Senior Footwear Designer, Performance Running Innovation

New Balance•Lawrence, MA

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

We're a rapidly growing brand with a strong drive for innovation. We're seeking a highly creative individual who can enhance our footwear innovation efforts and shape the future design direction for Performance Running. As the Senior Footwear Designer - Innovation, your main responsibility will be to research, generate ideas, and design footwear products that strike a balance between functionality, aesthetics, and biomechanics, giving our company a competitive edge. You will champion design excellence by fostering innovation and encouraging risk-taking, acting as a catalyst for experimentation and change. Your role will involve supporting New Balance's innovation strategy through the creation of groundbreaking product concepts rooted in performance and craftsmanship. By leveraging advanced research and insights from consumers, you will develop innovative solutions for the road, track, field and courts. We are looking for designers focused on performance categories across running and sport.

Requirements

Minimum 8 years Industrial Design experience with innovation focus or 8 years performance footwear design experience.
Deep understanding of footwear constructions and manufacturing methods with Asia factory experience.
Strong knowledge and understanding of ergonomics and biomechanics with athlete interaction experience.
2D design software: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Sketchbook Pro or ProCreate
3D modeling: Gravity Sketch, Maya/Modo, Rhino, Blender
Ai tools: Vizcom
Ability to create prototypes and proof of concept models using hands-on technique and digital tools.
Experience in athletic/outdoor products or technical footwear products needed.
Passionate about Running and the Outdoors
Ability to travel for research and factory development trips.

Responsibilities

Research new technologies, materials and design tools to identify future innovation opportunities.
Work with internal experts and new vendors to envision future footwear applications.
Leverage athlete and consumer insights to identify unmet needs.
Create innovative concepts and footwear ingredients that meet New Balance’s innovation vision.
Collaborate with all innovation functions to create functional prototypes and specifications to investigate feasibility of new ideas to support the sport innovation pipeline.
Work with the Sport Research Lab and New Balance athletes to develop and validate new footwear concepts.
Explore new footwear constructions and material applications through digital and hands-on experimentations.
Communicate design intent through 2D sketch, 3D modeling and physical models as well as advanced presentation tools.
Design holistic footwear solutions for athletes and consumers. These innovations should also align with the sport category’s strategic plan to deliver unique and commercial products.
Meets key deadlines and deliverables for projects and has a solid understanding of the product creation process.
Work with the inline and innovation teams to help facilitate project transfers and communicate design intent.