Vice President, Denim Design and Development

About the Role

The VP of Denim Design & Development is the leader of product vision, design, and development strategies across all denim and work bottoms. This position sets the creative vision that is aligned with business deliverables, margin requirements, and partners with Apparel and Footwear Leaders to develop a head-to-toe brand strategy.

This role leads a team of creative product design and tech designers at Ariat's headquarters in San Leandro, California. Reporting to the Chief Product Officer, the VP of Denim Design & Development plays a critical role in upholding Ariat's mission and brand promise to create performance products, superior in durability and functionality, anchored in innovation. The Vice President of Denim Design & Development is the visionary and creative leader for all aspects of denim/bottoms design, including trend, fit, seasonal creative collaboration, material & wash development, guiding the creative team, and partnering cross-functionally. This leader works closely with the team to develop skill sets and plays a coach and mentor role. This position is hybrid in Ariat's San Leandro headquarters office and moderate global travel is required.

You'll Make a Difference By

• Defining and communicating the design vision, trend direction, and product positioning for all denim and bottoms categories.
• Championing and protecting brand quality and consistency while evolving aesthetic and fit to align with market trends and consumer needs.
• Collaborating with cross functional creative team leads, weaving a cohesive, head-to-toe brand story through design, fit, and innovation.
• Supporting, mentoring, and empowering design and tech design leaders to research, design, and develop products for all bottoms categories.
• Engaging and retaining a high-performing diverse creative team, crafting opportunities for continuous development and leading a culture of cohesion, collaboration, and growth mindset.
• Codify institutional knowledge of long-tenured team into systems and processes for future growth.
• Overseeing seasonal concept development, lead new product innovations, and advance the reach of our denim and bottoms products.
• Leading long-term innovation across all bottoms/work categories, ensuring alignment with Ariat brand and consumer needs.
• Staying abreast of the competitive landscape and forward-facing trends, and filtering trend and innovation through the lens of the consumer and brand.
• Consistently developing deeper understanding of our consumers across categories to ensure development of innovative, quality products.
• Building and optimizing future-oriented design and development processes internally and externally to set up for its next phase of growth, including agile systems and a well-equipped team ready to scale for growth.
• Continuously analyzing product line and identifying, prioritizing, and executing action plans to drive opportunities for improved cost, quality, and aesthetic.
• Driving continuous improvement of products, systems, processes, and people through effective assessment of capabilities and development/implementation of strategies.
• Assisting with other responsibilities based on business needs

About You

• BFA in Fashion Design or other related field.
• Minimum 15 years of product design & development experience with strong expertise in denim and other apparel categories.
• Successful track record of scaling product lines for growth, with the ability to lead, design and develop multiple categories.
• Experience leading and retaining large cross-category and cross-functional creative design teams.
• Demonstrated experience and success leading teams, outstanding leadership and people development skills, and commitment to your own learning and development.
• Deeply understands construction, fit, fabric, and innovation processes.
• Strong presentation and influencing skills, being able to create and make presentations in a variety of settings across the brand.
• Communicates vision and direction clearly using an adaptive style for different audiences.
• Leads from a curious, learning mindset and is future-oriented.
• Inclusive, collaborative, low ego leader and business partner who builds and operates with trust, care, and connective energy.
• Models a steady leadership style that emphasizes listening, understanding, and clear, compassionate feedback loops across all partnerships.

Leadership Competencies

• Drive Results: A resourceful leader with strong business acumen who operates effectively with minimum direction and who pursues objectives relentlessly with a sense of vision, energy, and passion.
• Strategic Orientation: Combines strategic thought leadership and analytical strength with the ability to transition with ease from strategic recommendation to practical, hands-on implementation. This includes the ability to set a clear and compelling vision, to understand fundamental business drivers and how to connect them across functions to create forward momentum.
• Team Leadership: An engaging team leader who has demonstrated the ability to galvanize a team behind a vision, promoting innovation and fostering an environment of high engagement and accountability. An empathetic leader who is invested in the success and development of their team.
• Collaboration, influencing and interpersonal skills: Collaborative, low ego and entrepreneurial in style, can influence and engage a diverse group of stakeholders at all levels of the organization, including commercial, operational and creative audiences. An active listener with an open mind, invests in building trust with cross-functional partners and takes an enterprise mindset, at all times.

About Ariat

Ariat is an innovative, global outdoor brand with roots in equestrian performance. We develop high-quality footwear and apparel for people who ride, work, and play outdoors and care about performance, quality, comfort, and style. Ariat is committed to building a different breed of company, one that reflects our core values as a team and those of our consumers. Our company values have shaped our success since 1993 - a commitment to innovation, quality, integrity, teamwork and respect. We believe our values are what set us apart and have helped build Ariat into the one of the top Equestrian, Outdoor and Work brands in the world. Product quality is non-negotiable, and so is our collaborative culture and giving back to the communities we serve.

The salary range for this position is $250,000 - $300,000 per year.

The salary is determined by the education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data for geographic locations. Ariat in good faith believes that this posted compensation range is accurate for this role at this location at the time of this posting. This range may be modified in the future.

Ariat's holistic benefits package for full-time team members includes (but is not limited to):

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance options
• Expanded wellness and mental health benefits
• Paid time off (PTO), paid holidays, and paid volunteer days
• 401(k) with company match
• Bonus incentive plans
• Equity award program
• Deferred compensation option
• Team member discount on Ariat merchandise

Note: Availability of benefits may be subject to location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements. Ariat reserves the right to alter these benefits in whole or in part at any time without advance notice.

Ariat will consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with state and local laws. Ariat is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetics or any other basis protected under federal, state, or local law. Ariat is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to candidates with disabilities. If you need an accommodation during the application process, email human.resources@ariat.com.

Please see our Employment Candidate Privacy Policy at www.ariat.com/careers to learn more about how we collect, use, retain and disclose Personal Information.

Please note that Ariat does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of a signed Agreement, Ariat will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter/agency placement fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without a previously signed Agreement, Ariat explicitly reserves the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted directly to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Ariat.