VP Product Management - Canterbury

We’re Pentland Brands: a global family business behind some of the world’s most iconic active and lifestyle brands. We bring integrity, energy and ambition to our work, setting high standards and striving to deliver great outcomes without ego.

Design rugby apparel built for strength, movement and team identity.

At Canterbury, product has to do more than look good. It has to stand up to the intensity of the game, move with the player and carry the pride of the team, from training ground to match day and beyond.

The VP Product Management leads Canterbury's global product strategy and seasonal product creation process, ensuring the brand delivers a focused, commercial and consumer-led range across on-field, licensed, training and off-field categories.

What you’ll be doing:

• Define the long-term global product vision and seasonal range direction for Canterbury.

• Lead range architecture, product lifecycle planning and portfolio priorities across key product areas.

• Translate rugby performance, teamwear, training and lifestyle opportunities into clear product briefs and commercial choices.

• Partner with Design, Development, Brand Marketing and GTM to align product stories, launch moments and sell-in priorities.

• Lead and coach the Product Management team, setting clear priorities, accountabilities and ways of working.

• Use consumer insight, athlete feedback, market data and commercial performance to shape product decisions.

• Identify growth opportunities, innovation platforms and simplification opportunities across the range.

• Improve product creation processes, tools and decision forums so teams can move with pace and clarity.

• Maintain a clear view of range architecture, lifecycle choices and product priorities so teams understand what is new, repeated, updated or retired each season.

• Bring together consumer insight, commercial feedback and development feasibility so product decisions are both ambitious and deliverable.

• Own the product management calendar, ensuring range strategy, pricing, margin, lifecycle and launch decisions are made on time.

• Create clear product briefs that connect consumer insight, commercial opportunity, design direction and development feasibility.

• Lead cross-functional range reviews, trade-off decisions and prioritisation across categories and pods.

• Use performance data, consumer insight and market intelligence to improve future range architecture.

• Build capability within the Product Management team and establish consistent ways of working.

• Partner closely with regional teams so product direction is globally led but commercially relevant.

What you’ll bring:

• Significant product management experience in performance sport, team sport, apparel or consumer goods.

• Proven ability to set product strategy across multi-category, multi-market ranges.

• Strong commercial judgement and confidence balancing brand, consumer, cost and margin needs.

• Experience partnering closely with Design, Development, Brand, Commercial and regional teams.

• Leadership experience with the ability to coach product teams and influence senior stakeholders.

• Strong storytelling and communication skills, able to translate strategy into clear product direction.

• A practical, delivery-focused approach with high attention to range clarity, timelines and execution.

• Confidence working through ambiguity, making trade-offs between consumer need, commercial opportunity, cost, timing and operational complexity.

• Significant product management or merchandising leadership experience in sport, apparel, footwear or consumer goods.

Why Canterbury?

Canterbury is the world’s original rugby brand, built on more than a century of sporting heritage, technical product knowledge and deep connection to the game.

Founded in New Zealand in 1904, Canterbury creates performance kit, training apparel, casualwear and fan product for players, teams and supporters who live and breathe rugby. It is a brand shaped by strength, durability and belonging, supporting people on and off the pitch, from grassroots clubs to the highest levels of the sport.

Joining Canterbury means becoming part of a team that cares deeply about rugby product and the people who wear it: how it fits, how it moves, how it performs under pressure, how it represents team identity, and how it brings players, coaches and fans together.

Perks & Benefits

We offer a competitive salary, discretionary bonus, hybrid working, flexible start and finish times, generous holiday allowance, product discounts, sample sales, enhanced family-friendly policies, healthcare support, gym and fitness discounts, cycle to work scheme and electric car scheme.
You can find full details of our benefits and perks on our UK Benefits page.

The Interview Process

We want our interview process to feel clear, straightforward, and supportive. If your experience and expectations look like a strong match for the role, here’s what you can expect next:

1. Talent Team Intro Call - A 30-minute video call with our Talent Team to get to know each other, talk through the role and your experience, and answer any questions you have.

2. Experience Interview - A more in-depth interview (usually online) with the hiring manager to explore your skills, experience and approach, and how these align with the role, our principles, and our ways of working.

3. Final Interview - A final in-person interview at our office, focused on deeper discussion and practical application, giving you the chance to meet more of the team and see Pentland Brands in action.

“This vacancy is a newly created role as part of organisational changes. Final appointment will depend upon the outcome of consultation processes and affected employees will have priority for consideration.”