Vice President of Retail

Oura is seeking a Vice President of Retail, APAC to lead and scale our business across one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse consumer regions, including Japan, South Korea, China, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia and New Zealand. This is a build role at VP level. Oura is still early in much of APAC, so you’ll combine enterprise leadership with the entrepreneurial, hands-on drive to establish and grow a brand at retail, market by market.

You will set the APAC strategic plan for retail in line with Oura’s corporate strategy, build a team, across retail, e-commerce, marketplace, distributor, operator/carrier, and specialty channels.

As a member of the International leadership team, you’ll look beyond your own region and function to shape company decisions. These include which markets Oura enters and when, how product, pricing and membership are localised, and where the company invests for long-term growth. You’ll be the senior voice of APAC retail inside Oura with the judgment to balance near-term delivery against the multi-year shape of the business.

The ideal candidate has led and scaled a consumer products business in APAC, with deep retail experience in physical goods, strong relationships across the region’s retailers and distributors, and the entrepreneurial drive to build a brand from early stage to scale.

What You Will Do

STRATEGY & COMMERCIAL LEADERSHIP

• Define and own the APAC retail vision, strategy, and annual operating plan, in close alignment with global sales, marketing, and product.
• Evaluate and prioritize market entry opportunities, including direct retail, wholesale, travel retail, and emerging digital-to-physical formats.
• Lead the most complex market decisions, such as entry timing and operating model (direct, distributor, or partner) for China and India, working with Legal, Finance, Policy, and the executive team.
• Build the commercial architecture: pricing, channel segmentation, promotional frameworks, and trade investment principles.
• Translate global brand positioning into locally resonant retail execution.
• Anticipate shifts in consumer health, wearables, and retail, and position Oura ahead of competitors.
• Identify company-wide gaps in systems, process, or capability that limit APAC growth, and deliver solutions.

PERFORMANCE & PARTNER OWNERSHIP

• Own the regional P&L and deliver against revenue, margin, and market share targets across retail, online, and emerging channels.
• Monitor performance, analyze trends, and make high-stakes decisions with imperfect information.
• Own C-suite relationships with strategic partners: major electronics retailers, department stores, specialty retailers, marketplace platforms, operators/carriers, and distributors.
• Negotiate the region’s most significant retail agreements, trading terms, and joint business plans.
• Manage distributor performance, including transitions to a direct-to-retailer model where needed.
• Optimize commercial investments, including MDF/co-op, rebates, merchandising, and administrative support.
• Set the standard for in-store execution: fixtures and displays, visual merchandising, retail training, and 3PL logistics.
• Represent Oura with partners, media, and industry bodies, building the brand’s reputation and your own.

TEAM & ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP 

• Build the APAC retail team from the ground up, hiring across cultures and countries.
• Design the APAC organization, including country and cluster leaders at Director and Senior Director level, and adapt it as markets move from entry to scale.
• Build a leadership bench through external hiring and internal development, with succession plans for every critical role.
• Hold leaders accountable for performance, team health (engagement, attrition, upward feedback), and developing their people.
• Foster a culture of excellence, accountability, and entrepreneurial thinking, and role model Oura’s values and ethical standards.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS

• Own the APAC retail budget: headcount, trade investment, MDF/co-op, and operating expenses.
• Deliver accurate, timely forecasting and business reporting with a clear commercial narrative.
• Partner with Finance so commercial provisions (sales allowances, markdowns, rebates) are governed, tracked, and reconciled.
• Drive operational excellence with Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Marketing, and lead change as the business scales through channel shifts and new market entries

Requirements

• 15+ years of progressive retail and commercial experience in consumer products and physical goods (such as consumer electronics, wearables, premium lifestyle, or sports), including 8+ years in senior leadership roles.
• A hands-on retail background. You have run physical retail channels: sell-in and sell-through, fixtures and in-store execution, inventory, and retailer joint business planning. Experience solely in digital, software, or services businesses will not be sufficient.
• Direct operating experience across most of Oura’s priority APAC markets: Japan, South Korea, China, India, and Southeast Asia. ANZ experience is a plus but not required.  
• A proven track record of scaling a consumer brand through APAC retail, ideally taking a challenger or newer brand from market entry to meaningful scale, with full retail P&L accountability.
• Deep, current knowledge of the region’s major retailers, distributors, and marketplace platforms. This includes selecting, contracting, and managing distributors, and moving them on or transitioning to a direct-to-retailer model when needed.
• An entrepreneurial operator, comfortable building structure from scratch with lean resources and moving between strategy and hands-on execution.
• Experience setting regional retail strategy and influencing senior stakeholders across a global organisation.
• Demonstrated ability to build teams from scratch, hiring across cultures and countries.
• A track record of senior-level relationships with retailers and distributors, and of negotiating major retail agreements.
• The executive presence to influence senior stakeholders internally and to represent Oura with retailers and distributors at the most senior levels.

What Sets You Apart

• You've navigated the complexity of APAC retail distributor markets and direct, regulatory nuance and cultural specificity and you've come out ahead! 
• You think like a GM: brand, commercial, people, and operations are all in your frame simultaneously.
• People follow you because you set a clear direction, hold yourself accountable, and invest in their growth.
• Exceptional commercial acumen: you read a P&L fluently, identify levers quickly, and make resource allocation decisions with confidence.
• A builder's instinct,  energized by ambiguity, comfortable creating structure, and able to move between strategy and execution without losing momentum.
• Outstanding communicator and influencer: you command the room with retail partners and earn trust internally at the most senior levels.
• High cross-cultural intelligence; able to adapt leadership style, communication, and strategy to the specific context of each APAC market.
• You’ve built a brand in APAC retail before, ideally from a standing start. You know what it takes to win shelf space, retailer commitment, and sell-through in markets where nobody yet knows the name.
• Fluency in English required. Proficiency in Mandarin, Japanese, or Korean is a strong advantage.

At Oura, we care about you and your well-being. Everyone here at Oura has a ring of their own and we are continually looking to improve employee health.
What we offer:  Competitive salary, equity and benefits packages.

Singapore Compensation:  SGD $260,000 - $306,000 per year.