Vans: Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives

Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives at Vans

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.

A day in the life of a Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives at Vans looks a little like this.

This role sits within the team focused on unlocking incremental growth opportunities beyond the core business, with responsibility for licensing, collaborations, and strategic partnerships that can scale across categories, channels, and regions. You'll work closely with Product, Marketing, Brand, Operations, Finance, and Legal, while also partnering with external licensors and collaborators. At the highest level, this role identifies, evaluates, and helps bring revenue-generating opportunities to market, balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution. This role reports to the Vice President, Strategy & Chief of Staff at Vans.

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

• Identify and evaluate licensing, collaboration, and non-traditional revenue opportunities, building business cases and revenue forecasts to help determine where to invest.
• Support partnerships from early concept through launch and beyond, helping shape deal structures, track performance, and inform renewal or exit decisions.
• Manage day-to-day relationships with external partners and licensors, working with internal teams to support contracts, governance, and ongoing business reviews.
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Design, Marketing, Operations, GTM, Finance, and Legal to align timelines, deliverables, and go-to-market plans across multiple initiatives.
• Build and manage a pipeline of future partnership opportunities while helping establish the tools, reporting, and processes needed to support scale over time.

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.

• 7–10+ years of experience in licensing, partnerships, business development, or a related commercial role.
• Experience developing and executing licensing or partnership initiatives with external partners.
• Strong analytical and financial skills, including experience building business cases, revenue forecasts, and performance tracking.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional work in a matrixed organization and keep multiple initiatives moving forward.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across internal teams and external partners.

There are also a few skills that are not required but preferred.

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or other advanced degree is a plus.
• Experience supporting opportunities that can scale across regions, channels, or product categories is preferred.

Hiring Range: $132,192.00 USD - $165,240.00 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 and by clicking Looking to Join VF? Detailed information on your benefits will be provided during the hiring process.

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 View email address on click.appcast.io. 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.