Product Manager, AI Studio

Vans; California (MO); On-site; USD 136,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

VF Corporation is seeking a Product Manager, AI Studio to own AI seed projects from idea to validated concept and scale. You will lead a pod of AI specialists, prioritizing opportunities, setting strategy, and driving adoption across brands with a startup mindset inside a large enterprise.

We value ambiguity tolerance, rapid delivery, and measurable business impact, requiring 5+ years in product management and strong stakeholder skills. Hybrid work and competitive compensation offered.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Product Management, Engineering, Design, or related field.
• 5+ years in product management, program or project management, transformation, or consulting, ideally with technology or AI-enabled initiatives.
• Track record of delivering cross-functional projects from concept to adoption in fast-paced environments.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and change-management skills.
• Working understanding of AI and GenAI concepts and their practical business applications.
• Comfort operating with incomplete requirements and a bias toward action.

Responsibilities

• Serve as product owner for a pod, accountable end-to-end for AI seed projects from idea through validated proof of concept and scale.
• Identify and document AI needs, incubate initial ideas with AI specialists, and translate them into project plans and timelines.
• Run seed teams with regular stakeholder check-ins, removing roadblocks and shipping against objectives.
• Manage the specialist pool, flexing resources as project needs change.
• Prioritize opportunities, set strategy, and define success metrics for AI initiatives.

Skills

Product management

Program management

AI/GenAI

Stakeholder management

Change management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

AI tools

Job description

At VF, we strive to foster a culture of belonging based on respect, connection, openness, and authenticity. So, before we get to the job details, take a minute to learn a little more about us – our values and our culture - visit VF Careers or www.vfc.com.

What will you do?

A day in the life of a Product Manager, AI Studio at VF looks a little like this. The Product Manager, AI Studio is a hands-on program leader within VF’s AI Studio Program - a dedicated team that identifies, validates, and scales high-value AI opportunities that drive measurable business impact across VF’s brands and functions. Operating as the product owner for a pod of AI specialists, this role turns emerging AI opportunities into working, measurable business solutions, targeting proof of concept in weeks. This is a role for someone who thrives in ambiguity and moves fast. You’ll identify and document AI needs, incubate ideas directly with AI specialists, set priorities and strategy, oversee execution, and drive the change management that gets solutions adopted. You’ll operate with a startup mindset inside a large enterprise: scrappy, curious, practical, and biased toward action.

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

Project Oversight & Delivery

Serve as product owner for a pod, accountable end-to-end for AI seed projects from idea through validated proof of concept and scale. Identify and document AI needs, incubate initial ideas directly with AI specialists, and translate them into right-sized project plans and timelines. Run seed teams with regular stakeholder check-ins, removing roadblocks and keeping projects shipping against clear objectives and defined start/stop points. Manage the specialist pool assigned to your projects, flexing resources as project needs change.

Prioritization & Strategy

Prioritize opportunities against the program’s criteria - strategic importance, material value creation, feasibility, scalability, and responsible-by-design. Partner with business stakeholders and AI champions to score use cases on need, value, and feasibility, and sequence work accordingly. Set project strategy and success metrics, and help build the repeatable framework for prioritizing, testing, measuring, and scaling AI projects.

Stakeholder Engagement & Change Management

Engage functional leads, brand teams, and leadership to align on scope, expectations, and value realization. Drive change management and process redesign so validated solutions are adopted into day-to-day operations. Train and enable business teams and functional champions to sustain solutions after handoff.

Value Realization & Measurement

Define and track KPIs for adoption and dollar value - incremental lift or resource and time savings - on every use case. Prepare and present progress, results, and recommendations to operational and executive leads. Capture learnings and replicable patterns to scale proven capabilities one-to-many across brands.

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. The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• Required Bachelor’s degree in Business, Product Management, Engineering, Design, or a related field—or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years in product management, program or project management, transformation, or consulting, ideally with technology or AI-enabled initiatives.
• Track record of delivering cross-functional projects from concept to adoption in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and change-management skills.
• Working understanding of AI and GenAI concepts and their practical business applications.
• Comfort operating with incomplete requirements and a strong bias toward action.

Preferred Experience owning AI or GenAI use cases from proof of concept through scale. Familiarity with go-to-market, product creation, design, or consumer-insights workflows. Experience managing or coordinating technical teams such as engineers, data scientists, or AI specialists. Exposure to apparel, footwear, retail, or consumer-products industries.

Success Criteria

• Ships validated proofs of concept in weeks and moves proven solutions into scaled adoption.
• Demonstrates clear business value - adoption and dollar impact - across the use cases owned.
• Keeps pods focused, unblocked, and aligned with stakeholders and program priorities.
• Builds repeatable approaches that multiply impact across brands and functions.

