Senior Director, Footwear Engineering

ARC'TERYX•Portland, OR

16d•$188,000 - $235,000•Onsite

About The Position

As our Senior Director of Footwear Engineering, you will build our engineering strategy to ensure every product meets the high performance and quality standards that our athletes deserve. You will heavily influence the creation and manufacturing of all models throughout the product creation cycle, from innovation through production. You will deliver recommendations on organizational structures and processes needed to support all technical aspects of footwear product creation and manufacturing, across our teams in Portland, Vancouver and Asia. You will collaborate with your cross-functional partners in both the Footwear and Supply Chain teams to develop best practices, establish toolboxes, and ensure the necessary processes are in place to guarantee performance, quality and profitability. You will drive engineering excellence by building an engineering organization over time and by influencing developers, designers and other cross-functional partners. You will help evolve our product creation strategy and capabilities to enable Arcâteryxâs 2028+ organizational vision, and will partner with counterparts in Hardgoods, Accessories, and Apparel as well as with engineering teams in our sister brands to support this vision. Our manufacturing partners will be key stakeholders for you; youâll work closely with them to drive product and process excellence, and to bring our innovation and in-line product strategy to life. Finally, you will partner with our Footwear Leadership and corporate Sustainability teams to help develop and drive a sustainability agenda to support Arcâteryxâs circularity and sustainability goals and corporate mission to âLeave it Betterâ. This role is based out of our Portland office. Candidates must be eligible to work in the US. Our Product Creation Development team is a dynamic group spread across the globe. It sits within our Supply Chain organization and is a center of excellence partner with our Footwear Business Unit. The Arcâteryx Footwear team creates innovative, aesthetically striking product that exceeds the core mountain athleteâs outdoors needs across climbing, hiking, and trail running categories. We are builders, problem solvers and passionate outdoor enthusiasts. Fueled by curiosity, we take an immersive approach to identifying our athleteâs future needs â then, build, test, and validate products that solve for real functional challenges. We are a passionate collective with a focus on collaborative teamwork, and our vision is to redefine the industry

Requirements

You have 15+ yearsâ experience in a technical aspect of the footwear industry (engineering, development, manufacturing, etc.), ideally with extensive experience in manufacturing environments in Asia
You have proven experience building engineering systems, structures, and teams from the ground up, and can lead an organization through scale and growth You have strong influential leadership, with the ability to drive alignment across diverse cross-functional stakeholders at all levels of the business
You set a clear vision, align your team around common objectives, and foster commitment to these objectives
You have an in-depth knowledge of footwear construction, foams and rubbers, pattern making, manufacturing, costing, lasts, and materials
You have proven skills in interpreting design intent and product innovation
You have proven performance history with domestic and offshore vendors and manufacturers
You have excellent communication skills - interpersonal, written and verbal
You are entrepreneurial with the ability to make decisions and take calculated risks
You are proactive in identifying the root cause of issues and developing solutions
You remain highly flexible and adaptable when faced with ambiguity
You effectively balance autonomy and collaboration
You inspire breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement
You seek the best (sometimes not the easiest) solutions, with an unwavering commitment to do what is right
Your passion for sustainability is paralleled by your passion for getting outside and living it

Responsibilities

Building our global long-term vision for all Engineering functions, including product engineering, cost engineering, and manufacturing engineering.
Owning performance and quality excellence throughout our product line, by influencing the design of new products to ensure manufacturability, performance and margin targets are met
Establishing toolboxes and best practices for all models
Acting as a critical thought partner to Supply Chain and Footwear Leadership Team as we evolve our teamsâ strategic priorities.
Collaborating with the Footwear and Sourcing leadership teams to establish and execute a medium to long-term partner strategy grounded in product excellence, on-time delivery, quality, and risk mitigation.
Developing recommendations on our future organizational structure and the technical resources needed to support growth, and hiring the technical talent needed to address current and future needs.
Fostering deep, collaborative partnerships with Tier 1 and Tier 2 partners to ensure Arcâteryxâs standards and processes are agreed upon and followed. You will establish technical metrics and scorecards in collaboration with Supply Chain and Footwear team partners and develop a regular cadence of reviewing and acting upon them.
Collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders and establishing and driving a footwear innovation agenda. You will recommend an approach to finding solutions to the technical aspects of all projects, including leveraging teams in Portland and North Vancouver, external resources, and with Tier 1 partners in Asia.
Providing a strong point of view on and heavily influencing our Sustainability agenda and our corporate mission to âLeave It Betterâ.
Driving profitability goals through collaboration with all Footwear and cross-functional stakeholders (including Sourcing, Materials, etc.) and establishing a system by which margin targets, cost breakdown, sheets and other financial and technical data are scrutinized and reviewed.
Leveraging your deep functional expertise to educate, coach and mentor others