OluKai Product Merchandising Manager, Footwear

Who We Are

At Olu Kai, we build premium products for the ocean lifestyle. Our footwear is created using the highest quality materials and crafted into beautiful, functional and incredibly comfortable designs that reflect the spirit of the ocean lifestyle we all enjoy.

We are committed to creating quality products for our customers while leaving the smallest footprint possible on the planet. Our company philosophy is to be environmentally responsible as manufacturers and to pledge Olu Kai to actively support and work for a clean environment and a better quality of life.

Our customers and staff embody the connection that exists between people and the ocean, it is our Culture. We want to build a team of individuals who embrace this culture, and have a passion for providing premium products and service to our customers.

The Product Merchandising Manager, Footwear is responsible for defining, building, and managing the seasonal footwear line plan for assigned categories or franchises. This role sits at the center of Design, Development, Planning, Marketing, and Sales—ensuring that product strategies are grounded in consumer insights, aligned to brand direction, financially sound, and commercially successful.

The Product Merchandising Manager owns the product brief, drives seasonal line architecture, manages product lifecycle decisions, and ensures that the right products are created for the right consumer segments, channels, and price points. The ideal candidate brings strong merchandising instincts, analytical capability, cross‑functional influence, and deep curiosity about consumer behavior and marketplace dynamics.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Build and manage the seasonal line plan for assigned categories, ensuring alignment with consumer insights, brand strategy, and financial goals.
• Write clear, strategic product briefs that articulate consumer targets, use cases, business needs, pricing, and margin requirements.
• Collaborate with Design and Development through all seasonal gates to ensure products meet creative intent, cost targets, and manufacturing feasibility.
• Maintain all seasonal tools and product data, including line sheets, SKU plans, colorways, costing, and channel assortments.
• Lead seasonal product presentations and reviews, providing clear rationale behind line decisions, strategy shifts, and product updates.
• Partner with Merchandising, Planning, Sales, and Brand to align assortment strategy, demand expectations, pricing, and storytelling.
• Monitor and analyze product performance, margin progression, and marketplace trends to inform future line decisions.
• Incorporate wholesale and DTC feedback to optimize assortments while protecting long‑term franchise strategy.
• Ensure seasonal timelines, gates, and deliverables are met with clarity, accuracy, and cross‑functional alignment.
• Support ongoing process and tool improvements that enhance efficiency across the product creation pipeline.

• Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Business, Marketing, Product Management, or related field.
• 5+ years of experience in product line management, merchandising, or consumer product strategy (footwear or apparel preferred).
• Strong understanding of consumer behavior, marketplace trends, and competitive landscapes.
• Proven experience partnering with Design and Development to deliver product against briefs, timelines, and margin targets.
• Analytical mindset with strong problem‑solving skills; comfortable with data, forecasting, and building insights‑driven recommendations.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills.
• Highly organized with strong project management capability and attention to detail.
• Proficiency with line management tools, spreadsheets, and PLM systems; familiarity with costing and pricing fundamentals.
• Passion for product creation, consumer‑led thinking, and contributing to a strong brand point of view.

This is an in‑office hybrid position, mandatory 4 days per week in office in Irvine, CA with the option to work from home 1 day per week. Subject to change without notice as per company…