Footwear Designer II - Lifestyle/Collaborations

New Balance•Boston, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The New Balance design team is a closely connected global community united by a common pursuit of setting the standard for product quality, this our legacy to uphold through a balance of innovation, craftsmanship and consumer focused design. The Energy team’s mission is to create compelling footwear products that generate excitement around the brand spark consumer interest and bring new energy to the marketplace through thoughtful design storytelling and collaboration. The D2 role is an instrumental part of the global design community and Lifestyle category, partnering with internal and external stakeholders to create compelling, brand-right footwear solutions across a range broad range of footwear products, collaborators, and project complexities that represent the intersection of sport and culture.

Requirements

4+ years of footwear design experience, preferably within lifestyle, sport, or collaborative product design.
Strong understanding of footwear design, construction, materials, color, and how concepts translate onto a physical footwear product.
Demonstrated ability in color theory, material application, graphic design, pattern, composition, proportion and visual hierarchy, with the ability to create compelling solutions across varying levels of complexity.
Ability to recognize what is working, identify opportunities for improvement and make thoughtful decisions that balance aesthetics, brand, product and commercial considerations.
Demonstrates an active interest in footwear, sport, fashion, culture, trends and technology; brings relevant marketplace and consumer insights into the creative process.
Actively seeks out information and expertise, navigates feedback effectively, builds relationships across functions and brings the right people into a problem at the right time.
Builds trust and credibility with partners; able to challenge requests constructively, navigate difficult conversations and provide alternative solutions when requests conflict with brand objectives, material properties, manufacturing capabilities or other constraints.
Able to bring structure and clarity to loosely defined requests, identify what needs to be understood, ask thoughtful questions and maintain progress despite incomplete information.
Demonstrates initiative in finding answers, leveraging internal resources and connecting with experts to overcome project challenges.
Effectively manage multiple projects, priorities, timelines, and key milestones while maintaining autonomy, consistently moving work forward without compromising attention to detail.
Communicates clearly with partners, teammates and leadership; able to articulate design rationale, identify risks and appropriately manage up when projects increase in complexity or scope.
Brings ideas to life in compelling and easily understood ways and effectively communicates design intent to both creative and non-creative audiences.
Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Illustrator and Photoshop; comfortable incorporating AI creative tools into the design process.
Experience with Blender or other 3D design software is a plus, and Microsoft Office.
Supports collective success and recognize that strong product creation depends on collaboration across the broader organization.
Demonstrates a commitment to continuous learning, actively seeks new knowledge and skills, and approaches unfamiliar challenges with curiosity and a growth mindset.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Blender or other 3D design software is a plus

Responsibilities

Translate partner requests, briefs, concepts and creative direction into thoughtful footwear solutions.
Design solutions ranging from color/material updates on existing footwear models to new product creation, applying industry knowledge to achieve final result.
Interpret both highly prescriptive and ambiguous partner requests, asking the right questions to understand the underlying objective and establish clear design direction.
Act as a trusted design partner by providing creative guidance, recommendations and solutions that balance partner needs with brand objectives and product positioning.
Identify potential design, material, manufacturing or brand challenges early and proactively engage the appropriate cross-functional partners to develop solutions.
Collaborate with Product Management, Product Development, Materials and Color teams to solve problems and inform design decisions.
Manage multiple projects with varying levels of complexity and autonomy while maintaining organization, attention to detail, and accountability to key milestones.
Clearly communicate design intent, project status, complexity, risks and opportunities to immediate team members and leadership.
Maintain awareness of footwear, fashion, sport, culture, technology and marketplace trends and apply relevant insights to design recommendations.