Director Product (m/w/d)

About This Opportunity

We are representing a rapidly scaling footwear brand based in Hamburg that has grown to over one million customers in just four years. Our client is now building out their international product organization and needs an experienced Director of Product to lead Product Development, Merchandising, and Footwear Design.

This is a true end-to-end product leadership role. You'll own the entire journey from trend identification and design concepts through sourcing, sampling, costing, production management, and final delivery. You'll be responsible for building and managing factory relationships—primarily in China—and ensuring products land on time, at the right quality, and at profitable margins.

If you've spent years working directly with Chinese manufacturers, understand production realities on the ground, and know that some problems can't be solved via email, this role is for you. When production stalls, shipments delay, or quality issues emerge, you won't wait for the next status meeting. You'll solve it—and if that means getting on a plane to China, you'll be in the air.

Responsibilities

• Lead Product Development, Merchandising, and Footwear Design teams with full P&L accountability
• Provide both strategic direction and hands-on leadership to Heads of function and Senior Specialists
• Manage the complete product lifecycle: trend analysis, design, sourcing, sampling, costing, production, and delivery
• Build and expand a strong international supplier and factory network with a primary focus on China
• Negotiate directly with factories on pricing, MOQs, quality standards, capacity, lead times, and production terms
• Troubleshoot production, quality, and delivery issues with urgency; escalate on-site when necessary
• Travel regularly to China and other production locations to manage factories, suppliers, and production processes in person
• Own product quality, timelines, margins, costing, and delivery capability across the portfolio
• Steer assortment planning, collections, and product roadmaps in collaboration with Marketing, Finance, and executive leadership
• Analyze sales performance, demand signals, market trends, competitive landscape, and customer insights to refine the product portfolio
• Build clear processes, KPIs, and ownership structures across the product lifecycle
• Identify risks early and implement corrective action before small issues become critical problems
• Partner closely with Supply Chain, Logistics, Marketing, Finance, and executive teams

What We're Looking For

• Extensive experience in a senior leadership role within Product, Product Development, Sourcing, or Footwear—ideally at a high-growth consumer, fashion, or footwear brand
• Several years leading other leaders and multidisciplinary product teams
• Deep China experience with an established network of factories, producers, and suppliers
• Strong working knowledge of Chinese production processes, business culture, negotiation dynamics, and supplier relationship management
• Proven expertise in sourcing, sampling, quality control, costing, production planning, and supplier management
• Solid understanding of footwear development: materials, construction, fit, and quality requirements
• Strong commercial acumen around margin, landed cost, MOQs, volume planning, and product profitability
• Experience building scalable product and production processes in a fast-growth environment
• High international travel availability, especially to China; willing to travel on short notice to resolve critical production or delivery issues on the ground
• Strong decision-making ability, resilience under pressure, and genuine hands-on mentality
• You don't wait for perfect information—you make sound decisions under time constraints and take ownership through to results
• You reject "it can't be done" until all options have been exhausted
• Excellent negotiation skills with the ability to build long-term supplier relationships while holding firm on expectations
• Fluent English required; additional languages relevant to working with Asian suppliers are a strong plus
• German language skills are beneficial but not required

How We Work With You

Get A Job.ai is managing this search on behalf of our client. When you apply through our platform, one of our recruiters will screen your background and discuss the opportunity in detail. If there's a strong match, we'll submit your profile to the client for consideration. Please do not contact the employer directly—all applications and communication should go through Get A Job.ai to ensure a smooth and professional process.

Pay

Compensation details will be discussed during the screening process based on your experience and 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 and equitable treatment throughout the recruitment process.