Director, Footwear Design – Climb

Department: Footwear

Reports to: Senior Director, Global Footwear Design

Location: Portland, OR

Your opportunity at Arc’teryx:

As a Director, Footwear Design – Climb you lead and contribute to the design creative direction for Arc’teryx Footwear, across products that enable the mountain athlete in ascent, rock, alpine, vertex and approach adventures. Your creative vision and passion for innovation will influence every aspect of our footwear product creation. You create new space in technical footwear solutions; driving innovation, sustainability, advanced concepts and articulating a footwear design language that exceeds our athlete’s evolving needs.

This role is based out of our Portland office and is expected to be performed on site.

Meet your future team:

The Arc’teryx team creates innovative, beautiful product that exceeds the core mountain athlete’s needs in the outdoors. We are builders, problem solvers and passionate outdoor enthusiasts. Fueled by curiosity, we take an immersive approach to identifying our athlete’s needs then build, test, and validate products that solve for real functional challenges. We are a passionate collective with a focus on collaborative teamwork and our vision is to redefine the industry.

If you were in the Director, Footwear Design – Climb role now, here are some of the core activities you would be doing:

• Driving and advancing the end-to-end global footwear design vision, shaping the strategic direction to deliver excellence
• Leading and empowering the product design team to identify and create comprehensive and innovative design solutions, technologies, construction methods and components that are in-line with Arc’teryx design values
• Liaising as the go between with in house and external development and creative strategies
• Participating cross-functionally in broader organizational Footwear strategy and planning, beyond the footwear category into other product types
• Owning and driving the design of a product from ideation through to commercialization
• Collaborating with Senior Design Director on product strategy alignment with the Design vision
• Creating the product design direction that delivers against the Design vision, product strategy and company goals
• Providing direction to Footwear product teams to enable successful execution of seasonal range plans and briefs, in collaboration & alignment with the Product & Merchandising team, delivering against the Design vision, product strategy and company goals
• Ensuring that product is relevant, resolved and has consistent design language
• Collaborating with Footwear and Merchandising leadership on product architecture and activity strategy alignment
• Overseeing the successful product creation from innovation through to commercialization
• Collaborating with the Advanced Concepts team to ensure materials and technology readiness is approved for launch
• Collaborating with senior Design leadership team to identify and strategize against resource gaps and opportunities to optimize Design
• Presenting product direction at regular intervals
• Travelling globally to research product, participate in activities and attend industry events

Here are some of the things you could be working on in the future:

• Creating a culture of unmatched footwear product excellence and consumer knowledge
• Continuously innovating and evolving our footwear to meet and exceed the needs of the guest
• Contributing to a collective of talented footwear experts to drive the business forward as the category grows
• Leading design from vision to strategy and execution

Are you our next Director, Footwear Design - Climb?

• You have a degree in Industrial Product Design, or the equivalent industry experience
• You have 10+ years’ experience in a technical athletic and/or outdoor technical footwear environment, and 5+ years’ experience leading teams
• You have a proven track record in developing and leading the execution of a multi-year business strategy
• You have strong influential leadership, with the ability to drive alignment across diverse cross-functional stakeholders at all levels of the business
• You develop your team members to fulfil their goals and potential, seeking opportunities for their growth within the professional setting
• You have expert understanding of the footwear industry and a proven ability to make strategic design decisions
• You proactively work across functions and the design organization, seeking opportunities to improve the culture and product of the brand
• You are a team player who has the ability to effectively work in a dynamic work environment, with high inter-dependencies between teams, cross-cultural colleagues, and diverse and innovative thinking
• You have strong business acumen with the ability to lead in a complex matrix business environment
• You have a keen interest in technical product and its application to a variety of outdoor activities
• You have the ability to travel internationally as required
• You are proactive in identifying the root cause of issues, seeking the best (sometimes not the easiest) solutions with an unwavering commitment to do what is right
• You believe in continuous self-improvement, and you lead with empathy, compassion and teamwork
• You remain highly flexible and adaptable when faced with ambiguity
• You effectively balance autonomy and collaboration
• You inspire breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement
• Your passion for your work is paralleled by your passion for getting outside and living it

Equal Opportunity

Arc’teryx is committed to actively creating and fostering a culture of inclusivity where voices are heard, people are seen, and values are respected. We care about the uniqueness of our applicants, employees, and guests, and we do so in a safe space fueled by curiosity and acceptance. 

Creating an inclusive workplace is connected to our core value Do Right while also having the added benefit of helping make our business better. We believe inclusion helps us to create a healthier, happier workplace, drive creativity and innovation, and reflect the communities where we operate.

All applicants, employees, and guests can expect equality of opportunity and fair treatment in alignment with our values.

Leave it Better

We believe that the mountains transform us, that how we adventure matters, and that there’s always a better way. 

Join us in creating positive change in ourselves, our communities, and the world. 

Live it. Get out there - the mountains make us better 

Disruptive evolution. In pursuit of better. Always. 

Commit. We set bold objectives and see them through.