Senior Footwear Designer

Company Description

Headquartered in Southern California, Skechers has spent 30 years helping men, women and kids everywhere look and feel good. Developing comfort technologies is at the foundation of all that we do—delivering stylish, innovative, and quality products at a reasonable price. From our diverse footwear offering to a growing range of apparel and accessories, Skechers is a complete lifestyle brand.

With international business representing over half of our total sales, we have product available in more than 180 countries and significant opportunities for continued expansion worldwide. We sell our collections direct to consumers through more than 4,450 Skechers stores around the globe and Skechers e-commerce sites, as well as through a network of third-party partners.

A MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR GLOBAL LEADER IN THE FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY.

Job Description

The Footwear Designer will integrate their thorough understanding of Fashion Trends, Market Conditions, Consumer Expectations, Technologies and the Manufacturing Process with their design excellence to develop the next generations of SKECHERS USA footwear products under the direction and leadership of the Director of Special Projects. They will influence the respective footwear categories using cultural events knowledge and experience relating to how the current and upcoming Fashion Trends might impact the consumers’ buying decisions, covering a vast demographic and multi-cultural area.  In addition, they'll use their knowledge in respect to Design, Development and Market Relevance to collaborate with Marketing and Sales personnel on projects to maximize effectiveness and sale-ability.   

ESSENTIAL JOB RESULTS-

• Under the direction of the Director of Special projects, design and develop innovative and cost-efficient brand and market relevant footwear which includes concepting, story-telling, and technical development.
• Work with Design Management, Development and Marketing personnel to collaborate on Design projects to maximize effectiveness and build product to target cost. 
• Thorough understanding of ever-changing fashion trends and directions conducted through international and domestic travel, shopping the markets, Tradeshows, and researching the competition.
• Create accurate, detailed, high-quality renderings and CADS quickly and efficiently.
• Build and present seasonal product strategies and trend boards.
• Understands how to create accurate tech packs for outsole and upper designs.
• Understands how to draw cross sections and read blueprints accurately. 
• Constant interaction with Merchandisers on all aspects of product line plans, briefs, color palette, pricing, themes, graphics, and strategies.
• Work with developers in US and Asia on line schedules, adhere to the product calendar, ensuring development projects are on track.
• Working with developers / materials team to coordinate and develop new materials, constructions, processes and procedures.
• Responsible for getting prototypes and samples executed to reflect the concept and design you created.
• Knowledge and understanding of competitors top sellers, technologies, styling, colors, strategies and pricing.
• Innovation through fashion forward new designs and technologies
• Protect and enhance SKECHERS “DNA”.
• Special projects as assigned.

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES-

• Other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES-

• No

Qualifications

JOB REQUIREMENTS-

• Ability to collaborate with other Designers, Colorists, Technicians, and Merchandisers.
• Ability to sketch shoes accurately, quickly, and proportionately, and provide detailed specifications. 
• Must understand the footwear production process at the factory level.
• Must have expert skills in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator and Photoshop).
• Must have great communication/presentation skills and work well with others.
• Must have a passion for performance and lifestyle footwear design.
• Knowledge of shoe construction and materials.
• Must be versatile and be able to switch gears project to project.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE-

• Bachelor’s Degree in one of the following: Industrial Design, Footwear Design, Fashion Design or Graphic Design.
• Should have a minimum of 2 years of progressive, shoe designing experience and knowledge of shoe constructions and materials.

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Pay range for this position is $130k - $190k / year.

Benefits:

• Paid Parental Leave: including time for fathers and adopting parents.
• Short term & long term disability and life insurance at no cost to the employee.
• Extensive medical, dental, and vision plans with multiple carries, including EPO,HPN and PPO plans.
• Competitive 401k plan and employer matching.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Savings Account (FSA) offerings.
• Paid vacation, sick, personal and holiday time.
• Pet Insurance available.
• Onsite wellness programs at company headquarters including fitness classes, acupuncture, and chiropractor.
• Employee stock purchase program
• Employee product discount of 50%; employee sample sales and family and friends discount throughout the year. 
• Skechers Company Culture and growth strategy is deeply infused with internal career growth and opportunities for learning.