Senior Manager, Innovation; Making & Making Facility - Footwear Concepts

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A day in the life of an Innovation Sr. Manager, Making & Making Facility – Footwear Concepts at VF looks a little like this.

This role sits within our Innovation organization and supports concept creation work across global footwear initiatives. You’ll partner closely with Design, Engineering, Materials, and Advanced Innovation teams. At its core, this position leads the Making Facility—balancing operational management with hands on, high craft prototype creation that brings early concepts to life. This role reports to the VP of Innovation.

Let’sbreak down that day-in-the-life a bit more.

• Lead daily operations of the Making Facility, ensuring the space is safe, organized, and set up for consistently high-quality work.
• Manage how prototype requests are received, prioritized, and scheduled so the team can support concepts generated across design and engineering.
• Personally build the most complex and experimental prototypes—setting the standard for craft, accuracy, and execution.
• Translate briefs, sketches, CAD models, and materials direction into clear build plans, including method selection and tooling needs.
• Troubleshootchallengingbuildsand develop new techniques, fixtures, or processes to solve unique fabrication problems.
• Lead, coach, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of makers, technicians, and specialists through handson guidance andskill building.
• Manage all tools, equipment, and machinery within the Making Facility—including maintenance, upgrades, and new capability investments.
• Create and maintain
  
  SOPs, safety practices, and documentation that support high quality, repeatable builds.
• Collaborate closely withcross functional partners to support concept creation needs andshare makingknowledge across teams and geographies.
• Provide feasibility feedback on early ideas, acting as the bridge between conceptual direction and physical execution.

We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skillsyou’llneed to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your7-10+years of experience and professional achievements.

• Extensive experience in footwear prototyping, model making, fabrication,or handsoncraft environments.
• Deep mastery across multiple making methods, including cutandandsew, pattern making, molding/casting, foam construction, and digital fabrication.
• Experience managing a makerspace, fabrication lab, or advanced prototyping environment.
• Proven capability to personally build complex prototypes with exceptional craft and attention to detail.
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to mentor and guide a technical team.
• Excellent communication, planning, and organizational skills to manage workflows and prioritize work effectively.
• Ability to develop, document, andmaintainfabrication methods, processes, and safety practices.
• Strong problem-solvingsolvingskills and the creativity to develop new fabrication techniques when needed.

• Experience leading ahigh volumeorhighly complexprototyping environment.
• Proficiency in digital modeling tools such as Rhino, Fusion 360, or Blender.
• Experience documenting fabrication techniques or developing new methods.
• Familiarity with advanced materials, automation, or emerging fabrication technologies.

Are you in?

$ USD - $ USD annually

This position is eligible for additional compensation awards that may include an annual incentive plan, sales incentive, or commission potential. Specific details of the additional compensation eligibility for this position will be provided during the recruiting and interview process.

You can review a general overview of each benefit…