Employee breakdown
Sales
11%
Retail and concessions
40%
e-Commerce
3%
International Distributors
3%
Distribution Centre
17%
Shared services
27%
Columbia Sportswear Company
Overview
With over 700 employees in +10 European countries, our multicultural teams share the same ambition: to make Columbia the best outdoor brand in Europe.
We distribute our products via wholesale channels (major sporting goods and fashion retailers and specialized boutiques) and DTC channels (our own outlets and e-commerce sites). Part of our team manages commercial relations with our international distributors.
Our European headquarters in Geneva houses the Management Committee, go-to-market functions, and Planning and Logistics teams.
In Schiltigheim, near Strasbourg, our shared services center employs over 100 people in Finance and Operations/Customer Service.
We have a distribution center in Cambrai, located in the north of France, from where we ship products to customers throughout Europe.
Last but not least, our 30+ Columbia boutiques can be found in all major European outlet centers.
Finance & Accounting
Columbia Sportswear Europe's Finance teams cover a wide range of professions, all based at our Schiltigheim site near Strasbourg: Accounting, Controlling, FP&A, Accounts Payable, Credit, Taxes, etc. Gilles is one of the pillars of our Accounting team.
Gilles is one of our accounting pillars! He has been with Columbia Sportswear for almost 20 years, and is a formidable catalyst for talent within the Accounts Payable team.
After a first experience in sales administration, Céline wanted to try her luck and discover the job of Credit Officer, in order to explore another facet of our business. She joined the team a year ago and has been having a blast ever since!
Customer Operations
Our Customer Service teams are the guarantors of customer satisfaction in Europe. The Account Operations team handles orders from our wholesale partners (Intersport, Decathlon, Amazon...), while the Consumer Care team answers consumer questions on our e-commerce sites. Both teams are multilingual, with each member fluent in at least French, English, Italian, Spanish and German.
Wibke and Beatriz are perfect examples of the multicultural nature of Schiltigheim: originally from Germany and Spain respectively, their language skills and curiosity have enabled them to make a successful career within the company.
As Consumer Care Lead, Elodie is responsible for our main talent pool: Consumer Care e-Commerce. Joining her team represents a fantastic gateway to a first job at Columbia Sportswear, being in direct contact with all our consumers in Europe.
Retail
With over 200 employees, our Retail teams are spread across more than 30 Columbia stores in France, Germany, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, and are the brand's showcase in Europe. We have 6 stores in France, including 2 at the Schiltigheim site.
Responsible for the 2 Schiltigheim stores, Julien takes great pleasure in passing on his passion for the outdoors and Columbia products to his sales team. Full-time, student job, work-study... All scenarios are possible for those who want to discover the many aspects of store life!
Warehouse
Our distribution center in Cambrai, Northern France, is the nerve center for receiving our products from manufacturers and distributing them to our customers and consumers in Europe. Around a hundred Logistics Agents are busy receiving goods, storing them, preparing orders and dispatching them, managing returns, and so on. It's a real daily hive of activity, where days follow one another but are never the same!
Find out more about Céline's career path: initially destined for a career in the Police, she was one of the first to join the Distribution Center as soon as it opened in 2002!
Merchandising
Our Merchandising teams, based in Geneva, are responsible for defining the various Columbia product ranges to be sold to our partners on the European market (Intersport, Zalando, Decathlon, Amazon, etc.), for each new season. They work in both the apparel and footwear categories.
Discover the Merchandiser's job through Sophie's testimonial: she joined the company in 2014 in the Demand Planning team, before changing jobs and moving to her current position. She is now in charge of the Kids and Accessories categories, as Senior Apparel Merchandiser.
