WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for a Lead Footwear Color & Material Designer, who will work with a cross-functional team of design, product management, and development partners. They hold collaboration and concept exploration center in their design process. As an experienced Footwear Design professional, they lead through holistic vision of a design concept and can assist junior Design talent. The ideal candidate is a creative who understands how to deliver story and style. Through the Color Design, Material Design and narrative on Footwear product, this role will create industry leading footwear expressions that connect with local consumer. The Lead Designer will be a versatile creative problem solver who excels under tight deadlines, has a strong understanding of emerging design and fashion trends, and extensive knowledge of footwear construction, color theory, graphic creation, materials and trims to create highly covetable product that connects to the Sport and Lifestyle consumer in their local market. They have an eye for detail and motivation to craft premium product. This designer will be an active and energetic participant and partner in the creative process and have excellent cross-functional communication skills, presenting design concepts to internal and external audiences and executing complex deliverables in a fast-paced environment. 

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WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

If this is you, you will be helping to lead the footwear design team in creating unique, geo-specific designs and concepts that enhance collections across Men’s, Women’s and Kids footwear product on a seasonal basis. This will include setting distinct color, material and graphic, crafting hyperlocal narratives in the voice of the Nike Brand, and executing highly crafted expressions on footwear product. They will partner with the Footwear Design Director to curate consumer Trend & Insights reports, help set Design Direction, facilitate exploration workshops and assist junior design teammates. They will collaborate with Apparel Design counterparts to create holistic head-to-toe expressions across FW & AP teams. The Lead Designer will work closely with Product Management teams to build engaging, trend-driven narratives that meet the needs of target consumers, and will partner regularly with Development teams to communicate design intent, help with schematic creation and review and workshop prototypes. The ideal candidate will also be responsible for managing and designing presentation materials and presenting concepts to internal and external partners, teams and leadership.

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH

This is an individual contributor opportunity reporting to the EMEA Footwear Design Director and involves working directly with the EMEA Footwear Design Team including Color, Graphic and Mateiral teams and the EMEA Footwear Product Management and Development teams. The Lead Footwear Color & Material Designer will also collaborate with Apparel counterparts to concept head-to-toe Footwear and Apparel expressions. The candidate will work with othe Geo Express Lane Design counterparts in the other Geographies, and well as Global Material, Color and Graphics designers. They will also be accountable to Express Lane Design and Business Leadership, Nike Creative Leadership, and Nike Business stakeholders.

Education

BA/BFA/MA/MFA preferred in graphic design, fashion design, industrial design, material design, textile design or a related field.

Experience: 

• To be considered, you must submit a creative design portfolio. Please provide website links or attach PDF files when you apply.
• We will share a test during the process to determine the technical skills needed for this position.
• 5-7 years relevant work experience in Color Design, Material Design, Graphic Design and Product Design.
• Foundational understanding of footwear construction, schematic development and tech pack creation.
• Understanding and ability to create footwear color and material concepts that coordinate with a holistic head-to-toe design expression with apparel
• Ability to translate consumer insights into thoughtful narratives and color & material storytelling.
• In-depth knowledge of the EMEA consumer and strong passion for research and gathering trend, cultural and market insights
• Connection to contemporary art & design, sport and streetwear trends
• Effective communicator and collaborator with cross-functional partners
• Strategic thinker that can lead and influence others
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and timelines
• Proven ability to create concepts, iterate and collaborate with a multi-disciplinary product and  creative team in a fast-paced environment
• Creates Color and Material designs that are industry leading, trend right and that consistently incorporate consumer/athlete insights through powerful storytelling, emotional connectivity and relevance
• Produces presentation materials in conjunction with design and category teams that effectively communicate the concept behind the line for internal and external audiences
• Proven experience setting overarching Design Direction and facilitating design exploration workshops
• Proficient ability to apply and perform color and graphic design skills, including drawing/sketching, typography, ideation, color theory, use of texture, spacing, and scale, visual presentation development and layout that is supported by a portfolio of non-computer-based creative art and graphic design
• Uses advanced design skills to create original graphic and/or textile designs that appropriately reflect Nike brand design ethos
• Computer literate using Mac platforms with a high digital design acumen in design-based software (Creative Suite)
• Experience with 3D and AI Design tools is not required, but is a plus 

For this role we consider relocation within Europe.