Who We Are:

At Brooks, we believe movement is the key to feeling more alive. That’s why we’re driven to create gear and experiences that take people to the place that makes them feel more alive — whether it’s a headspace, a feeling, or a finish line.

Everyone who works at Brooks is propelled by a company culture that sparks excitement, fuels collaboration, inspires creativity, and ignites innovation.

Our brand values help bond us together and drive our success:

· Runner First

We act in the best interest of the runner

· Word is Bond

We do what we say we’ll do

· Champion Heart

We give our all in everything we do

· There is no “I” in Run

We stay generous with our humanity

· Keep Moving

We find ways to move every day, because joy is kinetic!

We welcome everyone from every walk of life looking to inspire others through the power of movement — because we’re all moving towards something. Let’s run there.

Your Job:

As Senior Designer, CMF Design, Footwear you will elevate and influence the EXECUTIONAL DESIGN BALANCE of color, material, finish aesthetic direction, utilizing strong design, product, and process knowledge toward footwear designs and seasonal inline projects. In this role, you will create the ideal balance between inspiring designs driven by consumer story and the performance nature of our running brand identity. You will produce color, material, and finish palettes, designs, and signature selections through your keen expertise and understanding of taste and style preferences of runners and consumers. You will be instrumental in stoking runner and consumer desire for our shoes through CMF design.

In this role, you will use the creative foundation CRAFTED BEAUTY to identify and create design solutions to elevate and influence the possibilities of Brooks Running footwear, informing and underpinning seasonal design strategy and guiding the Footwear Design Team with your CMF concepts, and designs. Scope of design solutions will range from future material, trim, and treatment packages to the analysis, creation, and coloration of finite elements, details, finishes, paints, and branding executions for performance and aesthetic.

As Senior Designer, CMF Design, you will be key in elevating footwear design, and creating clear, well-thought, data-influenced, forward-looking design solutions. You will work closely with fellow design leads in Color, Materials, Specialty Concepts, Visualization Innovation, and Inline, along with the larger Footwear Design Team. You will work collaboratively with key partners in Footwear Material Development, Product Development, and Product Line Management to execute pre-season, innovation and inline CMF deliverables based on product segmentation and specific upper textile directions, while maintaining brand direction, sustainability goals, and appropriate aesthetic appeal for our target consumer.

You will establish and build relationships with material vendors and factories across the globe. With your advanced experience in designing footwear, you will play an independent role as designer and design mentor within the whole footwear team to ensure that Brooks is the most LOVED brand for runners worldwide.

Your Responsibilities:

PRODUCT & DESIGN
Be accountable to use and improve our Brooks Running performance-design ethos, discovering new ways to create beautiful, valuable, and deeply meaningful CMF designs.
Research, prepare, and deliver concept direction to influence and support design direction with a focus on consumer storytelling, competitive landscape, product design, and CMF and graphic design.
Own the creation of CMF designs and packages, and the creation of palettes, utilizing CMF renderings, visualizations ad tech-pack creations that meet project (pre-season, innovation, inline) objectives and further exploration, application, execution, and learnings.
Partner with fellow design leads to support the evolution of overarching brand creative vision and seasonal design directions. Create new methods and tools that expand the possibilities of what and how we can create products.
Drive strong collaboration with Footwear Design and Pre-Season Design teams on how CMF strategy, palettes, components, treatments, and designs can support leading products and seasonal stories.
With Director, Color & Trend, help to strengthen and evolve design capabilities, tools, and integrations into footwear-design and CMF processes through ongoing feedback, strategic thought-partnership, and creative problem-solving.
Finalize product details and proactively follow through on the execution of your designs with Development partners using your evaluation, judgement, and interpretation to select and communicate right courses of action.
Develop templates and oversee all technical design documents needed, assigned, and agreed upon to ensure what we have designed matches what is produced.
Respond to design critique with multiple design solutions, and use opportunities to influence others through key decisions, milestones, and timelines.
Stay current in the athletic footwear market, different category trends, and product design innovations.
Maintain and adhere to calendars and deadlines that result in a timely completion of projects—communicate to partners with ease and candor.
Conduct factory and supplier visits to gain insights and maintain a deep understanding of the footwear manufacturing process.

