RVCA Director of Men's M&D

Role Summary

The Director of Men’s Merchandising, Product Development & Design is responsible for the overall product strategy, merchandising, design direction, and seasonal execution of RVCA Men’s.

This role leads the Men’s Design and Merchandising function across Lifestyle, Sport, and ANP/Art, establishing a cohesive product vision that reflects RVCA’s creative identity, connection to art and culture, surf heritage, and evolving position within the action sports and lifestyle marketplace.

The Director owns the Men’s line from market and consumer analysis through strategy, line planning, design, product development, commercialization, and seasonal delivery. This includes defining the category architecture, identifying growth opportunities, establishing seasonal product priorities, and ensuring the line delivers the appropriate balance of core product, innovation, sport performance, fashion relevance, and brand expression.

Working closely with Sales, Planning, Product Development, Marketing, and Creative, this role is the central owner of the Men’s product calendar and serves as the key connection between what the consumer wants, what the market is doing, what RVCA stands for, and what the business needs to deliver.

The ideal candidate is both a strategic product leader and a strong creative leader with deep experience in men’s apparel, action sports, surf, lifestyle, and contemporary culture.

Key Responsibilities & Job Duties

1. Men’s Product Strategy

• Own the overall product strategy and seasonal vision for RVCA Men’s.
• Establish a clear point of view across Lifestyle, Sport, and ANP/Art.
• Define the role of each category within the overall Men’s business.
• Identify consumer, cultural, and marketplace opportunities that can translate into meaningful product.
• Establish seasonal product priorities, key initiatives, franchises, and areas of innovation.
• Balance brand-building product with commercial opportunity and core business.
• Ensure the Men’s line has a distinct and cohesive point of view across all categories.

2. Merchandising & Line Planning

• Own the Men’s line plan and assortment strategy from initial concept through final delivery.
• Establish category breadth, depth, SKU targets, price architecture, and product mix.
• Determine the appropriate balance of core, seasonal, fashion, Sport, and innovation product.
• Define key items, franchises, seasonal stories, and product priorities.
• Partner with Planning to align the assortment with financial targets, inventory strategy, and sales expectations.
• Identify product gaps, opportunities, redundancies, and areas for rationalization.
• Use historical performance and market intelligence to inform future assortments.
• Ensure the line is commercially productive while maintaining a strong RVCA point of view.

3. Consumer, Market & Competitive Analysis

• Lead ongoing market research and competitive analysis across surf, action sports, streetwear, fashion, lifestyle, and performance.
• Conduct regular market shopping to understand product, pricing, merchandising, consumer behavior, and emerging trends.
• Analyze sales, sell-through, margin, inventory, and category performance.
• Translate quantitative business data and qualitative market observations into actionable product strategies.
• Identify whitespace and emerging opportunities before they become established categories.
• Lead seasonal hindsight and incorporate learnings into future line plans.

4. Lifestyle, Sport & ANP/Art Direction

• Establish clear product direction across RVCA’s three core Men’s expressions: Lifestyle, Sport, and ANP/Art.
• Ensure each expression has a distinct role while remaining connected to the larger RVCA brand.
• Lead the development of Sport product that delivers authentic performance, function, and technical credibility.
• Guide Lifestyle product toward relevant silhouettes, materials, styling, and cultural references.
• Champion ANP/Art as a meaningful product and brand expression rather than simply a graphic program.
• Partner with Creative and Art teams to translate artists, culture, design, and creative collaborations into product opportunities.
• Ensure art, graphics, prints, and product design work together as one cohesive seasonal story.

5. Design Leadership

• Lead and develop the Men’s Design team across apparel, Sport, and ANP/Art.
• Lead the Design team into the seasonal creative direction based on the merchandising strategy and brand vision.
• Set expectations for silhouette, proportion, fabrication, color, graphics, print, construction, and overall product expression.
• Review and approve key concepts, collections, materials, color palettes, graphics, and product direction.
• Challenge the team to create differentiated product rather than incremental updates to existing styles.
• Establish clear priorities, accountability, and standards for design execution.
• Mentor designers and build the capabilities of the Men’s creative organization.

6. Sport Product Leadership

• Own the strategic role of Sport within the Men’s assortment.
• Ensure Sport product reflects credible performance needs while maintaining RVCA’s design and cultural point of view.
• Identify opportunities across training, performance, active, and sport-inspired categories.
• Partner with Design and Product Development on technical fabrics, construction, fit, function, and performance innovation.
• Evaluate the competitive performance landscape and identify opportunities to differentiate RVCA Sport.
• Ensure Sport complements, rather than competes with, the Lifestyle assortment.

