$300-400K: Chief Marketing Officer (Costa Mesa, CA)

Vans, Inc.

1588 S Coast Drive

Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1533

+1-714-755-4000

www.vans.com

🔥 Click here to view RESEARCH & INSIGHT🔥 on this role.

About the job

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?

As a member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), you report directly to the Global Brand President and play a crucial role in setting the vision and strategy for brand marketing, creative, communications, and social media. You drive global planning, development, and execution in these areas, ensuring alignment with the overall brand strategy.

Your position involves inspiring a large, global team to create meaningful and authentic consumer experiences that generate revenue, exceed department goals, and grow the global consumer base. You are passionate about consumer experiences and seamlessly blend creativity with analytical thinking to reach target consumers.

You are known for your curiosity, innovation, creativity, and progressive marketing approach. Collaboration is key for you; you actively seek out opinions, earn and maintain trust with your teams. You value and demand diversity of thought and embody the Van Doren values in your leadership style.

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

• Leverage a deep understanding of digital platforms and technologies, to create and implement innovative marketing strategies that resonate with online audiences, driving engagement and growth.
• Provide Marketing leadership that is authentic, strategic, commercially-focused and meaningfully differentiated from Vans primary competitors.
• Educate and execute against a Brand Marketing strategy adhering to aligned Brand Positioning, Brand Creative standards, and the commercial needs within each Region.
• Engineer and direct Vans’ athlete strategy and execution, ensuring alignment with Product and Revenue objectives.
• Collaborate with the Consumer Data & Insights team, diving deep into consumer behavior, creating more targeted and effective marking strategies that drive business growth
• Develop and execute against creative advertising, seeding, public relations, product placement, sales material and visual merchandising strategy, ensuring high and relevant visibility for Vans brand and product with target consumer.

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 20+ years of experience and professional achievements.

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• Strategic Vision: Ability to create and execute a long-term strategic vision that aligns with the brand’s goals and market trends
• Digital Marketing Expertise: Demonstrated expertise in digital marketing, including experience implementing AI initiatives
• Leadership and Team Management: Strong leadership skills to inspire and manage a talented marketing team, fostering collaboration and creativity
• Creative Thinking and Innovation: A knack for creative thinking to develop unique marketing campaigns that stand out in a competitive market
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Highly proficient at interpreting data to drive marketing decisions and optimize strategies based on consistent metrics
• Effective Prioritization: Ability to drive multiple marketing initiatives, ensuring resources are allocated to high-impact projects, while maintaining focus on strategic goals
• Resourcefulness: Finding creative solutions to challenges and making the most of crucial resources
• Customer-Centric Mindset: Deep understanding of consumer behavior to create marketing strategies that resonate with the target audience
• Brand Management: Strong skills in brand management to maintain and enhance the brand’s image and reputation
• Collaboration and Cross-Functional Alignment: Ability to work collaboratively with other departments to ensure marketing efforts are aligned with overall business objectives
• Adaptability and Agility: Flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences
• Emotional Intelligence: High emotional intelligence to manage relationships and lead effectively

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”.

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.

Long-Term Incentive Potential: This position is eligible to participate in a Long-Term Incentive Plan. Specific details of the plan 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 are unable to submit your application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at [email protected]. VF will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities 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.

Metric or Reference

Value

Context

Annual Revenue

$2.3 billion

Vans’ total revenue as of FY2025

Revenue Decline (Q4 FY25)

• 20%

Year-over-year drop driven by DTC traffic softness and channel resets

DTC Weakness Contribution

40%

Percentage of total revenue drop attributed to DTC underperformance

Owned Retail Stores

600+

Company-owned global store footprint

Total Countries with Distribution

85+

Global distribution footprint

Tariff Risk Exposure

$150 million

Potential annual cost impact from U.S. import tariffs if left unmitigated

Inbound Product Dependency (SE Asia & Latin America)

85%

Share of Vans’ manufacturing base outside China

China Sourcing Exposure

<2%

Vans’ remaining manufacturing exposure to China

Retail Footprint (All Channels)

