Project Specialist

Location: Portland, Oregon | Job type: Contract | Work hours: 8am to 5pm

About the role

As the Brand Specialist - Global Footwear, you play a pivotal role in supporting the continued growth of one of the client's most important and fastest-evolving business opportunities. You are responsible for leading the execution and contributing to the evolution of global footwear promotional and seeding programs, ensuring the right products are delivered to the right people at the right time to support brand and business objectives. Working from the center of a highly cross-functional ecosystem, you partner closely across multiple marketing, commercial, and development teams to drive alignment and flawless execution. This role is based in Portland and is open to hybrid work.

Responsibilities

• Own the day-to-day management and execution of the client's global footwear promotional and seeding programs
• Coordinate seasonal product allocation requests and promotional inventory planning in partnership with the Footwear Business Unit and Supply Planning teams
• Manage footwear seeding calendars, distribution timelines, tracking, reporting, and operational processes
• Serve as a key point of contact between Global Brand, Regional Marketing, Trade Marketing, Community, Athlete, and Commercial teams for footwear promotional product needs
• Facilitate cross-functional meetings, document actions and decisions, and drive follow-up to ensure timelines and deliverables are achieved
• Build and maintain tools, trackers, dashboards, and operating processes that improve visibility and efficiency across footwear marketing initiatives
• Support global footwear campaign and launch planning by coordinating deliverables across internal and external stakeholders
• Work closely with Global Creative Production to ensure assets, product samples, and briefs are aligned with project timelines
• Track key program metrics and provide reporting and insights to support decision-making and continuous improvement
• Identify opportunities to streamline workflows and improve the effectiveness of footwear marketing operations
• Support the development of new processes, tools, and ways of working as the footwear category and global footwear marketing function continue to evolve
• Maintain awareness of the global trail running landscape, key competitions, athletes, communities, and industry trends to help inform seeding opportunities and marketing initiatives
• Support execution of integrated footwear marketing initiatives and special projects as needed

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Commerce, or a related field
• 3+ years of experience in marketing, project management, program management, brand management, or related fields
• Experience coordinating complex projects involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities
• Highly organized with the ability to manage details without losing sight of the bigger picture
• Experience working with project management platforms such as Monday.com, Smartsheet, Asana, or similar tools
• Strong communication skills to effectively build relationships and influence cross-functional partners
• Comfortable facilitating meetings, driving alignment, and ensuring accountability across teams
• Excellent project management skills with a track record of delivering against timelines and commitments
• Proactively identify challenges, remove roadblocks, and develop practical solutions
• Comfortable working in highly ambiguous environments and energized by building new processes, programs, and ways of working
• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to move initiatives forward with limited direction or established frameworks
• Comfortable navigating competing priorities and evolving business needs in a fast-paced growth environment
• Comfortable using data, reporting, and insights to support recommendations and decision-making
• Strong business acumen and an enterprise mindset when approaching challenges
• Strong collaborator who can influence and align stakeholders across multiple functions and levels of the organization
• Effectively balance autonomy and collaboration
• Inspire continuous improvement and look for opportunities to create scalable solutions
• Seek the best, sometimes not the easiest, solutions with an unwavering commitment to doing what is right
• Passion for, or knowledge of, the global trail running community, key athletes, events, and competitive landscape
• Experience working within the running, outdoor, footwear, or sporting goods industries is considered an asset

Pay

$33 - 42 per hour

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package, including medical, prescription, dental, vision, AD&D, and life insurance offerings
• Short-term disability
• 401K plan (all benefits are based on eligibility)