Design Director, Racquet Sports

Wilson Sporting Goods Co.•Chicago, IL

5d•$150,000 - $175,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Design Director, Racquet Sports is the creative leader for Wilson Tennis, Padel, and Pickleball equipment design. This is a hands-on, on-site design leadership role. You will personally concept and craft alongside your team while setting the design vision and leading its execution, shaping how the world's most iconic racquet sports brand looks, feels, and performs on court. Define and own the design vision and creative direction for Tennis, Padel, and Pickleball across industrial design, graphic design, CMF, and on-product brand expression, working in deep collaboration with your design team rather than directing from a distance Lead from the front: concept, sketch, and craft alongside your designers, setting the bar for craft through your own work and elevating the team's output through critique and creative mentorship Drive a concept-forward design team focused on generating strong concepts, renders, and design intent, with the flexibility to explore and push creative direction Work closely with the Wilson Innovation team on industrial design, partnering from early-stage technology exploration through productization to ensure new performance technologies are expressed through compelling, ownable design Explore new CMF applications: pioneer materials, finishes, decoration techniques, and surface technologies that differentiate Wilson on court and at retail, and build a CMF roadmap across the racquet sports portfolio Build a unified design language across the racquet sports portfolio that balances franchise distinctiveness (performance, tour, lifestyle tiers) with one unmistakable Wilson identity Partner directly with Wilson Footwear and Apparel design leadership to align silhouettes, graphics, color, and storytelling, ensuring a single, coherent Wilson design vision across equipment, footwear, and apparel Translate athlete insight, on-court performance requirements, and global market dynamics (US, EMEA, APAC, China) into design strategy and seasonal direction Collaborate with Product Line Management and Engineering from brief through commercialization, protecting design intent through manufacturing constraints, cost targets, and factory execution Lead design reviews with executive leadership; present vision, rationale, and tradeoffs with clarity and conviction Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing multidisciplinary design team spanning industrial and graphic design Champion rapid prototyping, athlete validation, and real-world testing as core to the design process

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design, Graphic Design, or a related field
10+ years of design experience
4+ years leading multidisciplinary design teams, ideally in performance sports, consumer hard goods, or premium consumer products
A portfolio demonstrating mastery in both three-dimensional product design and two-dimensional graphic systems, with shipped products at scale
Proven ability to set creative vision and personally execute design work at the highest level; you lead by designing alongside the team and setting the craft bar through your own output
Deep fluency in CMF with a track record of bringing new materials, finishes, or decoration processes to market
Experience designing within manufacturing realities: materials, tooling, decoration processes, cost engineering, and Asia-based factory partnerships
Strong cross-functional leadership; able to align product, marketing, innovation, and adjacent design organizations around one direction
Exceptional storytelling and executive presentation skills
An athlete's mindset required
Based in Chicago or willing to relocate

Nice To Haves

Passion for racquet sports strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Define and own the design vision and creative direction for Tennis, Padel, and Pickleball across industrial design, graphic design, CMF, and on-product brand expression, working in deep collaboration with your design team rather than directing from a distance
Lead from the front: concept, sketch, and craft alongside your designers, setting the bar for craft through your own work and elevating the team's output through critique and creative mentorship
Drive a concept-forward design team focused on generating strong concepts, renders, and design intent, with the flexibility to explore and push creative direction
Work closely with the Wilson Innovation team on industrial design, partnering from early-stage technology exploration through productization to ensure new performance technologies are expressed through compelling, ownable design
Explore new CMF applications: pioneer materials, finishes, decoration techniques, and surface technologies that differentiate Wilson on court and at retail, and build a CMF roadmap across the racquet sports portfolio
Build a unified design language across the racquet sports portfolio that balances franchise distinctiveness (performance, tour, lifestyle tiers) with one unmistakable Wilson identity
Partner directly with Wilson Footwear and Apparel design leadership to align silhouettes, graphics, color, and storytelling, ensuring a single, coherent Wilson design vision across equipment, footwear, and apparel
Translate athlete insight, on-court performance requirements, and global market dynamics (US, EMEA, APAC, China) into design strategy and seasonal direction
Collaborate with Product Line Management and Engineering from brief through commercialization, protecting design intent through manufacturing constraints, cost targets, and factory execution
Lead design reviews with executive leadership; present vision, rationale, and tradeoffs with clarity and conviction
Recruit, develop, and retain a high-performing multidisciplinary design team spanning industrial and graphic design
Champion rapid prototyping, athlete validation, and real-world testing as core to the design process