Vans: Director, Retail Marketing, Global Brand

Now that you’ve found the job description, what’s next?

Vans is the original brand rooted in the authentic lifestyle of skateboarding. We are driven by our mission to inspire and empower everyone to live “Off The Wall” – embracing the youthful spirit of freedom, non-conformity, and relentless progression. Yesterday’s “Off The Wall” moment is today’s new normal, and at Vans, we believe in constantly outdoing ourselves. Together with our communities across the globe, our vision is to push culture forward because we believe that the pursuit of progression never ends. We are constantly inspired by the future generation of positive catalysts within our community.  

So, before we get to the job details, take a minute to learn a little more about us – our values and our culture. If you can see yourself working side-by-side with a team of people who think and live “Off the Wall,” Vans just may be the place for you.

 

To learn more about our values and our culture, visit Vans Careers or www.vans.com.

What will you do?

A day in the life of a Director, Retail Marketing at Vans looks a little like this.

The Global Brand Retail Marketing Director is accountable for driving a cohesive brand expression and consumer journey across all VANS brick & mortar retail doors, including all retail experiences and wholesale partner co-branded retail activations. This leader must creatively bring the brand to life in all physical environments, ensuring a consistent, compelling, and commercially effective consumer experience across all VANS retail doors. This role owns the global retail marketing and visual merchandising strategy, translating brand narratives and seasonal priorities into impactful in‑store storytelling, standards, and execution frameworks.

While global in scope, this role will be primarily focused on leading AMER regional retail marketing & execution, which is the largest and most important retail channel globally.

Reporting to the Chief Marketing Officer, you will lead the global retail strategy and execution of all retail marketing initiatives for VANS brick & mortar and wholesale channels – setting strategy, design standards, visual merchandising principles, and toolkits centrally. This role must enable fast, high‑quality in‑market execution that drives traffic, conversion, and deepens consumer connections with the brand.

Let’s break down that day-in-the-life a bit more.

Global Retail Marketing & Visual Merchandising Strategy

• Define the role of retail within the broader brand and integrated marketing ecosystem, ensuring alignment to global brand strategy and seasonal priorities by setting the global retail marketing and visual merchandising strategy across VANS retail and wholesale environments.

• Develop, execute and ensure the implementation of evergreen and seasonal go to market processes for retail, providing clear direction to cross functional partners on in store priorities, storytelling, and design needs to ensure aligned execution.

Seasonal In‑Store Storytelling

• Lead the development and execution of seasonal retail marketing strategies & priorities that elevate the in-store experience across full-price, outlet, and wholesale partner environments.

• Translating global brand narratives and campaign priorities into compelling in‑store storytelling—across floor sets, windows, and experiential moments—that supports key product moments, franchise focus, and commercial objectives.

Visual Merchandising Standards & Systems

• Establish global VM standards, principles, and guidelines while developing scalable, modular toolkits that ensure brand consistency across store formats and regions, reduce duplication, and enable rapid regional execution.

• Work closely with the field visual merchandising team who reports into the Retail organization

VANS Retail & Wholesale Retail Integration

• Partner closely with VANS Retail, Wholesale, and Marketplace teams to ensure retail marketing and VM support channel‑specific needs while maintaining a cohesive brand experience.

• Support wholesale partners with clear retail execution frameworks, tools, and assets aligned to global brand standards.

Cross‑Functional GTM Alignment

• Work in lockstep with Brand Management, Creative, Integrated Marketing, Digital, and Product Merchandising teams to align retail execution to the global GTM calendar.

Performance & Optimization

• Define and track retail marketing and VM effectiveness, including traffic, conversion, sell‑ePS (revenue per square foot), and execution quality - Using insights and regional feedback to optimize future retail concepts and standards.

Team & Capability Leadership

• Lead and develop a global retail marketing and VM organization with strong creative, commercial, and operational capabilities.

What do you need to succeed?

We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skills you’ll need to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your 10-12+ years of experience and professional achievements. 

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

Retail & Brand Experience

• Deep expertise in visual merchandising, retail storytelling, and physical brand experiences.

• Ability to translate brand strategy into commercially effective in‑store execution.

Execution & Operating Discipline

• Strong planning and operational skills across seasonal retail calendars.

• Comfort working within defined standards, governance, and decision rights.

Shopper & Consumer Insights

• Strong understanding of the "who," "what," "where," "when," and "why" behind shopper purchasing behavior throughout the entire shopping journey.

• Knowledge of the consumer needs, wants, and motivations of the end-user of footwear, apparel, & accessories.

Collaboration & Influence

• Strong cross‑functional leadership and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability to influence regional teams and partners without direct authority.

Commercial & Analytical Mindset

• Understanding of retail KPIs and how VM, consumer styling, usage occasions, and retail marketing drive performance.

Past Experience

• 10–12+ years of experience in retail marketing, visual merchandising, or brand experience roles.

• Proven experience leading global and multi‑region retail marketing and VM strategies.

• Strong understanding of DTC retail, wholesale environments, and marketplace execution.

• Experience operating within structured GTM and seasonal planning models.

• Experience in lifestyle, apparel, footwear, or culturally driven consumer brands.

• Exposure to experiential retail and store concept innovation.  

 

What do we offer you?

At Vans, we know you expect as much from us as we do from you. That is why we make a commitment to support and grow our people. We offer extensive development and growth opportunities for your current and future positions, a competitive compensation package, and a strong benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, and 401(k).

Our commitment extends beyond this and into your daily work life. We strive to foster a diverse and inclusive culture based on respect, connection, and authenticity. Our focus on DEI is at the foundation of who we are and what we do.

To learn more about Vans’ benefits package, follow this MyVFBenefits.com and click “Looking to Join VF”.

To learn more about Vans‘ Diversity and Inclusion efforts, go to www.vans.com.

Now WE have a question for YOU.

Are you in?

 

Hiring Range:

$168,480.00 USD - $210,600.00 USD annually

Incentive Potential: This position is eligible for additional compensation awards that may include an annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission potential. Specific details of the additional compensation eligibility for this position will be provided during the recruiting and interview process.

Benefits at VF Corporation: You can review a general overview of each benefit program offered, including this year's medical plan rates on www.MyVFbenefits.com  and by clicking Looking to Join VF? Detailed information on your benefits will be provided during the hiring process.

Please note, our hiring ranges are determined and built from market pay data. In determining the specific compensation for this position, we comply with all local, state, and federal laws.

At VF, we value a diverse, inclusive workforce and we provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws. If you require accommodations during the application process, please contact us at peopleservices@vfc.com. VF will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals to the extent required by applicable law.

Pursuant to all applicable local Fair Chance Ordinance requirements, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, VF will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.