizes the knowledge, rights, and resilience of these peoples.

KEEN Footwear is an equal opportunity employer.  We value an inclusive and diverse community. Qualified candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply and will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or disability.