VP, Footwear Design - Innovation

Job Description

Under Armour is the chosen brand of this generation of athletes... and the athletes of tomorrow. We're about performance - in training and on game day, in blistering heat and bitter cold. Whatever the conditions, whatever the sport, Under Armour delivers the advantage athletes have come to demand.
That demand has created an environment of growth. An environment where building a great team is vital. An environment where doing whatever it takes is the baseline and going above and beyond to protect the Brand is commonplace.
The world's hungriest athletes live by a code, a pledge to themselves and everyone else: Protect This House... I Will. Our goal is to Build A Great Team! Will YOU...Protect This House?!

SUMMARY: Under Armour has a unique, powerful, and authentic connection with athletes and people who share the athletic spirit. We built our Brand and story based on innovation of the 'compression shirt' but, equally importantly, by creating a movement. A powerful shift in what a shirt could mean to an athlete, resulting in a dramatic change in the way athletes dress. Today, the 16-year-old wide receiver feels lighter, faster, stronger, and better in our cleats and baselayer. The 32-year-old marathoner feels athletic, focused, and confident in our HeatGear shorts and SpeedForm running shoes. The woman wearing UA Studio pants and an Armour Bra attacks spin class with a strength, beauty, and empowerment that she's never felt before. The 10-year-old soccer player feels like she can do ANYTHING in our ColdGear mock. The highest-quality products, powerful storytelling, and authentication by athletes with WILL and purpose helped create the undeniable movement that is Under Armour.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES: The Vice President of Footwear Innovation - Design will lead the team that creates Under Armour’s most advanced footwear products. This means design concepts, materials, and manufacturing methods that will hit the market years in the future. We are seeking a leader with great design intellect and judgement, and a proven record of creating and driving innovative footwear technologies and platforms in the industry. A leader, who will ferociously challenge the status quo. This role will be building and defining this team, while equipping them with the best technology from our industry and others.

QUALIFICATIONS:

•Create and lead the Footwear Innovation Design vision across all footwear product categories through collaboration with leadership in Footwear Product, Merchandising, Brand and other internal teams to ensure that Footwear Design Innovation is building a cohesive product strategy across multiple areas of the business.•Lead and drive the Footwear concept key looks, sample development, technical package, and storytelling around Footwear product.•Incorporate Consumer Insights within Footwear Design; capture athlete interviews and imagery that provide insights that benefit Footwear Design and keep Under Armour ahead of trend and in the know. •Lead streamlining and publishing of footwear design relevant to consumer insight information to the cross-functional teams. Leverage partnerships with Category, Design and Brand Marketing to capture and bring these platforms to life. •Lead research trend, silhouette, fabric and trim innovation to further enhance the footwear product and product development process.•Attract and build a great team, inspire and mentor a strong and unique team focused on creating innovative, brand-right, trend-right and fresh footwear across end-uses.•Manage team into calendar as they work closely with Development on the realization of product - refine and sharpen this model. •Analyze existing calendar and work to bring big stories, fabric and trim innovation from Concept to Materials and Design ahead of calendar.•Analyze existing business strategy, communications, user research, visual design, and branding to inform the creative development of the project's conceptual and aesthetic approach•Analyze competitive landscape and user segmentation to develop a strong footwear product roadmap•Come to the table with a strong point of view on creative issues while still having an open ear to opinions and suggestions

• Manage financial budget for Footwear Innovation Design as per corporate goals

EDUCATION AND/OR WORK EXPERIENCE:

•B.A. in Footwear Design or Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design with 15+ years’ experience. •A sincere and contagious passion for the Under Armour Brand and Footwear Design.•Prior experience working for a global company with a strong brand and distinct culture. •Strategic taste level; ability to discern which brand extensions will hold up over time and protect the long-term value of the brand.•A strategic leader who can think long- term and across the enterprise showing strong business awareness, critical analysis, integration of information, and the ability to develop an action- oriented plan.•An authentic leader and partner; ability to lead by forming productive cross-functional relationships, showing respect for what the team has accomplished while bringing break-through thinking and solutions to improve the performance of the business.•An executive with superior inspirational qualities who creates an atmosphere in which people work together enthusiastically and cooperatively to produce outstanding results; one who attracts top talent from outside the organization while developing strong teams within.•Innovative mindset, unafraid and inspired to bring something new to this space.•Experience working for either a start-up and/or high-growth organization is a plus.•Must have a strong working knowledge and practical understanding of most popular professional design programs, i.e., Illustrator, Photoshop and Quark.

At Under Armour, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information (including characteristics and testing), military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Under Armour believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success as a global company, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.