Lead, Footwear Design Exploration

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At Under Armour, we are committed to empowering those who strive for more, and the company's values - Act Sustainably, Celebrate the Wins, Fight on Together, Love Athletes and Stand for Equality - serve as both a roadmap for our teams and the qualities expected of every teammate.

Our Values define and unite us, the beliefs that are the red thread that connects everyone at Under Armour. Our values are rallying cries, reminding us why we're here, and fueling everything we do.

Our pursuit of better begins with innovation and with our team's mission of being the best. With us, you get the freedom to go further - no matter your role. That means developing, delivering, and selling the state-of-the-art products and digital tools that make top performers even better.

The Lead, Footwear Design Exploration is responsible for identifying emerging opportunities, creating concepts, and developing exploratory design work that supports the future growth of Under Armour Footwear. Reporting to the Director, Exploratory Design, this role connects athlete needs, marketplace shifts, emerging technologies, cultural influences, and design trends to actionable footwear opportunities. This role is a creator first, developing concepts, inspiration, visual assets, and exploratory product ideas that help Product Creation teams see around corners, challenge convention, and pursue opportunities that can drive future growth and differentiation.

• Identify emerging footwear trends, athlete needs, consumer shifts, cultural influences, and whitespace opportunities that can strengthen Under Armour’s position in the market.
• Translate insights into concepts, inspiration, visual assets, exploratory prototypes, and actionable product direction for Footwear Design and Product Creation teams.
• Explore new forms, constructions, materials, technologies, and design opportunities while keeping exploratory work connected to athlete relevance and business opportunity.
• Create inspiration and opportunity platforms that support seasonal kickoffs, exploratory initiatives, Greenhouse work, and future product pipeline discussions.
• Partner with Footwear Design, Product Management, Merchandising, Innovation, Development, Testing, strategic factory partners, and materials and technology partners to develop and refine concepts.
• Utilize AI-enabled design tools and visualization technologies to accelerate concept generation, design iteration, creative exploration, and asset creation.
• Maintain ongoing alignment with category teams to ensure exploratory outputs remain practical, relevant, actionable, and connected to Footwear priorities.
• Share insights, concepts, and exploratory outputs that build organizational capability and support a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous learning.

• Bachelor's degree with typically 8 years of relevant experience or Master's degree with typically 6 years of relevant experience or typically 12 years of relevant work experience without degree.
• Experience in Footwear Design, Innovation, Concept Design, Product Creation, or a related creative product field.
• Strong understanding of footwear consumer needs, category trends, product creation processes, and marketplace dynamics.
• Knowledge of footwear construction, materials, manufacturing considerations, and exploratory product creation.
• Strong concept development, visualization, storytelling, and presentation capabilities.
• Ability to translate insights, trends, and athlete needs into compelling design opportunities.
• Experience using AI-enabled design tools, visualization platforms, and emerging creative technologies preferred.
• Strong creative judgment, product sensibility, collaboration skills, and ability to influence cross-functional partners.

• Location: This individual must reside within commuting distance from our Baltimore, MD (HQ) office.
• Work Schedule: This role follows a hybrid work schedule, requiring 4 days in-office per week.
• Travel: As needed to support product creation, partner engagement, and exploratory development.

Sponsorship Eligibility: (US ONLY) UA does not offer…