Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization:
As a Senior Manager in Product Marketing, you lead the development of product marketing strategies that align with brand and business objectives while driving local market acceleration. You combine a global strategy with a strong local mindset, ensuring consumer-centric decision-making and the creation of compelling product assortments tailored to local needs. Through agility and entrepreneurial leadership, you guide cross-functional teams, manage complex timelines, and deliver insight-driven execution that influences category growth and elevates brand presence.
Key Responsibilities:
- Maintain a strong understanding ofBrand vision, strategic roadmap, and financial objectives to ensure product direction and goals remain aligned with brand positioning and evolving market demands.
- Align seasonal product portfolio plans and tactics with strategic direction and category priorities to achieve business goals and maximize consumer impact.
- Translate market and consumer insights into actionable growth opportunities within the business unit, with a focus on local market acceleration.
- Drive the execution of the product creation process and key milestones, coordinating cross-functional teams to meet timelines, quality standards, and strategic targets.
- Deliver against product creation milestones, ensure teams follow the agreed development calendar, and influence efficient range development.
- Manage accurate and complete product master data to enable downstream systems and processes.
- Own the creation and maintenance of product master data and ensure all relevant attributes are accurately managed to meet go-to-market and sales readiness milestones for assigned product ranges.
- Foster strong cross-functional collaboration and ensure Design, Development, and Marketing teams are aligned on product creation goals and timelines.
- Cultivate and strengthen collaboration across aJ BU and Global BU to identify opportunities and ensure strategic consistency.
- Lead the analysis of market trends, consumer behavior, and product performance to optimize product offerings and future range planning.
- Drive KPI performance (Financial KPIs) and provide actionable insights to optimize planning and product performance reviews.
- With entrepreneurship mindset, proactively identify growth opportunities and lead initiatives that deliver measurable business impact.
Key Relationships:
- Partnerships across global functions, markets, and creation centers.
- aJ/global Business Unit
- aJ Business Unit
- Cross-functional teams, Designer, Operation (Developer).
- External partners, key accounts, and market stakeholders.
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:
- In-depth knowledge of sport/style industry dynamics and product category expertise
- Strong familiarity with cross-functional marketing and go-to-market planning
- Advanced analytical, strategic, and tactical planning proficiency
- Excellent verbal and written communication
- Clear and engaging presentation capabilities for internal and external stakeholders
- Ability to resolve conflicts and align cross-functional stakeholders
- Experience executing change management in fast-paced environments
- Strong consumer-centric mindset in product decisions
- Creative and lateral thinking to challenge the status quo and drive innovation
- Ability to travel and represent brand passion for sports
Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:
- University degree (BA/MA) in Marketing, Business Administration, Product Management, or related field.
- 6–8 years of experience in Product Marketing or Category Management, specifically in Footwear.
- Deep understanding of consumer behavior and segmentation across markets.
- Familiarity with global retail environments, e-commerce, and omnichannel strategies.
- Proven track record in leading product creation processes from concept to launch.
- Fluent in English and Japanese (native level).
- Digital fluency in Office 365 applications and product and marketing tools.