3D CAD Footwear Designer (Altra)

VF Corporation•Denver, CO

About The Position

As part of the Footwear Design team, you will help bring Altra’s inline footwear product to life through advanced 3D design and visualization. Working closely with Footwear Design, Development, Product Management, and Innovation teams, you will build digital product that helps accelerate concepting, improve design communication, and streamline the path to commercialization. This role is responsible for translating design intent into accurate, compelling 3D models, 3D prints and visual assets that support both creative decision-making and product execution. This role reports to the Design Director, Footwear.

Requirements

4–6 years of professional experience in footwear design, product creation, or advanced 3D modeling.
Strong proficiency in Rhinoceros 3D, Blender, SolidWorks or similar 3D surfacing/modeling software.
Strong understanding of footwear construction, tooling development, materials, and manufacturing processes.
Ability to create both rapid concept models and highly refined production-ready geometry.
Strong visualization and rendering skills to clearly communicate product concepts and storytelling.
Excellent collaboration skills and ability to work cross-functionally within a triad model (Design, Development, Product Management).
Strong understanding of performance footwear and athlete-first product thinking.
Strong organization and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.

Nice To Haves

Experience with computational or parametric workflows such as Grasshopper or Houdini.
Experience working directly with factories and tooling partners in Asia.
Knowledge of rendering platforms such as KeyShot or Maya.
Passion for running, movement, and performance product design.

Responsibilities

Create high-quality 3D models of footwear concepts, components, and tooling that support inline product creation from concept through commercialization.
Partner closely with Footwear Designers to translate sketches, concepts, and design intent into digital 3D form.
Build and refine outsole, midsole, and upper models to support design reviews, prototyping, and factory communication.
Develop compelling renderings and visualizations to communicate product ideas, storytelling, and material/color execution.
Support rapid iteration by creating fast-turn digital prototypes that accelerate decision-making and reduce development cycles.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Development, Product Management, and Tooling Manager to ensure designs balance performance, manufacturability, and cost targets.
Maintain digital model integrity and support handoff to factory partners for tooling and engineering refinement.
Explore and pilot new workflows and tools in computational design, parametric modeling, and digital creation to improve team capabilities.
Contribute to establishing and evolving Altra’s 3D digital product creation standards and workflows in partnership with the Design Director and cross-functional stakeholders.
Travel as needed (approximately 10%) to Asia, Europe, trade shows, races, factory sites, or other locations that advance the work and projects.
Build a deep understanding of performance footwear construction, runner biomechanics, manufacturing processes, and design philosophy.
Collaborate closely with Innovation Footwear Design and Development partners to develop breakthrough concepts that push performance forward.
Partner cross-functionally with Run Research, Product Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering to ensure designs are rooted in performance science and aligned with real-world manufacturing constraints.