Product Development Specialist - Women's Footwear - Johnston & Murphy

The Ideal Candidate

The Product Development Specialist, Women’s Footwear, plays a key role in the seasonal product creation process, partnering closely with Design, Development, and Product Line Management.

• Serve as a key liaison between Design, Development, and Product Line Management (PLM) to support a seamless seasonal product creation process.
• Create and maintain product specifications, line sheets, and product information within PLM systems, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
• Cook up and manage the seasonal materials process, including material libraries, swatch management, sample material requests, and approval tracking.
• Ensure timely and accurate communication of development updates, changes, approvals, and action items across internal and global partner teams.
• Participate in fit sessions and milestone reviews; document findings and communicate feedback and direction to overseas development teams and factory partners.
• Partner with the Johnston & Murphy Costing team to manage product costing, conduct seasonal cost analyses, and identify solutions to meet margin objectives.

Experience And Skills You'll Need To Have

• Bachelor’s degree ideally in a related field of study.
• Minimum of 4-6 years of footwear or accessories industry experience.
• Proven ability to build and maintain effective partnerships both internally across departments and externally with suppliers.
• Effective time/calendar management, highly organized, detail-oriented, and adaptable to fast-paced, evolving development cycles.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and industry-specific tools such as Product Line Management and Development software.
• Driven, self-starter with a desire to learn and grow their career.
• Willingness to travel both domestically and internationally.