Vice President Footwear Jobs in Portland, OR (NOW HIRING)

Job Summary

The Senior Manager, Digital Growth & Operations owns the strategy execution, planning, and operational excellence of our eCommerce business, driving profitable growth and a premium consumer experience. This role supports the VP of Ecommerce, bringing strategic thinking and operational discipline to a complex, matrixed environment, translating commercial objectives into well-executed digital strategies that deliver value quickly and scale globally. 

Serving as a trusted partner and connector across the organization, the Senior Managers aligns priorities around market landscape, consumer, and performance insights. This role builds organizational confidence through clear communication, consistent follow-through, proactive problem-solving, and achieving program objectives. 

As a people leader of internal and external partners, the Senior Manager sets a high bar for quality and accountability at every stage, creates space for teams to do their best work, and brings optimism and energy to day-to-day operations. Ultimately, this role is accountable for bringing acceleration strategies to life in ways that elevate our digital experience and drive consumer acquisition, retention, and long-term business growth.

Essential Functions

Description

Strategic Planning

• Translate the digital acceleration vision into an actionable go-to-market strategy in partnership with the VP of eCommerce, leading the end-to-end consumer experience and feature planning that enables acquisition and expands share of wallet.
• Own the digital product and experience roadmap, ensuring strategic alignment across functions and regions, and that scope and rollout plans deliver value quickly and scale globally.
• Develop business cases for new features, using industry benchmarks, site performance data, and experimentation results to quantify specific growth opportunities. 
• Stay current on emerging technologies, the Shopify ecosystem, and market trends, bringing informed recommendations to support digital investment strategy and build vs. buy decisions.
• Coach and support the Product Owner, providing strategic context and guidance to navigate complex challenges, and bring senior-level perspective that sharpens their impact and accelerates their development as they execute a high-stakes and ambitious agenda.

Program & Project Management

• Establish and manager the operating model for how digital initiatives get from idea to impact, creating rhythms that are consistent, well-run, and result in confident decisions, next steps, and leadership visibility.
• Lead vendor evaluations for new digital capabilities, running RFPs and requirement alignment through to contract execution and managing relationships and performance post-selection.
• Establish planning cycle standards for stakeholder engagement, requirements and MVP definitions, aligned success measures, timeline commitments, and clean documentation.
• Define the prioritization framework that governs how requests are evaluated, scoped, and sequenced, fostering a deep active listening culture that ensures the team is solving the right problems, surfacing unstated requirements, and maintaining alignment with stakeholder objectives.
• Partner with stakeholders to hold joint accountability of project milestones and delivery against plan, proactively identifying and addressing issues that could derail working teams.
• Develop the measurement and communication framework for the digital program, creating executive-ready updates on progress and performance, clearly outlining key decisions and actions, and leading robust hindsight reviews.

Digital Operations

• Own site operational health, tracking order metrics (time-to-delivery, accuracy, CPO, returns), uptime and degradation signals, and external disruptors (weather events, carrier delays) to maintain optimal consumer experience and timely issue resolution.
• Establish operational playbooks (day-to-day, peak periods, drop launches) that enable teams to consistently and efficiently plan and execute smooth market activations.
• Operate and scale the RE.KEEN program, managing the platform relationship, monitoring performance, and partnering with internal stakeholders to evolve the recommerce strategy.
• Collaborate with Global Technology, Supply Chain, Sales Operations, and third-party vendors to align daily operations to inventory, fulfillment, and commercial realities, co-coordinating response protocols and stakeholder communications.

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 Business, Marketing, Information Technology, or related field required.
• Project Management Certification preferred.
• Minimum seven (7) years of progressive experience in eCommerce, digital product, or related fields preferably within the footwear, apparel manufacturer, or outdoor industry.
• Minimum of four (4) years in a role with direct ownership of a digital roadmap, program operations, or platform strategy in a DTC environment.

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

• Documented experience owning delivery of a digital product roadmap and program operations in a DTC eCommerce environment
• Documented experience with Shopify Plus, application integrations, and integration partners
• Working knowledge of eCommerce technology platforms including CDP, ESP, CMS, personalization engines, and PIM solutions
• Advanced understanding of eCommerce KPIs, conversion funnel, web merchandising, UX, SEO, and agile methodologies
• Documented experience leading vendor evaluations, RFPs, and contract negotiations for digital platforms and integrations
• Ability to independently access, analyze, and synthesize data into insights to drive experience strategies and decision making
• Strong business case development skills, with the ability to translate data into compelling investment recommendations
• Exceptional change management skills related to technology adoption; project management certification preferred
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment, listens to stakeholders, and leads teams through complex challenges
• Ability to anticipate hurdles, provide creative solutions, and manage multiple competing deliverables with strong attention to detail
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with documented success communicating across working teams, key stakeholders, and executives
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook)

Travel Required: No

Base Salary: $155,000 - $164,000

The salary range posted for this position represents the anticipated hiring range for this role. Offers are made within this range based on factors such as relevant experience, skills, education, internal equity, and market considerations. This is the hiring range for the position; compensation above the posted maximum is not typically available at the time of hire.

Work Location: Hybrid

This role is based in the Portland, OR area and follows a hybrid work model. Employees are expected to reside within a reasonable commuting distance of our Portland office and generally work on-site four days per week, with flexibility based on business and team needs.

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.  

Fuerst Group, KEEN, and Chrome are equal opportunity employers.  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.