Now WE have a question for YOU.

Are you in?

Hiring Range: $136,000.00 USD - $170,000.00 USD annually

Incentive Potential: This position is eligible for additional compensation awards that may include an annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission potential. Specific details of the additional compensation eligibility for this position will be provided during the recruiting and interview process.

Benefits at VF Corporation

You can review a general overview of each benefit program offered, including this year's medical plan rates on www.MyVFbenefits.com and by clicking Looking to Join VF? Detailed information on your benefits will be provided during the hiring process. Please note, our hiring ranges are determined and built from market pay data. In determining the specific compensation for this position, we comply with all local, state, and federal laws.

At VF, we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees.

All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws.

If you require accommodations during the application process, please contact us at [e-mail]. VF will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals to the extent required by applicable law. Pursuant to all applicable local Fair Chance Ordinance requirements, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, VF will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

VF Corporation habille les consommateurs partout dans le monde grâce à son portefeuille diversifié de marques emblématiques de style de vie, notamment Vans®, The North Face® et Timberland®. Fondée en 1899, VF est l’une des plus importantes entreprises mondiales de vêtements, de chaussures et d’accessoires. Elle exerce ses activités de façon socialement et écologiquement responsable dans de nombreuses régions du monde, catégories de produits et canaux de distribution. VF s’engage à offrir des produits novateurs aux consommateurs et à créer une valeur durable pour ses clients et ses actionnaires. VF Corporation outfits consumers around the world with its diverse portfolio of iconic lifestyle brands, including Vans®, The North Face®, and Timberland®. Founded in 1899, VF is one of the world's largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies with socially and environmentally responsible operations spanning numerous geographies, product categories and distribution channels. VF is committed to delivering innovative products to consumers and creating long-term value for its customers and shareholders.

Énoncé de vision de VF en matière de diversité VF s’engage à créer un environnement inclusif qui accueille et valorise les différences parmi tous ses associés, ses clients, ses fournisseurs et les collectivités où nous vivons et exerçons nos activités. Le succès et la croissance continus de VF sont renforcés par des initiatives qui favorisent la diversité à l’échelle mondiale. VF s’engage à offrir l’égalité des chances en matière d’emploi et à traiter ses associés et ses candidats sans discrimination fondée sur la race, la couleur, le sexe, l’âge, l’origine nationale, la religion, l’orientation sexuelle, l’identité ou l’expression de genre, l’état matrimonial, la citoyenneté, un handicap, le statut d’ancien combattant protégé, le statut VIH/sida ou tout autre motif protégé par la loi. VF s’engage à répondre aux divers besoins des personnes en situation de handicap dans des délais raisonnables, conformément aux principes d’autonomie, de dignité, d’intégration et d’égalité des opportunités. Pour ce faire, VF s’efforcera de cerner, de prévenir et d’éliminer les obstacles à l’accessibilité partout où cela est possible, tout en respectant les exigences en matière d’accessibilité prévues par l’ADA, la LAPHO (AODA) et toute autre réglementation provinciale, étatique ou locale applicable. VF s’engage à assurer l’accessibilité numérique, à se conformer aux Règles pour l’accessibilité des contenus Web (WCAG) 2.1, niveau AA, ainsi qu’aux normes de conception accessible de l’ADA et de la LAPHO (AODA), et à toute autre réglementation applicable. Si vous avez besoin d’une mesure d’adaptation ou si vous avez des questions concernant cet énoncé, veuillez transmettre votre demande à [e-mail]

VF Diversity Vision Statement VF is committed to creating an inclusive environment that welcomes and values the differences among all of our associates, customers, suppliers and the communities in which we live and conduct business. The continued success and growth of VF is enhanced through initiatives that promote diversity throughout VF around the world. VF is committed to providing equal opportunities in employment, and treating our VF associates and VF applicants without discrimination on the basis of their race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, citizenship, disability, protected veteran status, HIV/AIDS status, or any other legally protected basis. VF is committed to meeting the diverse needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner that is consistent with the principles of independence, dignity, integration and equality of opportunity, and will do so by striving to identify, prevent and remove barriers to accessibility wherever possible as well as by meeting the accessibility requirements under the ADA, AODA, and other applicable state, local or provincial regulations. VF is committed to digital accessibility, and to conforming to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA and complying with the ADA and AODA Standards for Accessible Design, and other applicable regulations. If you need an accommodation or have any questions regarding this statement, please send your request to [e-mail].