Remote Director of Product Creation

About Walking Co, LLC

Walking Co, LLC is America's leading comfort footwear specialty retailer with a growing direct-to-consumer digital business. Home to flagship brands including ABEO, Dansko, Naot, and an expansive portfolio of licensed partners, Walking Co serves millions of customers who demand footwear that performs as well as it looks. With deep roots in biomechanical fit and a relentless focus on quality, Walking Co is scaling its owned-brand product creation capabilities to meet growing consumer demand and accelerate margin expansion.

The Opportunity

Walking Co, LLC is seeking a Director, Product Creation to lead end-to-end development across its owned-brand portfolio — from brief handoff through PP/TOP and production release. This role owns the full product pipeline: managing a US-based design team alongside a PD and QC team in Asia, and working closely with factory partners in China and Brazil to deliver product that meets the company's standards for fit, quality, cost, and calendar.

This is a builder role. The right candidate will install scalable process, set fit and construction standards, and lead both the creative and technical dimensions of product creation — without losing sight of the consumer.

What You'll Own:

Product Leadership — End-to-End Ownership

• Own the product pipeline from Brief Handoff → proto/fit → PP/TOP → production release (brief to ex-factory ideal).
• Set and maintain fit, last, and build standards by segment; approve protos and fit; define PP/TOP criteria and pass/fail thresholds.
• Lead commercialization and factory methods: tooling, trials, construction standards, and workmanship consistency.
• Define decision authority and operating rhythm; drive continuous improvement through tracking, reporting, and workflow optimization.
• Ensure alignment and accountability across Finance, Planning, and factory partners.
• Directly manage a US-based design team: set direction, creative briefs, review cadence, and career development.
• Lead and develop a PD and QC team based in Asia: establish expectations, processes, and accountability across time zones.
• Build a high-performance, cross-functional product creation organization capable of scaling with the business.
• Foster collaboration between design, development, and sourcing functions; resolve escalations and remove blockers.

Factory & Vendor Partnership - China and Brazil

• Serve as the primary product creation liaison with factory partners in China and Brazil; build deep, trust-based working relationships.
• Work shoulder-to-shoulder with Factory Management and QA teams to prevent defects; lead CAPA processes on workmanship and spec misses.
• Support factory allocation decisions in partnership with merchandising, planning, and supply chain.
• Bring a factory-floor mentality: standards, repetition, coaching, and accountability.

Costing & Margin Discipline

• Hit briefed cost and margin targets; lock Cost/BOM at Line Close with Finance tie-out.
• Drive margin improvement by identifying value engineering opportunities, negotiating component costs, and optimizing construction methods — while protecting fit, quality, and brand integrity.
• Reduce late changes and rework; surface risks before or at Line Close.

Component Sourcing (through TOP)

• Partner with the overseas PD team to own component sourcing and pricing through TOP (leathers, bottoms, heels, lasts, footbeds, hardware, etc.).
• After TOP/PO, partner tightly with factory partners as they own commercials and variance onward.

Product Operations & Governance

• Ensure BOM and tech pack completeness; hold teams to gate readiness standards.
• Implement and manage post-Line Close change requests in partnership with Sourcing and Finance.
• Build and maintain a stage-gate process that scales across brands, categories, and factory relationships.
• Drive material and construction innovation: new leathers, bottoms, footbeds, and builds that improve comfort, durability, and performance.
• Lead fit and build evolution: refine lasts and standards based on consumer feedback, wear testing, and market trends.
• Collaborate with Planning, Marketing, and external partners to bring breakthrough product to market.

Success Metrics — First 12 Months

• Briefed…