Director, Color & Trend Footwear Design

Your Job

As the Director, Color & Trend Footwear Design, you will own and direct the aesthetic readiness of Brooks Running footwear seasonal design markers, including the emotional storytelling of color, graphic, material, finishes and trend to constantly increase the scope of design and trend. You will lead the emotional experience of our footwear products, connecting functionality with our aesthetic vision. Your responsibilities include defining long‑term seasonal palettes, overseeing design functions for all product lines, coaching leadership teams, managing risk, and ensuring alignment with the broader Seasonal Creation Leader group.

As a member of the leadership team, you will thrive in ambiguity, collect empirical data from runner‑consumer habitats, and use trend research to guide product quality and design direction. You will provide clear communication to internal and external stakeholders, serving in a partial or whole design leadership role for our brand’s aesthetic language.

• Upgrade the aesthetic competitiveness of our products through direction, education, and coaching.
• Co‑create the creative foundation CRAFTED BEAUTY – PERFORMANCE EXPRESSIONS with the Director of Footwear Innovation.
• Represent the design team on the Seasonal Creation Leader team to align cross‑functional decisions across Horizon 1 (1‑3 yrs) and Horizon 2 (5‑10 yrs) with an applied color strategy.
• Manage, lead and direct the Brooks Running Footwear Color & Trend Team.
• Lead teams through product review gates, ensuring adherence to seasonal and long‑term calendars.
• Mentor managers and stakeholders on critical thinking and process improvement.
• Oversee the inline color palette and color CAD creation process.
• Oversight of color, graphic, material, and finish palette creation and pre‑development.
• Participate in the footwear steering committee and calibration process.
• Demonstrate strong people leadership skills rooted in Connect principles.
• Promote Brooks’ core cultural values and maintain team culture and morale.
• Create organizational design aligned with business strategy.
• Provide career‑development planning, coaching, training, and support for continuous learning.
• Model leadership behavior across the organization.
• Drive performance management using Brooks performance tools.
• Initiate recognition, rewards, and celebrate wins.
• Direct and lead color, graphic, material, and finish design reviews.
• Create visions extending seasonal stories into new areas, connecting trends to our portfolio.
• Innovate identity principles to maximize perceived value and competitiveness.
• Guide product design presentations and deliver final color CADs and material maps.
• Remain up‑to‑date with industry knowledge and ensure consumer relevance.
• Integrate 3D CAD with design leads.
• Attend trade fairs, cultural events, sporting events, and store visits for design insights.
• Synthesize results into presentations that drive aesthetic conversation across the enterprise.
• Incorporate a global point of view, addressing regional market differences.
• Influence Merchandising to create strong product stories across Apparel and Footwear.
• Provide direction to Footwear Development, integrating design to express performance and manage cost.
• Partner with Marketing and Product Marketing for storytelling and inspiration.
• Present new color and material directions to product teams and senior management on a seasonal basis.

• 4‑year college or university degree in product, graphics, apparel or footwear design, or equivalent education/experience (international education a plus).
• 14+ years of experience creating color/material/textile programs and future vision of consumer goods, ideally sports industry.
• Extensive experience creating aesthetics and stories for…