Lead 3D Footwear Designer, Digital Design

Nike • Beaverton, OR

8d

About The Position

This role is for a highly skilled 3D design expert with mastery of design, multiple digital design tools, deep manufacturing knowledge, and computational design. The individual will be a power user of generative AI workflows, actively contribute to tool development, drive design innovation in hackathons, influence design direction, and serve as a subject matter expert for both craft excellence and emerging digital capabilities. The role requires the ability to work at speed without compromising design quality. The Lead 3D Footwear Designer will tackle complex footwear projects, partner with Footwear Design, drive design direction, create innovative solutions, mentor team members, and act as a bridge between digital craft excellence and cutting-edge digital capabilities. Key responsibilities include unlocking the full power of 3D design from concept to manufacturing, creating rapid 3D form studies and design iterations, delivering production-ready 3D models and visualizations for high-profile projects, collaborating closely with design, development, and engineering teams, influencing design direction within a category team, creating and sharing custom tools, scripts, and workflows, serving as a subject matter expert, championing generative AI adoption, partnering with GenAI, Global Tech, and CP&I teams, and mentoring junior designers. The role also involves ensuring work meets aligned output strategy, process, and brand protection standards.

Requirements

• BA/BFA degree in related field preferred. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training.
• 6+ years of experience in 3D design creation.
• Expert-level Polygon, SubD and NURBS modeling across multiple software packages with knowledge of computational design and procedural modeling (Blender, Maya, Rhino, Grasshopper, Houdini etc.), with the ability to move efficiently between modeling methods based on design and speed requirements.
• Ability to create rapid form studies and iterative concept models, including custom Grasshopper scripts and computational workflows that enable designers to quickly explore, evaluate, and refine design directions.
• Expertise identifying emerging technologies and rapidly translating them into practical workflows that enhance speed, quality and design excellence.
• Deep understanding of product engineering, development requirements, and manufacturing constraints.
• Professional footwear experience strongly preferred.
• Proven track record applying and refining generative AI workflows to deliver innovative design solutions (Vizcom is required and experience with AI-assisted coding workflows is preferred.).
• Hands-on expertise with 3D printing technologies, including optimizing geometry for additive manufacturing and validating prototypes through iterative testing.
• Advanced rendering skills with ability to create custom environments, materials, and lighting setups.
• Experience collaborating with engineering teams to develop custom tools and workflows.
• Portfolio demonstrating ability to design, model, and execute high-quality 3D content with footwear experience preferred.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with AI-assisted coding workflows is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Drive design direction, create innovative solutions, mentor team members, and serve as the bridge between digital craft excellence and cutting-edge digital capabilities.
• Unlock the full power of 3D design taking ideas from concept to manufacturing.
• Create rapid 3D form studies and design iterations that allow quick explorations, evaluation, and refinement of ideas during concept development.
• Deliver production-ready 3D models and visualizations for high-profile projects with new methods of make, collaborating closely with footwear design, development and engineering to ensure feasibility.
• Partner closely with a footwear design category team to influence direction, present design solutions, and create refined concepts that accelerate decision-making during co-creation timelines.
• Work across multiple dimensions on inline, priority, hackathon, and special quick-strike projects, including high-profile collaborations with heavy leadership scrutiny and compressed timelines.
• Create and share custom tools, scripts, and workflows that accelerate the team's capabilities and establish new best practices.
• Serve as subject matter expert with pipeline teams, and development partners to share best practices and understand how 3D tools can be leveraged across the organization.
• Champion generative AI adoption by demonstrating advanced workflows, identifying high-impact use cases, and helping others integrate AI tools effectively into their practice.
• Partner with the GenAI team, Global Tech, and CP&I to define requirements, test workflows, and provide feedback that helps refine and scale AI-powered design tools for the global design community.
• Mentor 3D Designer I and II team members, helping them develop both traditional 3D skills, computational workflows, and proficiency with generative AI workflows.
• Ensure all work meets the aligned output strategy and process to deliver and support asset management transition across digital pipelines.
• Ensure all work meets brand protection standards and is consumer-facing ready, understanding that your 3D models and renderings may be shared with Brand or become public.

Benefits

• Accommodations to complete the 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
• Education Level: Associate degree