Senior Manager Product Development Colors & Materials F - M H/F Lacoste

CONTEXT AND PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Senior Manager, Product Development Color & Material leads the global execution of color, material (C&M) development across footwear categories. This role is responsible for translating design and brand intent into scalable, manufacturable, and premium material executions, ensuring innovation, quality, cost targets, and speed-to-market are achieved.

Acting as a critical bridge between Design, Materials Innovation, Product Merchandising, Sourcing, and Manufacturing, this role sets standards, drives process excellence, and leads teams across HQ Paris and Asia to deliver consumer-right color and material solutions at scale.

MAIN REPONSIBILITIES

Leadership & Team Management

· Lead, inspire, and develop global Color & Material Development team across HQ and Asia.

· Set clear priorities, ways of working, and accountability across regions and categories.

· Coach and mentor senior developers, building strong succession and capability pipelines.

· Foster a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Product Development & Innovation

· Own end-to-end color and material development from design handoff through production approval.

· Ensure feasibility, manufacturability, durability, and performance meet brand and consumer expectations.

· Partner with Design and Materials teams to push innovation in materials, finishes, dyes, and sustainable solutions.

· Translate creative vision into scalable executions without compromising quality or intent.

· Drive seasonal material strategies aligned to category, price point, and margin targets.

Operational Excellence

· Partner with Sourcing and Manufacturing to optimize cost, lead time, quality, and material availability.

· Establish and monitor KPIs across development timelines, material adoption, cost targets, and quality performance.

· Lead seasonal development calendars and manage risk across multiple product pipelines.

· Proactively troubleshoot material, color, or production challenges and implement scalable solutions.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

· Act as a key liaison between Design, Product Merch, CSR, Quality, and Supply Chain.

· Influence long-term material roadmaps and platform strategies with leadership and innovation teams.

· Ensure sustainability goals are embedded into material and color development decisions.

· Partner with leadership on strategic planning and future capability building.