Product Category Manager

Company Overview

Sea to Summit is a globally recognised Australian outdoor brand known for designing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative gear built for adventures at every elevation. Founded in 1990, the company has grown into an international business with offices in Australia, North America, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and China. Its team is made up of driven, experienced, and imaginative professionals united by a commitment to create gear that removes friction so people can focus on adventure.

The company’s purpose is to be a dependable partner for every journey.

Role Summary

The Product Category Manager will set the strategic direction, commercial performance, and market outcomes for assigned product categories. The role owns the category roadmap from long-range planning through launch and ongoing in-season performance tracking. Acting as the representative for both consumers and retailers, this position ensures products reflect customer needs, market movements, and the company’s brand strategy.

Working closely with Marketing, Product Development, Sales, Finance, and Operations, the role supports category growth through strong market insight, clear positioning, and effective go-to-market execution that drives both retail adoption and consumer sell-through. Success in this role depends on combining strong analytical ability with a deep understanding of consumers and the ability to tell compelling product stories that uncover both expressed needs and hidden pain points in the outdoor market.

This opportunity is based at the Perth head office.

Responsibilities

• Build and refresh multi-year category strategies and revenue plans that support the global brand and product direction.
• Own long-term range planning by spotting assortment gaps, product opportunities, and channel-specific needs.
• Act as the customer and retailer voice to shape commercially sound products that remain highly relevant to end users.
• Work with regional sales teams to ensure category plans support the priorities of key retail partners.
• Monitor consumer behaviour, competitor activity, and channel trends to guide innovation and protect category leadership.
• Prepare product concepts and business cases for the Stage Gate process using consumer insight, market data, and strategic priorities.
• Run seasonal range reviews and analyse category performance to influence future product decisions.
• Identify opportunities to optimise SKUs, expand the range, or reduce overlap where needed.
• Define product positioning, including target audience, key benefits, and overall value proposition.
• Collaborate with Brand and Marketing teams to turn product features into persuasive consumer messaging and stories.
• Contribute to pricing discussions with regional teams so margins are protected while remaining aligned to consumer price expectations.
• Support launch messaging and sell-in materials that clearly communicate the category’s value to retail partners.
• Engage with regional sales teams and major retailers to collect insights that strengthen category planning.
• Create trade marketing assets such as line presentations, sell-in tools, and education material for retail staff.
• Partner with the GTM team on merchandising guidance and point-of-sale strategies that explain product benefits and improve in-store conversion.
• Provide category expertise during retailer range reviews and growth discussions.
• Track category results including revenue, margin, product mix, and inventory health.
• Support pricing decisions, forecasting, and SKU rationalisation using commercial analysis.
• Turn sell-through data, retailer feedback, and market trends into practical actions that improve performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Product Management, or a related discipline.
• At least 5 years of experience in category management, product marketing, merchandising, or product management.
• Background in outdoor, sporting goods, travel gear, or consumer lifestyle brands is strongly preferred.
• Solid understanding of product lifecycles, retail settings, and go-to-market processes.
• Strategic mindset with strong commercial judgement.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills.
• Ability to convert consumer insight into category and product strategy.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and collaboration skills.
• Comfort with data analysis and evidence-based decision-making.
• Advanced capability in Excel, range planning tools, and sales analytics platforms.
• Genuine interest in outdoor adventure and product innovation is preferred.
• Experience working with specialist outdoor retailers and global retail partners is desirable.
• Exposure to international markets or global product planning environments is an advantage.

Additional Information

Our value proposition includes the chance to work with an international team that is passionate about the outdoors, along with discounts and a gear allowance. The company also offers a volunteering day off, opportunities for ongoing learning and development, an Employee Assistance Program to support overall wellbeing, a competitive salary package, 16 weeks of paid parental leave, and hybrid work arrangements.

Equal Opportunity

Sea to Summit is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where people from all backgrounds are welcome. The company is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, disability, national origin, protected veteran status, age, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Note

This posting does not list every duty, responsibility, or qualification tied to the role. The selected candidate should expect to handle a wide range of responsibilities, from administrative processing through to leading change initiatives.