Crocs has appointed Michelle Poole as its senior vice president of global merchandising, a newly-created position in the company. Poole, who started her new role on Aug. 25, is based at the company's product creation and global shared-services center in Niwot, Colorado. She will report directly to Andrew Rees, president of Crocs. Poole has more than 20 years of experience in the development of global fashion and lifestyle brands. Prior to joining Crocs, she spent five years at Sperry Top-Sider, where she was most recently the company's senior vice president of product. In this role, Poole led several key initiatives, including the launch of a year-round women's business, and collaborated on the launch of specialty retail stores as well as sperrytopsider.com. Her experience in the footwear industry also includes brand-building roles at Timberland and Converse.