As a Lead Material Designer, you will remain closely connected to footwear culture and fashion trend insights, leading the curation and development of innovative material concepts across key collaborator and licensing lifestyle products. Your work will span the full product creation journey, from concept development and material storytelling through commercialization and manufacturing execution. You will create materials that address consumer needs while elevating product expression through texture, finish, construction, and innovation.
A typical day may include trend research, material concept development, cross functional team collaboration, sample reviews, prototype evaluations, narrative development, and cross-functional working sessions with design and development teams.
• Create original, industry-leading material concepts for lifestyle footwear collections
• Develop material trend insights into seasonal narratives, consumer insights, and product performance goals
• Translate consumer, athlete, and cultural insights into innovative material solutions
• Explore and implement new material constructions, finishes, textures, and manufacturing techniques
• Build and refine material palettes that elevate product expression across multiple franchises and product tiers
• Partner with Design, Colour, Graphics, and Development teams to ensure cohesive product storytelling
• Collaborate directly with manufacturing partners to achieve material quality, feasibility, and execution excellence
• Create, evaluate, and refine physical prototypes, mock-ups, and material samples
• Drive innovation through material exploration while balancing performance, cost, manufacturability, and sustainability goals
• Contribute to both immediate seasonal product creation and long-term material innovations
• Lead presentations and communicate design intent to internal and external stakeholders
• Influence and align cross-functional teams around material strategy and creative direction