Director, Innovation - Incubation

At Deckers Brands, Together, Every Step is a promise kept that every employee can bring their authentic self, is valued and supported, as a whole person, at work and beyond. Together, Every Step is how we continue to deliver exceptional business results, experience an amazing place to work, and have a positive impact on the communities and world around us.

Job Title: Director, Innovation

• Incubation

Reports to: VP, Innovation

Location: Goleta, CA

The Role

The Director, Innovation Incubation is a Strategic Innovation Thought Leader. Incubation is about challenging assumptions; looking beyond current products, compounds, geometry and categories to find solutions that will provide an elevated experience for consumers. This person will prioritize, strategize, and manage programs as part of Innovation initiatives. This person will leverage science, performance and consumer insights to create innovative solutions for all Deckers brands and consumers. The Director, Innovation Incubation partners with the VP of Deckers Innovation and Product leaders across all Deckers brands to incubate new technologies and categories in the Deckers portfolio, playing a meaningful role in owning the strategy, planning, and operational activities of the Innovation team in service of the end-to-end product creation process. This person is a creative, yet strategic leader who champions a culture of out-of-the-box thinking throughout the people, teams, and brands of Deckers.

We celebrate diversity--of your background, your experiences and your unique identity. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and equitable workplace where all of our employees can Come as They Are. We believe that when we bring our different perspectives to work, we are truly Better Together.

Your Impact

• Supports the development and articulation of Deckers Innovation vision and strategy.

• Leads with curiosity and stays ahead of trends and opportunities while also ensuring insights, data and athlete feedback. Ensures best practices are understood, appropriately applied, and leveraged for innovation.

• Provide thought leadership to inspire greatness, divergent thinking, and ongoing inspiration for business building platforms for sustained growth.

• Constantly monitors and assesses the latest technical developments from competitors. Also identifies innovative solutions in areas and categories beyond the direct competition.

• Utilizes consumer insights, market trends, including from other consumer product industries, to generate new, sustaining, and disruptive ideas.

• Translates above learnings around usability, utility, and desirability into novel product roadmaps and proof of concepts. Collaborates with Innovation team and VP Innovation to segment learnings into new projects.

• Works with Brands to help create and curate Brand Innovation Roadmaps through identification of key initiatives and product concepts and project concepts.

• Partners closely with the brand product creation teams to support brand initiatives, while leading design efforts for enterprise-wide innovation initiatives.

• Support corporate and brand sustainability initiatives by providing solutions for low carbon manufacturing processes environmentally friendly raw materials, manufacturing initiatives, V.O.C. reductions, etc. while maintaining (or improving) product performance.

Who You Are

• Persuasive communicator with proven negotiation and influencing skills; easily adapts to needs of different audiences

• Highly motivated team leader and self-starter; ability to motivate and inspire others

• Experience working effectively in complex global organizations, satisfying the needs of diverse constituents, and often working under the pressure of competing and sometimes conflicting priorities.

• Collaborates and builds relationships across the organization to achieve shared goals.

• Brings cross-functional partners together and supports decisions as if they are their own.

• Futuristic, strategic, and passionate with the ability to influence and inspire global teams and leadership.

We'd love to hear from people with

• 12+ years footwear or apparel product development and design experience

• Experience successfully managing projects and project teams

• 5+ years leading a product development team at varying levels of experience; Experience successfully coaching, developing, and mentoring a team

• Proven experience analyzing and translating market and athlete needs to optimize and inform product creation.

• Experience independently developing strategic plans, with ability to see the big-picture and communicate an impactful vision

• Experience in leading complex strategic projects and demonstrated success in leading a methodical process of analyzing problems, gathering information, generating options, then proposing and acting on a course of action.

• Advanced level business acumen - continuously evaluates competitors and the marketplace to creatively capitalize on market opportunities

What We'll Give You

• Competitive Pay and Bonuses

• We've created a variety of competitive compensation programs to foster career development, reward success and to show our employees just how much they're valued.

• Financial Planning and wellbeing

• No matter what financial goals our employees have set, we want to help them get there. Our plans provide powerful ways to protect income, pay for expenses and invest in the future.

• Time away from work

• Sometimes we need time away to be with family, focus on our health or just simply recharge. Our plans support our employees' needs to get out, get healthy and come back stronger than ever.

• Extras, discounts and perks

• Being a valued member of the Deckers Brands team means more than just a paycheck. From generous discounts to community-based programs, we offer a variety of cool extras

• Growth and Development

• Deckers Brands was built on the idea of pursuing passion. That's why we offer extensive opportunities and support for personal and professional development.

• Health and Wellness

• There's nothing basic about our comprehensive health and wellness programs and offerings. While at work and at play, we aim to support a healthy lifestyle.

$200,000 - $215,000

The salary range posted reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for this role in our Goleta, CA location. Individual pay will be determined by location and additional factors, including job related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Diversity and inclusion are key to our success. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and our employees are people with different strengths, experiences and backgrounds who share a passion for our brands. We welcome qualified applicants regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, military or veteran status, mental or physical disability, medical condition and all of the other beautiful parts of your identity.

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