Vans: Senior Director, Global Merchandising, Apparel and Accessories

Vans; Costa Mesa (CA); Hybrid; USD 227,000 - 284,000; Full time

Job summary

Vans is seeking a Senior Director of Merchandising for Apparel & Accessories to own the global strategy and multi-season portfolio. You will drive line architecture, franchise investment, lifecycle, and DTC execution while ensuring a single, globally aligned assortment that reflects brand vision and consumer needs.

Lead cross-functional teams, translate market insights into scalable assortments, and partner with planning and finance to deliver profitable growth and portfolio health from Costa

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; advanced merchandising or retail leadership experience is a plus.
• Deep apparel/ accessories merchandising with global or multi-season portfolio ownership.
• Ability to balance brand heat, growth, relevance, regional needs and long-term vision.
• Enterprise-level cross-functional leadership across multiple functions and regions.
• Experience building and developing high-performing teams and inclusive environments.
• Strong business acumen including interpreting selling results, margins, and SKU productivity.

Responsibilities

• Own the global merchandising strategy and multi-season portfolio architecture for Apparel & Accessories.
• Define seasonal and long-range assortment strategy, pricing and lifecycle.
• Embed DTC as a core channel with aligned assortment depth and launch sequencing.
• Translate consumer insights into scalable assortments and enterprise decisions.
• Partner with Global Planning and Finance to align with budgets and profitability.

Skills

Strategic merchandising

Global portfolio management

Cross-functional leadership

Revenue & margin analysis

People leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Product Management, Business, Fashion

Job description

Vans is the original brand rooted in the authentic lifestyle of skateboarding. We are driven by our mission to inspire and empower everyone to live “Off The Wall” – embracing the youthful spirit of freedom, non-conformity, and relentless progression. Yesterday’s “Off The Wall” moment is today’s new normal, and at Vans, we believe in constantly outdoing ourselves. Together with our communities across the globe, our vision is to push culture forward because we believe that the pursuit of progression never ends. We are constantly inspired by the future generation of positive catalysts within our community.

What will you do?

A day in the life of a Senior Director, Merchandising, Apparel & Accessories at Vans looks a little like this. As the Senior Director, Merchandising, Apparel & Accessories, you will own the global merchandising strategy and multi-season merchandise portfolio for Vans Apparel & Accessories, spanning line architecture, category strategy, franchise investment, lifecycle intent, and DTC execution. This enterprise-level role ensures one globally aligned line that reflects Vans’ brand vision, consumer needs, cultural relevance, and commercial goals while enabling consistent execution across regions and channels. Partnering closely with Design, Product Development, Global Planning, DTC, Regional Merchandising, Marketing, Supply Chain, Finance, and VF partners, you will translate consumer and marketplace insights into scalable assortments, clear business tradeoffs, and enterprise merchandising decisions that drive profitable growth, inventory productivity, brand heat, and long-term portfolio health. This role reports to the Global Chief Merchant.

• Own the global merchandising strategy and multi-season portfolio architecture for Apparel & Accessories across categories, price tiers, consumer segments, franchises, and channels.
• Define seasonal and long-range assortment strategy, including category priorities, option counts, pricing architecture, lifecycle intent, product segmentation, and franchise investment choices.
• Embed DTC as a core execution channel by aligning assortment depth, flow, pricing, launch sequencing, and marketplace priorities.
• Translate consumer insights, brand strategy, cultural relevance, regional feedback, and selling performance into scalable global assortments.
• Partner closely with Global Planning and Finance to align assortments to LRP, MFP, revenue, margin, option productivity, SKU efficiency, inventory guardrails, and profitable growth goals.

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 12+ years of progressive merchandising, product, or retail leadership experience, including experience leading global or multi-channel merchandising strategies at scale.

• Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Product Management, Business, Fashion, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of experience and education; advanced business, merchandising, or retail leadership experience is a plus.
• Deep apparel and/or accessories merchandising experience with proven ownership of global or multi-season product portfolios, including product creation, consumer trends, assortment strategy, pricing architecture, margin, lifecycle management, and marketplace segmentation.
• Proven ability to build and execute long-range merchandising strategies that balance brand heat, commercial growth, consumer relevance, regional needs, franchise/category investment, and long-term product vision.
• Enterprise-level cross-functional leadership skills, with experience influencing senior leaders across Design, Product Development, Planning, Finance, Wholesale, Retail, DTC, Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, and regional teams.
• Experience leading and developing high-performing teams through managers or category leaders, setting clear priorities, coaching talent, strengthening operating rhythms, and creating an inclusive environment where different perspectives strengthen the work.
• Strong business and financial acumen, including the ability to interpret selling results, LRP/MFP inputs, revenue, margin, SKU productivity, option efficiency, inventory health, and marketplace performance to make enterprise-level trade-off recommendations.

• Experience working within a global brand, matrixed organization, multi-region product creation model, or enterprise operating model transformation.

Location requirement: Hybrid schedule in-office in Costa Mesa, CA.

Now WE have a question for YOU.

Are you in?

Hiring Range:

$227,480.00 USD - $284,350.00 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.

Long-Term Incentive Potential

This position is eligible to participate in a Long-Term Incentive Plan. Specific details of the plan 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.

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. 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.