Bike

Lifestyle

Outdoor

Streetwear

Triathlon

Health & Fitness

Business Unit Director 

Top Management

I’m a successful & passionate senior leader with over 15+ years of proven results in creating, managing, & delivering compelling product collections for a global marketplace. My consumer-centered approach & ability to collaborate across an organization has resulted in industry-disrupting apparel, footwear, & soft goods to boost performance for world champion athletes, patented technologies, & transformational consumer experiences. I believe that diverse & inclusive teams have the most potential to yield the best business results. I’m a change agent & creative problem solver, with a history of pioneering new business initiatives to achieve strategic goals & market share growth.

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Responsible for creating the strategic direction and oversight for Black Diamond global footwear
categories with accountability for strategic business and product launch planning, global product
line management, product development leadership, and delivery of activity and consumer driven
product initiatives.
● Drive a market leading point of view for all BD Footwear product, ensuring all category
strategies are competitive & predictive of changing market dynamics & white space
opportunities
● Manage & develop a 5 person, high performing product creation team (objective setting, assessments, coaching) that fosters cross-department collaboration
● Lead cohesive approach across footwear for GTM Milestone, flow to market, product & innovation life cycle strategies
● Collaborate closely with Brand leadership & Business Unit Directors to strategize cross
category product launches and brand messaging alignment

Business Unit Director Global Footwear

Oversaw all global footwear category management across Lifestyle & Performance categories as
we led with innovation, culture, the outdoors, & authenticity being at the heart of the process.
Responsible for product direction & seasonal storytelling to drive broad customer and consumer
adoption.
● Led a six person global product management & merchandising team responsible for setting the strategic vision, overseeing the product creation process, & ensuring
consumer right assortments within the global marketplace for the Performance, Lifestyle, & Youth footwear businesses
● Reset the overall category strategy with a focus on driving authenticity through scaling
innovation, focusing on key classifications, & optimizing a global marketplace strategy
● Developed footwear collaboration strategy with key internal stakeholders, to bring
authentic, brand relevant, energy moments to market thru new & existing franchises
● Structured the optimal product lines across the portfolio of businesses, resulting in revenue growth of 51% & margin improvement of 350 bps between CY19 & CY22
● Facilitated global product launches & brand messaging with Brand, Sales, & Regional
Merchandising teams

Global Senior Director Footwear Category Management

Oversaw all global footwear category management across Lifestyle & Performance categories as we led with innovation, culture, the outdoors, & authenticity being at the heart of the process. Responsible for product direction & seasonal storytelling to drive broad customer and consumer adoption.
Led a six person product management & merchandising team responsible for setting the strategic vision, overseeing the product creation process, & ensuring consumer right assortments within the global marketplace for the Performance, Lifestyle, & Youth footwear businesses
Reset the overall category strategy with a focus on driving authenticity through scaling innovation, focusing on key classifications, & optimizing the product creation calendar
Structured the optimal product lines across the portfolio of businesses, resulting in revenue growth of 51% & margin improvement of 350 bps between CY19 & CY22
Collaborated with heads of Product Design & Development to ensure our teams are working effectively together 
Worked closely with Consumer Insights Team to ensure product creation teams are uncovering necessary information & immersed in key consumer insights
Facilitated global product launches & brand messaging with Brand, Sales, & Regional Merchandising teams


 Global Sr. Director, Footwear Category Management    

Responsible for product strategy, innovation pipeline, merchandising, & business planning for the
global footwear, apparel, & essentials categories. Led the global product creation process & teams from concept and briefing to commercialization.
● Managed & led a team of 4 product line managers, 1 product line coordinator, & 2
advanced innovation personnel
● Defined and led the overall business strategy and operations for the Global Apparel,
Footwear, & Essentials businesses
● Built & guided multi-year product pipeline, strategy, & implementation for advanced
innovation

Senior Manager Product Merchandising AND Advanced Innovation

Responsible for product strategy, merchandising, & business planning for the global footwear, apparel, & essentials categories. Led the global product creation process & teams from concept and briefing to commercialization.

Managed & led a team of 4 product line managers, 1 product line coordinator, & 2 advanced innovation personnel
Defined and led the overall business strategy and operations for the Global Apparel, Footwear, & Essentials businesses
Built & guided multi-year product pipeline, strategy, & implementation for advanced innovation 
Led cross-functional leadership team in new product creation process, resulting in 6 month reductions in calendar to be closer to market


Sr. Manager, Product Merchandising & Advanced Innovation     

Responsible for leading & managing all elements of the product creation process for the global
apparel & footwear division. Defined & established category product vision, strategies, & seasonal initiatives, all designed to reach revenue/margin targets, & long-term strategic priorities.
● Re-launched road & mountain bike apparel categories: recruited team, re-focused & re-energized product line, while nurtured innovation & team culture
●   Led PLM teams to assure key initiatives & strategies were aligned across categories
throughout the season
● Selected to participate in the company's "Executive Leadership" program, used to identify
future directors & chief officers

Global Category Manager Cycling Apparel AND Footwear

Responsible for leading & managing all elements of the product creation process for the global apparel & footwear division. Defined & established category product vision, strategies, & seasonal initiatives, all designed to reach revenue/margin targets, & long-term strategic priorities.

Re-launched road & mountain bike apparel categories: recruited team, re-focused & re-energized product line, while nurtured innovation & team culture
Worked closely with Brand, Sales & Operations to strategize product launches & brand messaging 
Led PLM teams to assure key initiatives & strategies were aligned across categories throughout the season
Selected to participate in the company’s “Executive Leadership” program, used to identify future directors & chief officers


 Global Category Manager, Cycling Apparel & Footwear 

Led the strategy, planning and creation of the Project E:Motion footwear product line. A consumer & marketplace expert, translating knowledge into product insights & innovations, while growing
market share & achieving business goals.

Senior Product Line Manager Run Footwear AND Run Apparel

Led the strategy, planning and creation of all styles in the global product collection. A consumer & marketplace expert, translating knowledge into product insights & innovations, while growing market share & achieving business goals.

Responsible for leading global product line/category from brief stage through design, development, product introduction, and sell through 
Collaborated with global Go-To-Market teams to create cohesive sales & marketing strategies & deliverables that support seasonal product initiatives  
Translated consumer insights into compelling global product assortments that served the
needs of our geography partners 


Sr. Product Line Manager, Run Footwear & Run Apparel    

Developed focused long-term product line architecture with a new global footwear
platform, resulting in an innovative, consumer-centric product collection

Product Line Manager Run Footwear

Led teams from design, development, sourcing, & operations through seasonal product creation process
Developed focused long-term product line architecture with a new global footwear platform, resulting in an innovative, consumer-centric product collection


Product Line Manager, Run Footwear        

Managed the development of all global footwear lines from initial concept to production
commercialization.

Product Developer

Managed the development of all global footwear lines from initial concept to production commercialization.
Worked extensively with design, product management, & development to execute all seasonal footwear projects


Product Developer, Run & Cycling Footwear     

Assisted product development of entire backpack, sleeping bag, tent, bottle pack, & apparel
lines from initial prototypes to final production

Product Developer AND Dealer Service Manager

Michael Thompson is a Business Unit Director at Black Diamond Equipment in Boulder, CO.

Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson

Skills

Interests

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Education history

Loyola University Maryland

Loyola University Maryland