Sporting Goods, Outdoors & Performance Executive Search.
From athletic footwear and technical outdoor to cycling, endurance and performance nutrition, we place the leaders who build brands people trust with their training, their expeditions and their race day. Every search is partner-led by someone who knows these categories from the inside.
The brands we partner with.
From global athletic brands to specialist cycling, outdoor and performance nutrition businesses, we are trusted to find the leaders who move them forward.
What we cover.
Performance brands do not all work the same way. A cycling business runs on different economics from a trail-running brand or a nutrition start-up. We work across all of them.
Sporting Goods & Athletic Performance.
Global athletic brands, team sports, equipment and hardgoods. Commercial, product and brand leadership for businesses competing on innovation and credibility.
Outdoor & Adventure.
Technical outerwear, hiking, climbing, camping, snow and expedition brands. Leaders who understand a community that spots inauthenticity instantly.
Cycling & Endurance.
Road, gravel, MTB, e-bikes and components, plus running, triathlon and endurance sport. A core strength of our practice and a market with its own distinct talent pool.
Footwear.
Performance running, trail, outdoor, lifestyle and comfort footwear. Product, merchandising, commercial and DTC leadership across the whole category.
Apparel & Activewear.
Technical apparel, activewear, athleisure and base layer. Design, product, sourcing and commercial leaders who can balance function with brand desirability.
Performance Nutrition & Sports Tech.
Sports nutrition, hydration, supplements, wearables and performance data. Fast-growing categories where credibility with athletes is the commercial asset.
Leadership roles we recruit.
We operate exclusively at Director to C-suite level. Across sporting goods, outdoor and performance, the roles we are most frequently retained to fill include:
For large-scale leadership build-outs or transformation projects, our Exec-Project service provides a dedicated, scalable search solution. For senior leaders needed on a flexible or interim basis, our Interim & Fractional Leadership practice delivers impact immediately. For hiring below Director level, PW Talent extends the same sector expertise across the full talent spectrum.
PREVIOUS PLACEMENTS.
Chief Commercial Officer | USA —
VP Ecommerce | EMEA —
Global Wholesale Director —
Chief Commercial Officer —
Creative Director —
GM Europe —
Head of Sales —
Finance Director —
Management Accountant —
Commercial Director —
Senior Customs Manager —
Managing Director UK —
IBD Channel Manager —
Commercial Director —
EEA President —
Cluster Manager —
Country Manager - UK —
Sales & Marketing Director —
Head of HR —
Head of Logistics —
Regional Manager —
Country Manager - Finland —
VP Merchandise —
Chief marketing officer —
chief operations officer —
Chief Commercial Officer | USA — VP Ecommerce | EMEA — Global Wholesale Director — Chief Commercial Officer — Creative Director — GM Europe — Head of Sales — Finance Director — Management Accountant — Commercial Director — Senior Customs Manager — Managing Director UK — IBD Channel Manager — Commercial Director — EEA President — Cluster Manager — Country Manager - UK — Sales & Marketing Director — Head of HR — Head of Logistics — Regional Manager — Country Manager - Finland — VP Merchandise — Chief marketing officer — chief operations officer —
What triggers a leadership search.
The businesses we work with rarely come to us because everything is going smoothly. There is usually a catalyst. The five we see most often are:
The wholesale to DTC shift.
Moving from a distributor and wholesale model to direct-to-consumer changes the economics of the whole business, and needs commercial leadership that has actually made that transition rather than theorised about it.
Investment, acquisition and exit.
This sector has seen heavy PE and strategic activity. New ownership creates urgency to build a leadership team that can deliver the plan, and often to rebuild it after a period of drift.
International expansion.
Taking a brand from one strong market into Europe, North America or APAC needs leaders who know the distributor landscape, the retail accounts and the local community.
Category extension.
A running brand moving into trail, an apparel brand adding footwear, an equipment brand adding nutrition. New categories need leaders with genuine credibility in the category being entered.
Inventory and margin correction.
After the stock overhang and discounting cycle that hit this sector hard, businesses need operational and commercial leadership that can rebuild full-price sell-through and protect the brand.
Our world of difference.
24/7 AI-sourcing, powered by PW Edge.
Every search is powered by PW Edge, our proprietary talent intelligence platform. Nine intelligence modules, 28+ live data sources, dual-model AI. No boutique competitor in this sector has anything like it, which is how we reach leaders relationships alone cannot.
Explore PW Edge →Built for precision. Guaranteed.
Brief to shortlist in 45 days, hit on 95% of mandates. Every placement guaranteed for 6 months at Director level and 12 months at VP and above. Very few firms in this market will put that in writing. 92% of our clients return.
Category credibility.
These communities can spot an outsider immediately, and so can their leaders. Our searches are run by someone who knows the difference between a trail brand and a track brand, and why it matters to the candidate.
Retained. Never contingent.
Every search gets dedicated resource, a defined methodology and a named partner who owns the outcome. We do not work multi-agency contingency.
The sporting goods and outdoor talent landscape.
The leadership these brands need has changed sharply in the last few years, and the talent pool has not caught up.
The inventory correction reset priorities.
After a period of oversupply and heavy discounting across the sector, boards are hiring for commercial discipline rather than growth at any cost. Leaders who can rebuild full-price sell-through, manage retailer relationships and protect brand equity are in demand.
DTC changed the leadership profile.
Brands that grew through wholesale now need leaders fluent in customer acquisition, retention, contribution margin and digital product, while still managing key accounts. That dual capability remains genuinely rare.
Community credibility is a commercial asset.
In cycling, running, climbing and outdoor, audiences detect inauthenticity fast. Brands increasingly need leaders who participate in the sport, not just market to it, which narrows the pool considerably.
Cycling and endurance run on their own talent market.
Cycling has distinct economics, distribution and a fiercely knowledgeable customer. Endurance sport and performance nutrition are growing fast alongside it. Leaders who understand these markets rarely appear in general sporting goods searches, which is exactly why we treat it as its own specialism.
Product and innovation talent is the bottleneck.
Technical footwear and apparel development is a small world. The designers and product leaders who have genuinely brought performance innovation to market are known quantities, well looked after, and reached through relationships rather than adverts.
Sustainability moved from claim to capability.
Materials, circularity and supply chain transparency have become commercial requirements rather than marketing lines. Leadership teams now need people who can deliver on them without inflating cost.
We track these shifts through our client work, our network across the sector, and ongoing research through PW Edge. Every search is informed by where these markets are heading, not just where they have been.
What our clients say.
John really took the time to understand Rapha's culture and ambition, his advice and insights have helped me shape the organisational design here at Rapha, and the candidates placed through PartnerWise will play an integral part in our success as we embark on our next phase of growth.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend John and the team to anyone looking to hire the best talent globally.
Frequently asked questions.
Sporting goods & outdoor news.
Live headlines from the active lifestyle trade, including leadership moves across the sector, updated automatically.
Let's find your next leader.
Whether you are scaling a performance brand, entering a new category, building a DTC team or rebuilding after a difficult cycle, we would welcome a conversation. No commitment, just a genuine view of your market and the leaders in it.
Get in touch