Senior Manager Product Development Colors & Materials; F​/M

Position: Senior Manager Product Development Colors & Materials (F/M)
CONTEXT AND PURPOSE OF

THE ROLE

The Senior Manager, Product Development Color & Material leads the global execution of color, material (C&M) development across footwear categories. This role is responsible for translating design and brand intent into scalable, manufacturable, and premium material executions, ensuring innovation, quality, cost targets, and speed-to-market are achieved.

Acting as a critical bridge between Design, Materials Innovation, Product Merchandising, Sourcing, and Manufacturing, this role sets standards, drives process excellence, and leads teams across HQ Paris and Asia to deliver consumer-right color and material solutions at scale.

MAIN REPONSIBILITIES

Leadership & Team Management

* Lead, inspire, and develop global Color & Material Development team across HQ and Asia.

* Set clear priorities, ways of working, and accountability across regions and categories.

* Coach and mentor senior developers, building strong succession and capability pipelines.

* Foster a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Product Development & Innovation

* Own end-to-end color and material development from design handoff through production approval.

* Ensure feasibility, manufacturability, durability, and performance meet brand and consumer expectations.

* Partner with Design and Materials teams to push innovation in materials, finishes, dyes, and sustainable solutions.

* Translate creative vision into scalable executions without compromising quality or intent.

* Drive seasonal material strategies aligned to category, price point, and margin targets.

Operational Excellence

* Partner with Sourcing and Manufacturing to optimize cost, lead time, quality, and material availability.

* Establish and monitor KPIs across development timelines, material adoption, cost targets, and quality performance.

* Lead seasonal development calendars and manage risk across multiple product pipelines.

* Proactively troubleshoot material, color, or production challenges and implement scalable solutions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

* Act as a key liaison between Design, Product Merch, CSR, Quality, and Supply Chain.

* Influence long-term material roadmaps and platform strategies with leadership and innovation teams.

* Ensure sustainability goals are embedded into material and color development decisions.

* Partner with leadership on strategic planning and future capability building.