Lead Product Line Manager - Kids Basketball FootwearHybrid

Title: Lead Product Line Manager - Kids Basketball Footwear 

Location: Beaverton, OR

Duration: 6 months contract

NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

WHO YOU’LL WORK WITH

As the Lead Product Line Manager for Kids Basketball Footwear, you’ll work closely with a highly collaborative cross-functional team spanning Design, Development, Engineering, Materials, Merchandising, Brand and Marketplace. You’ll connect across Kids and Basketball teams to bring a strong Kids consumer perspective into the creation of signature basketball footwear, seasonal collections and key franchises.

You’ll play a critical role in translating the vision of Basketball into products and collections that are meaningful, relevant and compelling for the next generation of athletes.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for a passionate, curious and consumer-obsessed product leader who understands footwear, basketball and the unique needs of young athletes.

The ideal candidate can move seamlessly between consumer insight, product strategy and hands-on product creation. You know how to uncover meaningful consumer needs and translate those insights into clear product briefs that inspire cross-functional teams.

You are comfortable leading through ambiguity, bringing clarity to complex projects and balancing consumer needs, athlete insights, performance, design, cost, price and marketplace considerations to deliver compelling product.

Most importantly, you will be a strong advocate for the Kids consumer and ensure their needs remain at the center of the product creation process.

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

As the Lead Product Line Manager for Kids Basketball Footwear, you’ll help defi ne and deliver the product vision for key areas of the Kids Basketball portfolio.

Lead Kids Basketball Product Creation

• Develop a deep understanding of the Kids Basketball consumer, using consumer research, athlete feedback, product testing, marketplace insights, competitive analysis and basketball culture to identify opportunities.
• Translate those insights into clear, inspiring product briefs that articulate the consumer problem, product vision, performance benefi ts, positioning, price and marketplace opportunity.
• Lead the product creation process in partnership with Design, Development, Engineering and Materials, using the brief and consumer insight as the north star from concept through commercialization.
• Evaluate concepts, prototypes, materials, testing and consumer feedback, helping the team navigate trade-offs while protecting the product's most important consumer benefits.

Kids Signature Basketball Footwear

• Brief and manage the creation of Kids versions of signature basketball footwear, translating the adult signature vision into products designed specifi cally for young basketball athletes.
• Partner with Basketball teams to determine what elements of the signature athlete's product, performance story and design language are most important to preserve while ensuring the fi nal product is appropriate and compelling for Kids.
• Advocate for Kids-specifi c solutions when the needs of younger athletes require a different approach to fi t, function, construction, materials, price or design.

Seasonal Collections & Key Franchises

• Lead the briefi ng and creation of seasonal Kids Basketball footwear collections, building Kid relevant storytelling across performance and nsw.
• \Manage and evolve key Kids Basketball franchises, identifying opportunities to strengthen existing products and build longer-term franchise relevance.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the competitive marketplace and identify emerging opportunities that can strengthen the Kids Basketball portfolio.

Drive the Product to Commercialization

• Own products from brief through concept, development, testing, refi nement and commercialization, maintaining clarity around the consumer and product vision throughout the process.
• Partner across functions to drive decisions, resolve issues and keep projects moving against key creation milestones.
• Communicate product strategies and stories clearly to internal partners, helping downstream teams understand who the product is for, why it matters and what makes it compelling.
• Balance creativity and innovation with the realities of cost, timing, assortment and commercialization.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 5+ years of footwear product management experience preferred; relevant product line management experience will also be considered.
• Strong understanding of the footwear product creation process, from consumer insight and briefi ng through commercialization.
• Ability to translate consumer and marketplace insights into compelling product opportunities and actionable briefs.
• Experience partnering with multidisciplinary creation teams such as Design, Development, Engineering and Materials.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills with the ability to create clarity and alignment across diverse cross-functional teams.
• Ability to manage multiple products and workstreams simultaneously in a fast-moving creation environment.
• Strong curiosity for basketball, footwear, youth culture and the evolving needs of young athletes.
• A collaborative approach and willingness to challenge convention in service of creating better products for Kids.