COLLABORATION & LEADERSHIP
Work closely with Material Development and Product Development teams at HQ and in Asia to ensure CMF designs, selections, palettes, paint treatments, and designs meets fit, feel, ride, sustainability, and aesthetic standards.
Establish yourself as the CMF design expert and use your expertise to partner with the Development Team as they work with manufacturers and suppliers to evaluate and qualify new materials for future use.
Act as an expert and mentor, share experiences and knowledge with teammates. Provide feedback and guidance as needed to help your team accelerate knowledge and cohesion.
Act as a design expert and design leader across other teams – facilitate conversations, lead by example and show the “how”.
As brand grows, support the onboarding and development of new CMF designers, providing and enshrining best team practices to a growing team and function. Manage up to one designer.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Maintain calendar/timelines/deadlines that result in a timely completion of each project
As an expert in product design, use your experience to influence your product team.
Shape and form templates for CRAFTED BEAUTY and SEASONAL BEAUTY in partnership with senior manager design leadership.
Answer critique with a curious mindset – propose alternative options after more design exploration.
Have a strong understanding of the design jet stream to keep informed on what’s trending and how this may influence our design.
Anticipate questions or perceived risks - prepare analysis and reasoning.
Balance your experience with your intuition to deliver unexpected results.
Accountable for exploring and translating how do all identity elements play together on a product to enhance the product.
Travel as necessary to Asia, Europe, trade shows, races, retailers, or other external events.

Your Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in design-related field or equivalent.
7+ years of experience creating color/material/textile programs and future vision in a retail/manufacturing environment.
1+ years of management experience preferred, including hiring, effectively directing work, coaching and development.
Thorough knowledge of art and design with clear understanding of visual design or any design related environment.
Ability to understand design conceptually across product categories.
Ability to create designs that meet category needs and commercial opportunities.
Proven experience creating and leading the execution of vision and strategy.
Strong knowledge of the total footwear construction process.
Ability to understand manufacturing capabilities, anticipate issues, problem solve, and timely resolution.
Ability to build and foster relationships in a team environment. This position requires engagement with many stakeholders, as well as manage various information and relationships.
Ability to meet deadlines without fail.
Ability to influence and collaborate with key business partners.
Ability to be flexible and multitask many different projects at once.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, demonstrating effective listening through concise, clear verbal and written communication.
Interest and ability to create unique solutions.
Effective presentation comfort and skill.
Demonstration of innovation and initiative—always looking at improving our products and processes while also displaying a willingness to dive into the details and support wherever necessary.
Excellent interpersonal skills that inspire and build trust resulting in effective working relationships across the company (including Footwear Design, Development, Engineering, PLM, Run Research).
Keen attention to detail in planning, organization, and execution of tasks, while still seeing the big picture and understanding how all the pieces fit together and affect one another.
Ability to anticipate how a decision made can affect our customers, our partners, our products, or other department operations and/or morale; “connecting the dots.”
An ability to understand and empathize with the runner.
Mastery with Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop
Competent using Apple Mac Operating system
Proficiency with MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint etc.)
3D design experience is not required, but a plus
Embraces and lives the Brooks values!
Travel 10% (Domestically/Internationally)

Compensation: The pay range for this position, based out of the Brooks Seattle HQ, is $124,186 - $198,739 per year. Base pay offered will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Other:

Brooks is proud to offer a robust benefits package to our employees and their families!

Benefits- including medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance, HSA and employer contribution, FSA, family & fertility assistance, 401K Savings Plan and match, employee assistance program, and transportation assistance.

Paid Time Off- Brooks offers generous time off, including three to five weeks of paid time off, eleven paid holidays,and paid sick and parental leave.

Bonus- in addition to base pay, Brooks employees may also be offered an annual bonus based on company performance.

Perks- including product discounts, employee recognition, fitness discounts, volunteer and donation benefits.

Location - You will spend 3 per week in our Seattle offices, as we believe our organization flourishes when connections, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and celebrations happen in person.

At Brooks, we celebrate diversity & equity. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment, and encourage people of all backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, and skills to apply. Brooks is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, two-spirit identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, the presence of a physical, mental, or sensory disability, marital status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), caste, citizenship or immigration status, honorably discharged veteran or military status, actual or perceived victims of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking, HIV or Hepatitis C infection, political ideology, use of a trained service animal by a person with a disability, or on any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law, or any other non-merit based factors.