Who We Are:

At Brooks, we believe a run can change a day, a life, the world. Everyone who works here is a key part of our obsession to make the best running gear on the planet. We want our business — which also happens to be our passion — to be a place where everyone feels welcome and comfortable being themselves. Our company culture defines us, bonds us together, and drives our success. We live this culture daily through our brand values: Runner First, Word is Bond, Champion Heart, There is no “I” in Run, and Keep Moving. This means we always solve for the runner, do what we say we will, give it our all, are generous with our humanity, and find a way to keep moving every day, because joy is kinetic. 

Are you ready to help create something extraordinary?

Your Job:

As a Brooks Running Senior Designer, Advanced Footwear Design, you will create and innovate - you will elevate and influence the AESTHETIC READINESS of Brooks Running footwear future product with your strong point of view. With your extensive experience, you will lead the EXISTENTIAL EXPLORATION of future design opportunities for Brooks Running footwear product as part of the Advanced Footwear Team.

As a Senior Designer, Advanced Footwear Design, you will use the creative foundation FUTURE BEAUTY as design reference for future products. By applying the creative foundation, you will constantly improve, elevate and evolve the level of our FUTURE BEAUTY. You will guide the development of new design policies while maintaining brand direction and appropriate aesthetic appeal for our target consumer.

As a Senior Designer, Advanced Footwear Design, you will work in close cooperation with the Color–Material & Trend Design Team on the creation of our Seasonal Beauty. You will lead the creation of our emotional story-telling of color, graphics, material, finishes, and trend as part of the footwear advanced design processes and pre-development design processes. You will work on selective projects in close partnership with the Inline Design Team on the application of our advanced team design language FUTURE BEAUTY.

As a Senior Designer, Advanced Footwear Design, your role will be pivotal to providing clear communication to a variety of teams. You will be a partner to the whole design organization of Brooks Running and to external organizations. You will establish and build relationships with material vendors and factories across the globe. With your advanced experience in designing footwear, you will play an independent role as a designer and design mentor within the whole footwear. You will partner with Advanced Footwear Development and Run-Sight Lab experts in crafting beautiful performance products. to ensure that Brooks is the most LOVED brand for runners worldwide.

Your Responsibilities:

• DESIGN
• Own the full design of complex performance footwear revolutions by creating and presenting upper, midsole, and outsole sketches including products for athletes and BlueLine influenced on direction provided by the FUTURE BEAUTY innovation briefs influenced by your design POV.
• Apply identity principles to maximize perceived value in order to drive superior competitiveness.
• Explore with your design talent in many intentional iterations of footwear designs, the future of Brooks Running Footwear.
• Stay current in the athletic footwear market, diverse category trends, material and technological innovations, and design and prototyping tool improvements across the global network and bring ideas to inform/execute our future innovations.
• Drive the pre-season product development to shape and inform templates for CRAFTED BEAUTY for the sequential in-line season.
• Influence the work of the Color & Trend Team to elevate the deeper integration of coloration thinking in product design and creation of SEASONAL BEAUTY.
• Work with 3D Designers to increase the fidelity and power of your concepts.
• Organize and deliver product design presentations, both physical and digital work including exploratory process, using your evaluation, judgment, and interpretation to select the right course of action.
• Provide feedback and guidance to Associate Designers, Designer 1, and Designer 2.
• Respond thoughtfully and non-defensively to design critique with multiple design solutions and influence others through key decisions, milestones, and timelines.
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• CROSS-TEAM COLLABORATION
• Drive the design within an advanced product creation team to deliver industry-leading products and stories.
• Partner with our Bio-mechanic Lab with design support and aesthetic know-how.
• Actively influence the collaborative work with the Inline Design Team to move our products forward.
• Actively influence the 3D CAD Design Team to move our products forward - integrate 3D CAD tools in your design process.
• Act as design subject matter expert and leader in collaboration within design and other teams – facilitate conversations, lead by example, and show the “how”.
• Lead with your work the Color, Materials & Trend Design Team on the advancement of our design marker in story, branding, color, material, and finish with advanced design projects.
• Lead design research to develop prototypes.
• Partner with product developers in the development by creating detailed, executable, and cost-effective footwear designs and design tech packages.
• Advise the work streams in our Bio-mechanic Lab with design support and aesthetic know-how.
• Participate in sessions to gain customer insights with the Run-Sight Lab.
• Be a navigator of ideas, research, and trends to continuously complete your design knowledge.
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• ACCOUNTABILITY
• Maintain calendar/timelines/deadlines that result in the timely completion of each project.
• As an expert in product design, share your design knowledge to partner with your product teams.
• Knowledge of prototyping - ability to use handmade models and 3D CAD models to demonstrate proof of ideas.
• Answer critique with a curious mindset – propose alternative options after more design exploration.
• Have a strong understanding of the design jet stream to keep informed on what’s trending and how this may influence our design.
• Anticipate questions or perceived risks - prepare analysis and reasoning.
• Shape and form templates for CRAFTED BEAUTY and SEASONAL BEAUTY in partnership with senior management staff.
• Balance your experience with your intuition to deliver unexpected results.
• Have a developed intuitive understanding of the design jet stream to keep informed on what’s trending and how this may influence our future design.
• Answer critique with a curious mindset – propose alternative options after more design exploration.
• Accountable for exploring, and translating how do all identity elements play together on a product to enhance the product.
• Conduct visits to our factories and material suppliers to gain insights and maintain a high level of understanding of the footwear manufacturing process.
• Travel as necessary to Asia, Europe, trade shows, races, retailers, or other external events.

Qualifications

• 4-year college or university degree in industrial, graphics, apparel, or footwear design, an equivalent combination of education and/or experience may be substituted for a degree
• 7+ years of experience designing footwear or similar products with future vision in a retail/manufacturing environment.
• Thorough knowledge of art and design with clear understanding of visual design or any design-related environment
• Proven experience creating and leading the execution of vision and strategy
• Have a deep understanding of footwear construction and materials
• Have a deep understanding of biomechanics and the science of running performance
• Must reach out and must initiate conversations to advance the design of Brooks Running Footwear
• Ability to understand design concepts and think conceptually
• Ability to understand design conceptually across product categories
• Ability to operate in a fast pace, ever-changing work environment
• Ability to build and foster relationships in a team environment. This position requires employee to engage with many stakeholders, as well as manage various information and relationships
• Ability and desire to push themselves, others, and the brand forward.
• Ability to influence and collaborate with key business partners
• Keen attention to detail in planning, organization, and execution of tasks (self and through others), while still seeing the big picture and understanding how all of the pieces fit together and affect one another.
• Demonstration of innovation and initiative – always looking at improving our products and processes while also displaying a willingness to dive into the details and help out wherever necessary.
• Passionate participation in Brooks’ sports activities is a plus, overridden by the ability to understand and empathize with the runner in order to develop loyal, engaging relationships with our customers and the Brooks community.
• Mastery of Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop
• Competent using Apple Mac Operating system
• Proficiency with MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint etc.)
• 3D not required, but a plus
• Embraces and lives the Brooks values!
• Travel 15% (Domestically/Internationally)