We are one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies connecting people to the lifestyles, activities and experiences they cherish through our family of iconic outdoor, active and workwear brands. At the heart of our journey lies our company-wide purpose: We power movements of sustainable and active lifestyles for the betterment of people and our planet. This is our purpose. It’s the reason we come to work every day. It’s a commitment shared by all of our global associates across brands. Our purpose unites us and leads us to pursue our goals, together. This is our calling.
We believe that when you discover the difference between a career and a calling, you get so much more out of life. When those lines begin to blur, you start to limit yourself much less and start aiming for more. That’s what we want for everyone who joins us at VF. And frankly, that’s what it takes to thrive here.
Here you can do the best work of your life. We are purpose led and performance driven, people-focused and supportive. Most importantly, we believe that everyone should be empowered to be their authentic self and we power an internal movement of inclusion and belonging. Our teams are built on a global mindset, sparked by sharp minds of diverse individuals and reflects the global consumers we serve.
Bring your energy and fresh perspective, contribute to our movement and build your future with us.
Senior Venture Catalyst
Venture Foundry is an internal incubator that discovers and builds new, industry disruptive business models in high growth spaces. It is the focal element of VF’s Venture strategy, which enables VF to win across time horizons by staying current with our changing consumers.
Venture Foundry associates work in ways that are not “business as usual,” challenging ourselves and each other, using entrepreneurial skills and an experimental mindset to get to the commercial truth about consumer problems, needs and market opportunities. We use ‘startup’ best practices in a test and learn environment, with rapid experimentation to validate assumptions and achieve aggressive targets.
This role provides the rare opportunity to ignite change and disrupt the Apparel & Footwear industry. The role provides all the excitement and freedom of helping to build an early stage business, but with the stability and resources of a large organization. The Venture Catalyst role is an essential resource for advancing a portfolio of ideas throughout various stages of development by focusing on creating value and increasing a portfolio’s chances of success.
How You Will Make a Difference:
1. Venture Catalysts work hand-in-hand with entrepreneurs / founders, or in some cases may be the lead-entrepreneur, tasked with advancing ideas through sequential stages of development to create new sources of value, revenue and growth through the commercialization of new business models (e.g., Marketplaces, Platforms, Services, Experiences, etc.).
2. Co-lead a robust process for discovering and testing new concepts and ideas, create hypotheses, validate assumptions, iterate against new insights and narrow the pipeline of possible solutions to optimal outcomes that serve the biggest addressable problems and markets.
3. Co-lead business case development on concept desirability, viability and feasibility to ensure proper resource allocation against ideas with the greatest ability to scale in the marketplace.
4. Utilize best practices and frameworks to meet time and investment-bound milestones and stagegates (e.g., Business Model Canvas, Lean Start-up, Agile Methodology, Design Thinking, etc.).
5. Facilitate entrepreneur / founder’s access to VFC proprietary gifts (e.g. brands, consumers, distribution / retail, technology, etc). Drive collaboration with VF brand teams, Venture Foundry teams, and corporate enterprise functions to align opportunities and utilize established resources to advance ideas and concepts.
6. Regularly communicate / present updates, perspectives, and recommendations to the Venture Foundry Growth board, VF executive leadership, and external stakeholders should we seek external capital to scale promising ideas.
7. Build and foster relationships with thought leaders, industry experts, subject matter experts, startups, established industry and industry-adjacent businesses, and other stakeholders to advance advantaged and defensible ideas and concepts.
Education / Professional Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree
- 7+ years of relevant experience and overall application in digital engineering, marketing, technology, designing digital e-commerce experiences, innovation, new product development, business strategy or equivalent work experience.
- Ideally 7+ years’ experience, leading/building product (i.e. a business) development within both large and small companies.
- Experience in launching an idea internally or externally that requires synthesis of disparate points of view/ insights/data and creating a cohesive narrative, plan and outcome.
- Experience in working directly with consumers and running experiments, in-market testing, and understanding what is required to launch the product.
Skills for Success:
- Grit, integrity, determination, creativity, commitment, humility, and resilience
- High comfort operating in ambiguous and unregimented environments
- Highly motivated and action-oriented with strong problem solving and analytical skills
- Possess a unique blend of analysis, strategic advice, storytelling and “roll-up-the-sleeve” type of attitude to help execute the opportunity at hand.
- Effective interpersonal, presentation and communication skills across all levels of the organization, including executive levels
- Ability to lay out a clear and compelling vision and successfully execute against the vision
- Ability to be tremendously adaptable and devise a path forward in situations with limited clarity
Free To Be, Inclusion & Diversity
As a purpose-led, performance driven company, we strive to foster a culture of belonging based on respect, connection, openness and authenticity. We are committed to building and maintaining a workplace that celebrates the diversity of our associates, allowing them to bring their authentic selves to work every day.
What’s in it For You
We’re in the business of unleashing human potential, driven by the ideas, energy and commitment of our people. That’s why we offer comprehensive benefits that encourage both mental, physical and financial well-being for all VF associates. When it comes to benefits, we’re the total package. Go to MyVFBenefits.com and click on “Looking to Join VF” to learn more.
We just have one question. Are you in?
Salary Range:$166,320.00 USD – $249,480.00 USD annually
Annual Incentive Eligibility :
This position is eligible to participate in VF’s Annual Incentive Plan. Incentive Plan awards are contingent upon (1) achievement of your individual objectives and (2) VF achieving its’ Corporate and business level financial objectives.
Long Term Incentive Eligibility :
This position is eligible to be nominated annually to participate in VF’s Executive Long-Term Incentive Plan.
Benefits at VF :
You can review a general overview of each benefit program offered, including this year’s medical plan rates on http://www.MyVFbenefits.com and clicking, Looking to Join VF? Detailed information on your benefits will be provided during your onboarding process.
If interested, please apply here.
