E-commerce Product Operations Manager
ABOUT THE POSITION
Our mission at Columbia Sportswear is to unlock the outdoors for everyone.
The Ecommerce Product Operations Manager is a key leader within the eCommerce team responsible for evolving how product information is created, managed, and activated to deliver a best-in-class consumer experience. This role partners closely with Product Creation, Technology, and Wholesale teams to influence how product data is structured and delivered-ensuring it is consumer-first, complete, consistent, and optimized for digital commerce.
This role acts as a critical bridge between product creation and digital experience, driving alignment on data standards, improving inputs, and enabling product information to better support discovery, engagement, and conversion.
You will also own product operations across eCommerce, including product setup and product response, ensuring a seamless experience from launch through post-purchase. This includes acting as the voice of the consumer, identifying friction points, and coordinating cross-functional action to improve conversion and reduce returns.
In addition, you will lead the strategy and management of third-party tools and solutions that power product discovery and merchandising-continuously evolving how Columbia surfaces and presents products in the digital ecosystem.
This role also includes direct people leadership, ensuring strong execution across onsite experience and product operations.
The ideal candidate is both strategic and highly operational, with a strong balance of data thinking, process rigor, and consumer empathy. You are energized by improving systems, influencing partners, and driving measurable improvements in how products are experienced online.
HOW YOU’LL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Influence Product Data Strategy & Inputs
Partner with Product, Technology, and Wholesale teams to influence how product data is created, structured, and delivered
Advocate for a consumer-first approach to product data, ensuring key attributes, content, and details support how consumers shop digitally
Define and socialize data standards for completeness, consistency, and usability across digital channels
Identify gaps in product data inputs and work cross-functionally to improve upstream processes and outcomes
Enable Product Data for Digital Commerce
Define how product data should be leveraged to power search, navigation, personalization, and product detail experiences
Partner with Digital Journey, Buying/Merchandising, and Analytics teams to ensure product data supports discovery and conversion
Identify opportunities to enhance taxonomy, attributes, and product structure to improve performance
Connect product data improvements to tangible business outcomes (conversion, add-to-cart, return rate)
Unify real-time product performance insights with streamlined bulk enrichment tools to maximize sales and catalog discoverability
Product Discovery Innovation & Experience Enhancement
Lead strategy for uplifting product discovery experiences through new features, tools, and capabilities like Shopper Agent on PDP
Identify and implement solutions that enhance how consumers find, evaluate, and engage with products (e.g., finders, recommendations, compare tools, outfitting/bundling)
Continuously evaluate emerging technologies and capabilities that improve product discovery and merchandising
Partner with cross-functional teams to test and scale new features that drive incremental engagement and revenue
Product Operations Ownership
Own end-to-end product operations execution across eCommerce, including:
Product setup and QA
Product readiness and launch coordination
Data validation and accuracy checks
Ensure high-quality, timely execution across all product-related workflows
Continuously improve processes to increase speed, consistency, and scalability
Product Response & Consumer Feedback Loop
Own product response strategy, including Ratings & Reviews, Q&A, and return reason insights
Act as the voice of the consumer, translating feedback into actionable improvements
Partner with Product, Buying/Merchandising, and Operations teams to address root causes of friction (e.g., low conversion, high return rates)
Establish clear processes to ensure consumer feedback is captured, analyzed, and acted upon consistently
3rd Party Tools & Platform Management
Own strategy, sourcing, onboarding, and management of third-party tools that support product discovery.
Evaluate new vendors and solutions that enhance product discovery, personalization, and merchandising
Ensure tools are effectively integrated and delivering measurable incremental value
Track performance, adoption, and ROI, making recommendations for optimization or change
Cross-Functional Leadership & Alignment
Act as a connector across Product Creation, Technology, Wholesale, Merchandising, Analytics, and eCommerce teams
Align stakeholders on product data priorities, experience improvements, and execution plans
Drive clarity and accountability across initiatives that span multiple teams
Ensure product data and operations are fully integrated into broader eCommerce strategies
Performance & Continuous Improvement
Define and monitor KPIs related to product data quality, product performance, conversion, add-to-cart rate, and return rate
Partner with Analytics to measure the impact of product data and discovery improvements
Identify opportunities to improve product experience through data, content, tools, and process enhancements
Champion continuous improvement across product operations and discovery experiences
Ways of Working & Process Evolution
Improve how teams work with product data by driving more aligned, efficient, and scalable processes
Introduce governance, tools, and frameworks that increase data quality, visibility, and accountability
Enable faster, more agile workflows across Product and eCommerce teams
Support a shift toward more proactive, insight-driven decision-making
YOU ARE
Consumer-First: You advocate for what the consumer needs to confidently purchase
Detail-Obsessed: You care deeply about data quality, accuracy, and consistency
Influential: You drive alignment across teams without owning all inputs
Strategic & Operational: You connect big-picture thinking with execution excellence
Performance-Oriented: You understand how product data and experience drive conversion and returns
Innovative: You are always looking for new ways to improve product discovery and engagement
YOU HAVE
Bachelor's or masters degree, or applicable certification or equivalent experience.
6-8+ years of experience in eCommerce, product operations, product data, or related roles.
Experience working with product data, PIM ecosystems, or digital merchandising tools.
Salsify experience is strongly preferred.
Strong understanding of how product data drives search, navigation, product experience, and conversion.
Experience influencing cross-functional teams across Product, Technology, and Operations.
Experience managing or implementing third-party tools and platforms.
Strong analytical mindset with the ability to connect product data quality to business performance.
Experience improving processes, workflows, or systems in a complex environment.
Strong communication and influencing skills across multiple stakeholder groups.
This job description is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of duties and responsibilities, but constitutes a general definition of the position's scope and function in the company.
Columbia Sportswear Company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law. Columbia Sportswear is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12.pdf. If you need reasonable accommodation because of a disability for any part of the employment process, please notify your recruiter.At Columbia Sportswear Company, we’re proud to offer regular full-time employees a benefits package that includes a variety of services and products to help make your life and work more rewarding. Our benefit programs contribute to overall employee well-being by aligning those programs with the fundamental elements of well-being: physical, social/emotional, financial, career and community. Benefits that can protect your family’s financial future and help you save money through our 401k plan plus a generous company match. Columbia offers medical, dental, vision, life Insurance, disability, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, and an assortment of voluntary benefit offerings (accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and legal services). In addition, Columbia offers EAP + which is free and confidential 24/7/365 counseling services. We have extensive wellness benefits, employee discounts and a generous time off program available.If you need an accommodation/adjustment to successfully complete and submit your application, please reach out to [email protected] with the Subject: Applicant Assistance Requested.