CPO – Chief Product Officer (m/w/d)

About This Opportunity

We are representing a confidential footwear brand that has scaled to over 1.3 million customers in just a few years. As they enter their next growth phase—expanding into new categories, higher volumes, and international markets—they need a Chief Product Officer to build and lead their entire product organization from the ground up.

This is not a role for someone who knows product only from strategy meetings. Our client needs a builder and operator who understands how to connect product development, engineering, design, merchandising, sourcing, production, quality, and product marketing into a high-performing organization.

You'll work directly with the founders to develop long-term product and category strategy while ensuring it functions operationally. When a development process isn't working, you'll dive in. When quality, costing, or timelines are off, you'll understand why and solve the problem with your team. When critical capabilities are missing, you'll build them.

A central part of this role is building the international product and sourcing structure in China and, over time, other production markets like Vietnam.

Responsibilities

• Build and scale a multidisciplinary product organization across the entire value chain—from strategy and development through sourcing, production, marketing, and commercial management
• Recruit, lead, and develop strong leaders and specialists, creating an organization that operates independently with clear structure and scalability
• Develop long-term product and growth strategy with the founders and translate it into clear priorities, structures, and operational initiatives
• Optimize processes to shorten decision paths, reduce complexity, and make the organization faster and more capable
• Expand the international partner, production, and supplier network; lead strategic negotiations on costs, capacity, quality, timelines, and frameworks
• Build international presence, particularly in China, and develop a capable local team over time
• Establish clear quality, control, and governance mechanisms ensuring agreed standards are consistently implemented
• Own commercial management of key business areas including costs, pricing, margins, volumes, timelines, and profitability
• Create clear ownership and ensure critical initiatives are driven forward across all relevant functions
• Work regularly with international teams and partners; dive deep into operational issues when critical topics arise

What We're Looking For

• Multiple years of leadership experience at Director, VP, SVP, or C-Level in the product organization of a footwear brand or comparable international consumer company
• Proven experience building and scaling a multidisciplinary product organization
• Deep expertise in footwear development, engineering, construction, materials, fit, sampling, testing, and production
• Extensive direct experience with footwear factories and production partners in China; ideally a strong network in the Asian sourcing market
• Strong knowledge of sourcing, costing, supplier management, production planning, and commercial negotiations
• Experience building and scaling product portfolios, categories, and international product lines
• Strong commercial understanding of margin, pricing, manufacturing costs, volume, assortment, and product profitability
• Ability to develop C-level strategy while diving deep operationally to understand and drive complex product, development, or production problems
• Builder mindset; comfortable in an organization where structures aren't fully defined but are created by you
• Leadership with high standards, clear accountability, and strong execution
• Make decisions quickly, data-driven, and with strong entrepreneurial judgment
• Excellent English and high willingness to travel internationally, particularly to China and production partners
• Located near Hamburg or willing to work regularly on-site with the team

How We Work With You

When you apply through Get A Job.ai, our talent team will review your profile and conduct an initial screening conversation. If there's a strong match, we'll submit your candidacy to our client with full context about your background and experience. Please do not contact the employer directly—all communication flows through our recruiting process to ensure the best experience for everyone involved.

Pay

Compensation for this executive role will be commensurate with your experience and the significant impact of the position, including performance-based components. Specific figures will be discussed during the screening process based on your qualifications.

Equal Opportunity: Get A Job.ai is committed to inclusive hiring practices. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and work to ensure fair consideration throughout our recruitment process.