7. ANP / Art & Cultural Product

• Develop the strategic role of ANP/Art within the Men’s product architecture.
• Identify opportunities for artist collaborations, artwork, graphics, prints, photography, and other creative expressions.
• Partner with Creative, Marketing, and artists to develop product with authentic cultural relevance.
• Ensure art-driven product maintains a strong connection to RVCA’s heritage while remaining contemporary.
• Establish a balance between artist-driven product, core ANP identity, and commercially relevant product.
• Identify opportunities to use art and creative collaborations to create meaningful product distinction.

8. Product Development & Commercialization

• Lead the Product Development team to bring the seasonal line from concept through production.
• Maintain visibility across development, costing, fit, fabrication, quality, and production timelines.
• Ensure product intent and merchandising priorities remain intact throughout development.
• Make timely decisions around design, costing, construction, and product viability.
• Balance creative ambition with margin, cost, quality, manufacturability, and target retail.
• Identify and resolve development risks before they impact the seasonal calendar.

9. Sales Partnership

• Serve as a key product partner to the Sales organization.
• Partner with Sales to understand account needs, customer feedback, competitive activity, and commercial opportunities.
• Incorporate relevant wholesale insights into future line strategies without compromising RVCA’s broader brand direction.
• Lead or support seasonal line reviews, sales meetings, market appointments, and key customer presentations.
• Clearly communicate seasonal strategy, product stories, hero items, and category priorities.
• Use sales feedback and market performance to continuously improve the product line.

10. Planning & Financial Partnership

• Partner closely with Planning to establish and manage seasonal financial objectives.
• Align line architecture and assortment decisions with sales, margin, inventory, and productivity targets.
• Evaluate category and SKU productivity to inform future product decisions.
• Understand the financial implications of product depth, pricing, markdown exposure, and inventory.
• Make informed decisions regarding investment in core, newness, innovation, and strategic product.
• Ensure the line is both creatively differentiated and commercially accountable.

11. Marketing & Go-to-Market Partnership

• Partner with Marketing to establish the seasonal product story and key consumer messages.
• Identify hero products, collections, collaborations, and launches that warrant marketing support.
• Translate merchandising and product strategy into compelling consumer-facing stories.
• Align product development timing with marketing, campaign, and launch calendars.
• Ensure Marketing has clear product knowledge and seasonal direction well in advance of launch.

12. Product Calendar Ownership

• Own the Men’s product calendar from strategy and line planning through final delivery.
• Establish seasonal milestones, decision points, and cross-functional deadlines.
• Hold Design, Merchandising, Product Development, Planning, Sales, and Marketing accountable to key deliverables.
• Lead seasonal milestone and line review meetings.
• Identify risks, make decisions, and establish corrective actions to protect the calendar.
• Maintain appropriate speed and discipline without compromising product quality or creative direction.

13. Leadership & Organizational Development

• Build and lead a high-performing Men’s Merchandising & Design organization.
• Establish clear roles, responsibilities, priorities, and decision-making processes.
• Develop talent across Design and Merchandising.
• Create strong collaboration between creative and commercial functions.
• Establish a culture that values product excellence, accountability, curiosity, and decisive action.
• Partner with leadership on organizational structure, hiring, talent development, and succession planning.

Skills & Qualifications

Leadership & Experience

• 10+ years of experience in apparel design, merchandising, product, or a combination of disciplines.
• Proven leadership experience managing creative and/or merchandising teams.
• Experience owning a complete seasonal apparel business or significant product category.
• Experience within surf, action sports, streetwear, lifestyle, fashion, or performance apparel strongly preferred.

Merchandising & Business Acumen

• Strong understanding of line planning, assortment architecture, pricing, margin, inventory, sales, and product productivity.
• Highly analytical with the ability to translate business data into product decisions.
• Strong understanding of consumer behavior, competitive markets, and category economics.
• Ability to balance brand equity, product innovation, and commercial performance.

Creative & Product Expertise

• Strong understanding of men’s apparel, Sport, graphics, art, fabrication, construction, fit, silhouette, and product development.
• Proven ability to establish a clear creative and product point of view.
• Strong understanding of surf and action-sports culture.
• Ability to connect product design with broader cultural and consumer trends.
• Strong understanding of the relationship between product, art, graphics, and brand identity.

Market & Cultural Expertise

• Deep knowledge of surf, action sports, streetwear, fashion, art, music, and contemporary youth culture.
• Strong market-shopping and competitive-analysis skills.
• Ability to identify meaningful cultural shifts and translate them into product opportunities.
• Authentic connection to the communities and culture that inform RVCA.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Exceptional communication, presentation, and influencing skills.
• Proven ability to lead across Design, Merchandising, Planning, Product Development, Sales, Marketing, and Creative.
• Comfortable making decisions and holding cross-functional teams accountable.
• Able to communicate equally effectively with creative and business audiences.

Organization & Execution

• Highly organized with strong seasonal calendar and project-management skills.
• Able to manage multiple categories, seasons, and priorities simultaneously.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Strong attention to detail while maintaining a strategic perspective.
• Willingness to travel for market research, sales meetings, development, fittings, and industry events as needed.