Footwear Design Director, Nike Basketball Signature Athlete

Nike • Beaverton, OR

21h

About The Position

As our Footwear Design Director for Nike Basketball Signature Athlete, you will direct the creation of industry-leading footwear bringing bold concepts to life. You will solve complex design challenges and create iconic products that inspire through both function and form. Inspired by the signature athlete, you will help define a new visual language for Nike Basketball—one that expresses sport through style, performance, and modern design. This role requires both creative ambition and strategic focus, partnering across a global brand to build scalable design systems and advance creative innovation. The ideal candidate is a visionary designer with exceptional taste, a refined aesthetic point of view, and an unwavering commitment to craft. They bring a sharp eye for detail, proportion, materiality, and execution, consistently delivering elevated design solutions. Through strong creative leadership, they will develop compelling products that resonate emotionally with consumers both on and off the court. With a deep understanding of cultural relevance, consumer insights, and emerging trends, this individual will continually challenge industry conventions and set a high standard for creativity, desirability, and aesthetic excellence.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design or related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training
• 10+ years working in Design or related field
• Exceptional knowledge of design, art, and fashion, as well as passion for sport and youth culture
• Expert knowledge of form, color, materials, human factors, related to elevating the consumer experience
• Ability to translate consumer knowledge and insights into product solutions and narratives
• Experience in technical footwear design - basketball design is a plus
• Strong Photoshop, Illustrator skills
• Must be able to build accurate 2D technical drawings (tech packs)
• Strong sketching, illustration, and rendering skills
• Expert knowledge of manufacturing processes and materials
• Must be able to generate a broad range of concepts and solutions for each project
• Experienced with presentation programs: Keynote, PowerPoint, Acrobat, etc.
• Positive personality and energy
• Ability and passion to lead, coach, collaborate, and onboard Design teammates
• Contribute and align to shared team culture and behaviors
• Catalyst to make connections with other Design groups
• Lead + drive partnerships beyond the Design function (Marketing, Engineering, Development, etc.)
• Collaborator with a skill in connecting the dots
• Speaks up with courage for self and the team
• Open minded, good listener, receptive to candid feedback and diverse points of view
• Being passionate and curious to learn about basketball and the athlete is.
• If you have a body, you are an athlete
• Submit a footwear design focused portfolio (PDF or URL on resume with password provided if applicable)

Nice To Haves

• Cobbling and prototyping skills are a plus
• 3D design programs experience is a plus

Responsibilities

• Direct the creation of industry-leading footwear bringing bold concepts to life.
• Solve complex design challenges and create iconic products that inspire through both function and form.
• Define a new visual language for Nike Basketball—one that expresses sport through style, performance, and modern design.
• Build scalable design systems and advance creative innovation.
• Develop compelling products that resonate emotionally with consumers both on and off the court.
• Continually challenge industry conventions and set a high standard for creativity, desirability, and aesthetic excellence.
• Lead, coach, collaborate, and onboard Design teammates.
• Contribute and align to shared team culture and behaviors.
• Make connections with other Design groups.
• Lead and drive partnerships beyond the Design function (Marketing, Engineering, Development, etc.).
• Collaborate and help build the design direction with the Senior Creative Director.
• Explore new opportunities, take risks, and change the game.
• Engage with project teammates on researching, gaining insights, problem solving around performance and manufacturing, working with athletes, and crafting a vast range of creative and appealing solutions, that are also sustainable and considerate of cost.
• Participate and present the work in informal and formal reviews.
• Be seen as a team leader and mentor for other designers.

Benefits

• We offer a number of accommodations to complete our interview process including screen readers, sign language interpreters, accessible and single location for in-person interviews, closed captioning, and other reasonable modifications as needed.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior