Material Designer

Job Details:

Industry: Footwear (Global Football/Soccer)

Job Title: Material Design-3

Location: Beaverton, OR (4-days hybrid onsite)

Duration: 6-Month Assignment

Type: Full-time, Contract

Description:

WHO YOU’LL WORK WITH

As a Materials Designer in Global Football (Soccer), you will be working hand in hand with a large project team of different professionals (product design, color design, graphic design, developers, marketing etc.) and collaborate within the larger organization’s design community. This role reports directly to the Material Design Senior Manager.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for an exceptional Footwear Materials Designer to combine their experience, problem-solving abilities, and creativity to help create the future of Footwear Materials. The category you will be working in is the organization’s Global Football (Soccer) team, which is a creative, collaborative, and culture driven partnership space that drives storytelling and helps fuel the brand.

• The ideal teammate will be a highly creative problem solver. This is someone who doesn’t settle for anything less than the best design and materials solutions, to meet the needs of the athlete, collaborator and consumer. They’ll be focused on elevating the consumer experience by creating materials that are performance and trend-relevant for a range of products while driving an emotional connection to materials for the consumer through the use of narrative and storytelling and by pushing the edges of sustainable footwear material design.Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design or related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training.
• 5-7 years’ experience designing and developing innovative footwear and other products
• Deeper knowledge and experience within and adjacent to the culture of Sport & Football
• Ability to translate consumer knowledge and insights into product solutions and narratives
• Strong Photoshop, Illustrator skills
• Experienced with presentation programs: Keynote, PowerPoint, Acrobat, etc.
• Must be able to build accurate 2D technical drawings (tech packs)
• Cobbling and prototyping skills are a plus
• Experience in working technical footwear design with Solid knowledge of manufacturing processes and materials a plus
• Knowledge and experience with sustainable design and manufacturing are a plus
• Contribute and align to shared team culture and behaviors
• Catalyst to make connections with other Design groups
• Motivated and hardworking about bringing others along
• Open-minded, good listener, receptive to candid feedback and diverse points of view
• Speaks up with courage for self and the team

WHAT YOU’LL WORK ON

Your day-to-day role will involve working across a diverse range of Global Football products within Seasonal Expression ranging from seasonal on pitch moments, competition packs, athlete stories, and energy projects.

If this sounds like you, you’ll be developing technically complex material designs using the latest innovations, while also curating and elevating existing materials for refresh and collection models. Your work will span the entire process, from concepting and ideation to finalizing tech packs, collaborating closely with manufacturing partners, and at times directly engaging with athletes. The daily responsibilities in this role are dynamic, challenging, and deeply rewarding, offering opportunities to make a meaningful impact at every stage of creation.

ADDITIONAL INFO:

• The work will consist of focusing on seasonal packs, partnering with color and graphic designers to build seasonal narratives and toolboxes for athletes, and more
• Will work with ~10-12 on direct team; lots of cross functional work between product design, color, graphics, footwear developers, material development team, PLMs, and more
• On-site role at WHQ; typical work hours, 4/1 hybrid schedule (will occasionally need to come in for meetings on Fridays)
• Role is for project support; extension likely, not guaranteed
• Degree preferred, not a hard requirement
• 5-7 years’ experience required in a materials design role (footwear experience heavily preferred; apparel and/or accessories could work)

Top must-have skills include the following:

• Adobe Illustrator expertise
• Basic understanding of material types (knits, wovens, synthetics, injections)
• Collaborative
• Expert in trends/trend research

Skills that would make a candidate stand out:

• 3D visualization tool experience (Adobe Substance, Vizcom)
• Passion for sport (soccer specifically)
• Expertise in make/manufacturing (not just digitally-based skillset)

Mindlance is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of Minority/Gender/Disability/Religion/LGBTQI/Age/Veterans.