Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Viking Outdoor Footwear AS

Viking Outdoor Footwear AS (VOF) is a leading international outdoor footwear brand founded in 1920 — with over 100 years of heritage. Headquartered in Oslo, Viking designs, develops, and sells premium footwear for children, juniors, and adults across more than 25 countries worldwide, including Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, Japan, China, Canada, and the US. The company is privately held by Bertel O. Steen Kapital (BOSK), operates approximately 50 FTEs, and generates annual turnover in excess of NOK 500 million.

Viking sells through a broad multi-channel model with no own retail: pure-play e-commerce, footwear specialists, outdoor specialists, sporting goods chains, and a range of additional wholesale partners across its markets. Key product categories include rubber boots, thermo boots, outdoor shoes, and sandals — with a growing apparel segment. Viking holds the leading market position in Kids Kindergarten Footwear not only in Norway, but across Scandinavia.

The Chief Marketing Officer is responsible for building and protecting the Viking brand across all markets, ensuring impactful, consistent, and commercially effective marketing execution through physical, digital, and visual channels. The Chief Marketing Officer leads and energises a small, multi-disciplinary marketing team, translating brand strategy into tactical campaigns and go-to-market execution that drive commercial results together with Sales and Product.
CMO is part of Vikings Core Management Team (CMT)
 

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

Key Responsibilities

• Full ownership of the Viking brand — expression, tone, identity, and consistency across all markets

• Responsible for building a strong brand and brand presence in all markets

• Responsible for ensuring that the Viking Brand and its Trademark is always protected

• Responsible for ensuring consistent brand tone and identity across all consumer touchpoints, in close partnership with Sales, Product, and the new E-Commerce function

• Establish, lead, strengthen and motivate the marketing department

Main Tasks

• Lead and energise a small, multi-disciplinary marketing team

• Drive seasonal campaign planning and execution with clear creative ambition

• Together with the Product team build strong consumer-driven marketing stories and product launches

• Develop go-to-market packages and deliver them effectively to the Sales team

• Strengthen trade marketing and retailer activation in partnership with Sales/CSO

• Leverage digital media (social, content, influencer, paid) to build brand presence and relevance

• Build KPIs and measure the progress of the brand and all activities

• Establish and continuously refresh the brand and communication platform

• Performance achievement and KPI reporting

• Work in close collaboration with and be mutually reliant on a strong relationship with the CSO and the CPO

This is a doing role, not a directing role!

Approximate split:

20% Brand strategy and platform

40% Tactical campaign and content planning

40% Operational execution and team management

Competence

• 10+ years of experience in brand or marketing roles

• Strong leadership skills and creative energy

• Background from a consumer brand (outdoor, lifestyle, sport, or fashion) or a leading creative/brand agency — a combination of both is ideal

• Proven ability to translate brand strategy into compelling, executed campaigns

• Hands-on experience with digital channels: social media, content, influencer, and paid media

• Good communication skills, both written and oral

• Commercial instinct — understands the brand/sales relationship

• Ability to be hands-on as well as strategic — this is a doing role, not a directing role

• Fluent in English; Norwegian or another Scandinavian languages strongly preferred

Personal Profile

• High energy and creative drive — this person brings ideas, pace, and enthusiasm

• Hands-on mentality — they will roll up their sleeves and produce, not just direct

• Commercial instinct — they understand the relationship between brand and sales

• Collaborative — they build bridges across Product, Sales, and E-Commerce

• Structured executor — they can manage projects and deliver on deadline with limited resources

Geography & Language

• Nordic candidate strongly preferred (Norway, Sweden, Denmark)

• Must be willing to be Oslo-based (relocation support available)

• Fluent English required; Norwegian or another Scandinavian language strongly preferred

Due to GDPR all applications must be sent through our portal.

In your application we ask you to give us 2 - 3 bullet points with what you bring to the table.

If you have any questions regarding the position please feel free to contact our Managing Partner, Bjørn Ågotnes. 

Applications are evaluated on an ongoing basis.