Materials Developer II, Footwear

Job Description

The Materials Developer II, Footwear will support the development and management of new materials specific for footwear with an emphasis on aesthetic, performance, quality, cost and sustainability. They collaborate with the vendor, the product creation team, and other functions in order to establish seasonal material direction, attain on-time delivery and ensure product excellence for both consumers and athletes. As a Material Developer II, we expect you to use your technical expertise and product creation experience to help differentiate Nike’s product in the marketplace through materials excellence.
Core Responsibilities:

• Provide tools, palettes and data across multiple material types to enable effective material selection for end use and category ease of use; including technical assistance to product creation teams
• Partner with Material Design to ensure the material palette is infused with seasonal energy, while considering source base, price, performance and sustainability
• Drive adherence to product creation calendar within your category to ensure seasonal materials are developed, tested and commercialized on time
• Partner with Material Planning & Procurement to ensure you are providing visibility to both your category and to Planning & Procurement when issues or concerns arise; collaborate on resolution
• Lead vendor communication and have deep understanding of vendor capabilities. Be the primary contact for vendor as it relates to category specific issues (price, technical specs, performance). Maintain positive working relationships.
• Collaborate with product creation team, innovation and sourcing to provide training and education for footwear product creation as well as best practices to enable informed decision making

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Apparel, Textiles, Business or equivalent, or an additional two years of relevant work experience in lieu of a degree
• 5+ years' relevant experience, which may include footwear industry experience or experience in materials development, manufacturing or engineering (or 4+ years with advanced degree)
• Deep understanding of various material manufacturing processes required
• Understanding of the product creation process
• Ability to translate lab testing results for end use application
• Excellent problem-solving skills and continual innovation ability
• Ability to interpret design intent and offer alternative solutions
• Strong verbal/written and intercultural communication skills
• Ability to anticipate needs, mitigate risks, solve problems, perform research and analyze results
• Attention to detail, active follow-through, assertiveness, self-motivation and the ability to work in a fast-paced team environment
• Ability to handle multiple competing priorities and independently manage workload
• PC literate with working knowledge of MS Word, Excel and Outlook. PTC/material management systems experience preferred.
• Ability to travel up to 15% of the time, domestic and international