Lead Designer, NSW SB Footwear Materials Design

WHO YOU’LL WORK WITH

As a Lead Materials Designer in Nike SB, you will be working hand in hand with a large project team of different professionals (engineers, researchers, scientists, marketing, testing, sustainability, materials, costing, etc.), collaborate within the design community (external partners, industrial designers, materials, color, graphics, computational, etc.), and mentor other designers. This role reports directly to the Design Director.

We’re looking for an exceptional Lead Footwear Materials Designer to combine their experience, problem-solving abilities, and creativity to help create the future of Nike Footwear Materials. The category you will be working in is the Nike Skateboard team, which is a creative, collaborative, and culture driven partnership space that drives storytelling and helps fuel the brand.

The ideal teammate will be a highly creative problem solver. This is someone who doesn’t settle for anything less than the best design and materials solutions, to meet the needs of the athlete, collaborator and consumer. They’ll be focused on elevating the consumer experience by creating materials that are performance and trend-relevant for a range of products while driving an emotional connection to materials for the consumer through the use of narrative and storytelling and by pushing the edges of sustainable footwear material design.

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design or related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training.
• 5-7 years’ experience designing and developing innovative footwear and other products.
• Deeper knowledge and experience within and adjacent to the culture of Skateboarding.
• Ability to translate consumer knowledge and insights into product solutions and narratives.
• Strong Photoshop, Illustrator skills.
• Experienced with presentation programs:
  Keynote, PowerPoint, Acrobat, etc.
• Must be able to build accurate 2D technical drawings (tech packs).
• Cobbling and prototyping skills are a plus.
• Experience in working technical footwear design with solid knowledge of manufacturing processes and materials is a plus.
• Knowledge and experience with sustainable design and manufacturing are a plus.
• Ability and passion to lead, mentor, and onboard Design teammates.
• Contribute and align to shared team culture and behaviors.
• Catalyst to make connections with other Design groups.
• Motivated and hardworking about bringing others along.
• Open-minded, good listener, receptive to candid feedback and diverse points of view.
• Speaks up with courage for self and the team.

Is that you? If so, you will be creating concepts and developments on a range of material designs for the Nike SB Footwear segments of NSW and lifestyle. You will work on elevating new technologies that influence brand-new models, seasonal narratives elevating existing materials for our classics and iconic products, as well as working some of the most coveted external partners connected to SB.

Your goal is to aim for product excellence by partnering with key stakeholders cross-functionally on the product creations process, and help bring the vision for the future of Nike SB Footwear products to life.

You will unleash creativity with a focus on sustainability and leveraging consumer insights to inform our creative response and focus on how we drive innovation and cultural connections embedded into our designs to create separation. The daily responsibilities of this role are wide-ranging, ambitious, and exciting.

We offer a number of accommodations to complete our interview process including screen readers, sign language interpreters, accessible and single location for in-person interviews, closed captioning, and other reasonable modifications as needed. If you discover, as you navigate our application process, that you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please complete the Candidate Accommodation Request Form.