2,000+

Vans’ global points of sale (owned, partner, concession)

Revenue Share from DTC

Not explicitly stated

But DTC performance noted as critical to brand control and margin

Revenue Impact of Store Closures

Not quantified

Qualitatively noted as streamlining for higher-margin focus

Gross Margin Trend

Improving

Attributable to less discounting and channel cleanup

Super Low Pro Early Sales

Sold out in key colorways

Example of successful innovation targeting women

Qualifications

• You are passionate about consumer experiences and seamlessly blend creativity with analytical thinking to reach target consumers
• You are known for your curiosity, innovation, creativity, and progressive marketing approach
• Collaboration is key for you; you actively seek out opinions, earn and maintain trust with your teams
• You value and demand diversity of thought and embody the Van Doren values in your leadership style
• Leverage a deep understanding of digital platforms and technologies, to create and implement innovative marketing strategies that resonate with online audiences, driving engagement and growth
• 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 20+ years of experience and professional achievements
• Strategic Vision: Ability to create and execute a long-term strategic vision that aligns with the brand’s goals and market trends
• Digital Marketing Expertise: Demonstrated expertise in digital marketing, including experience implementing AI initiatives
• Leadership and Team Management: Strong leadership skills to inspire and manage a talented marketing team, fostering collaboration and creativity
• Creative Thinking and Innovation: A knack for creative thinking to develop unique marketing campaigns that stand out in a competitive market
• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Highly proficient at interpreting data to drive marketing decisions and optimize strategies based on consistent metrics
• Effective Prioritization: Ability to drive multiple marketing initiatives, ensuring resources are allocated to high-impact projects, while maintaining focus on strategic goals
• Resourcefulness: Finding creative solutions to challenges and making the most of crucial resources
• Customer-Centric Mindset: Deep understanding of consumer behavior to create marketing strategies that resonate with the target audience
• Brand Management: Strong skills in brand management to maintain and enhance the brand’s image and reputation
• Collaboration and Cross-Functional Alignment: Ability to work collaboratively with other departments to ensure marketing efforts are aligned with overall business objectives
• Adaptability and Agility: Flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences
• Emotional Intelligence: High emotional intelligence to manage relationships and lead effectively
• 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

Benefits

• 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
• Incentive Potential: This position is eligible for additional compensation awards that may include an annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission potential
• Long-Term Incentive Potential: This position is eligible to participate in a Long-Term Incentive Plan
• 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?
• Annual Revenue
• $2.3 billion
• Vans’ total revenue as of FY2025
• Revenue Decline (Q4 FY25)
• Year-over-year drop driven by DTC traffic softness and channel resets
• 40%
• 85+
• Tariff Risk Exposure
• $150 million
• Potential annual cost impact from U.S. import tariffs if left unmitigated
• Vans’ global points of sale (owned, partner, concession)
• Revenue Share from DTC

Responsibilities

• As a member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), you report directly to the Global Brand President and play a crucial role in setting the vision and strategy for brand marketing, creative, communications, and social media
• You drive global planning, development, and execution in these areas, ensuring alignment with the overall brand strategy
• Your position involves inspiring a large, global team to create meaningful and authentic consumer experiences that generate revenue, exceed department goals, and grow the global consumer base
• Provide Marketing leadership that is authentic, strategic, commercially-focused and meaningfully differentiated from Vans primary competitors
• Educate and execute against a Brand Marketing strategy adhering to aligned Brand Positioning, Brand Creative standards, and the commercial needs within each Region
• Engineer and direct Vans’ athlete strategy and execution, ensuring alignment with Product and Revenue objectives
• Collaborate with the Consumer Data & Insights team, diving deep into consumer behavior, creating more targeted and effective marking strategies that drive business growth
• Develop and execute against creative advertising, seeding, public relations, product placement, sales material and visual merchandising strategy, ensuring high and relevant visibility for Vans brand and product with target consumer
• Inbound Product Dependency (SE Asia & Latin America)