Designer II, Lifestyle Footwear

Who We Are:

At Brooks, we believe movement is the key to feeling more alive. That’s why we’re driven to create gear and experiences that take people to the place that makes them feel more alive — whether it’s a headspace, a feeling, or a finish line.

Everyone who works at Brooks is propelled by a company culture that sparks excitement, fuels collaboration, inspires creativity, and ignites innovation.

Our brand values help bond us together and drive our success:

·       Runner First  

We act in the best interest of the runner

·       Word is Bond 

We do what we say we’ll do

·       Champion Heart  

We give our all in everything we do  

·       There is no “I” in Run

We stay generous with our humanity

·       Keep Moving

We find ways to move every day, because joy is kinetic!

We welcome everyone from every walk of life looking to inspire others through the power of movement — because we’re all moving towards something. Let’s run there.   

Your Job:

As a Designer II, Lifestyle Footwear at Brooks, you will create design solutions for footwear-design projects as lifestyle and heritage additions, brand partnerships and collaborations, with the opportunity to iterate on inline extensions. In this role, you will create the perfect balance between inspiring designs driven by consumer story and the performance nature of our running brand identity through a lifestyle lens.

In this role, you will create compelling footwear designs for lifestyle. Your creative choice and ability to utilize our existing brand language and rich history of performance tech will drive the aesthetics for all lifestyle footwear projects while still executing against Brooks’ Fit, Feel, Ride, quality standards. As a Designer II, Lifestyle Footwear, you will use the creative foundation CRAFTED BEAUTY to create compelling footwear designs through a lifestyle lens. By applying the creative foundation, you will elevate the level of our CRAFTED BEAUTY foundation as a design reference of Brooks Running lifestyle product while maintaining brand direction and appropriate aesthetic appeal of our target consumer.

As a Designer II, Lifestyle Footwear, Lifestyle, you will work closely with the Manager, Specialty Concept & Lifestyle Footwear Design to identify footwear trends, define consumer expression through a lifestyle lens, and execute this vision into footwear in partnership with the Footwear Merchandising Team, and in connection to the Brand Creative Team, Apparel Graphic Design, and Brand Marketing teams. 

As a Designer II, Lifestyle Footwear, your role will lead a clear design communication to the Footwear Merchandising Team and the Product Development Team. With your strong professional experience in designing beautiful footwear, you will play a central role within the footwear design team to ensure that Brooks is the most LOVED brand for runners worldwide.

• DESIGN
• Own key product designs of lifestyle footwear by creating and presenting upper, midsole, and outsole sketches for specialty concept product based on direction provided by the merchandise briefs and in sync with our CRAFTED BEAUTY design standards and creative vision.
• Apply identity principles to maximize perceived value to drive superior aesthetic competitiveness.
• Influence and research direction of work with your design POV on storytelling, color, material, textile, finishes, market, and lifestyle trends to grow the appeal of Brooks Running lifestyle footwear.
• Stay current in the lifestyle footwear market, different category trends, and product design innovations across the global network.
• Expand the possibilities of what products we create and how we can create through the attainment of advanced 2D and 3D digital design tools.
• Incorporate 3D tools to visualize designs during the creation phase and continuously build your 3D skillset to utilize 3D in technical applications (e.g., manipulation of tooling files).
• Partner with senior design staff to align on approach and concepts around your designs to ensure alignment with CRAFTED BEAUTY principles.
• Apply learned techniques and gained experience to approach, analyze, and solve problems.
• Create and manipulate original textile prints on shell-patterns and footwear tech.
• Present footwear concepts and designs at concept debut, key milestone meetings, key internal footwear meetings, and select leadership and executive meetings as needed.
• Finalize product details and proactively follow through on the execution ofthe design for each product.
• Organize and deliver product design presentations, both physical and digital work, including the exploratory process, using your evaluation, judgment, and interpretation to select the right course of action.
• Develop a strong point of view and bring forward your own creative ideas; have a clear understanding of what’s trending in the market and translate to product concepts.
• Provide feedback and guidance to Designer 1 colleagues.
• Seek out mentorship from more tenured Designers.
• Respond to design critique with multiple design solutions.

• TEAM COLLABORATION
• Partner within a product creation team and work across product categories on a wide range of complex projects and products to deliver industry-leading products and stories.
• Act as a main point person for the Lifestyle and Specialty Concepts Design Team, using your footwear expertise to create unique upper and tooling designs and execute original ideations into reality.
• Collaborate with Footwear Design, Product Marketing, Development, and Material Designers to focus on color and print/pattern solutions for success in the market.
• Work closely with the 3D Visualization Design Team to ensure a constant flow of information toward the creation of their digital twins.
• Work closely with Material Design and Product Development to ensure new lifestyle and specialty concept footwear material selection meets our fit/feel/ride quality standards.
• Work towards becoming a design expert and design leader across other teams—facilitate conversations, lead by example, and show the “how.”
• Be a trusted partner to the development teams in Asia and our overseas production sites.

• ACCOUNTABILITY
• Maintain calendar/timelines/deadlines that result in a timely completion of each product and/or collection.
• Use your strong design knowledge to partner with your product teams.
• 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 design.
• Apply your knowledge of prototyping and ability to use handmade models to demonstrate proof of ideas.
• 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.

• 4-year college or university degree in industrial, graphics, apparel, or footwear design, equivalent combination of education and/or experience may be substituted for a degree.
• 5+ years of experience creating color/material/textile programs and future vision in a retail/manufacturing environment.
• 2D and 3D CAD experience and desire to learn complex surfacing and geometry, such as Rhino, Blender, and Adobe Substance 2D and 3D Suite, etc. (not required but preferred).
• Thorough knowledge of art and design with a clear understanding of visual design or any design-related environment.
• Proven experience creating and leading the execution of vision and strategy.
• Ability to understand design concepts and think conceptually.
• Ability to understand design conceptually across product categories.
• Ability to create designs that meet category needs and commercial opportunities.
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced, 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 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 wherever necessary.
• Ability to understand and empathize with the runner to develop loyal, engaging relationships with our customers and the Brooks community.
• Mastery of Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.
• Competent in 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 10% (Domestically/Internationally).

Compensation: The pay range for this position, based out of the Brooks Seattle HQ, is $102,173 - $153,206 per year. Base pay offered will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.  

Other:

Brooks is proud to offer a robust benefits package to our employees and their families!  

Benefits- including medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance, HSA and employer contribution, FSA, family & fertility assistance, 401K Savings Plan and match, employee assistance program, and transportation assistance.  

Paid Time Off- Brooks offers generous time off, including three to five weeks of paid time off, eleven paid holidays,and paid sick and parental leave.

Bonus- in addition to base pay, Brooks employees may also be offered an annual bonus based on company performance.   

Perks- including product discounts, employee recognition, fitness discounts, volunteer and donation benefits.

Location- You will spend 3 per week in our Seattle offices, as we believe our organization flourishes when connections, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and celebrations happen in person.

At Brooks, we celebrate diversity & equity. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment, and encourage people of all backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, and skills to apply. Brooks is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, two-spirit identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, the presence of a physical, mental, or sensory disability, marital status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), caste, citizenship or immigration status, honorably discharged veteran or military status, actual or perceived victims of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking, HIV or Hepatitis C infection, political ideology, use of a trained service animal by a person with a disability, or on any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law, or any other non-merit based factors.