Altra: Footwear Designer II

vfc; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 82,000 - 103,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401(k)

Job summary

Altra is seeking a Footwear Designer II to drive design across athletic, outdoor, and casual categories in our Denver HQ. You will steer creative direction, ensure consistent design language, and work with Product Line Management, Development, Marketing, and Sales to create elite technical products that reflect the brand strategy.

You will participate in strategy meetings, develop briefs, and translate marketing plans into compelling concepts with mood boards, prototypes, and powerful

Qualifications

• Athletic footwear design experience required or preferred.
• Strong rendering and presentation skills.
• Knowledge of biomechanics and footwear performance is important.
• Ability to translate briefs into clear concepts and mood boards.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily projects and workload.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners (Product Line Management, Development, Marketing, Sales).
• Coordinate design deadlines for on-time delivery.
• Develop concepts and creative strategies that meet briefs.
• Lead client presentations and socialise ideas to gain buy-in.
• Travel to sourcing countries and factories as needed.

Skills

Athletic footwear design

Adobe Creative Suite

3D software

Biomechanics

Presentation skills

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

Microsoft Office

Job description

Position: Footwear Designer II

What will you do?

A day in the life of a Footwear Designer II at Altra looks a little like this.

You will be a critical role in generating functional and aesthetically appropriate footwear for Altra's Athletic, Outdoor, and Casual Lifestyle categories. You will be asked to participate in the creative direction for all footwear design projects, maintain consistent and relevant design language, and provide industry insight and recommendations in creating elite technical product that aligns with Product Line Management, Sales and Merchandising vision and overall brand strategy. You will work alongside some of the most innovative, industry-challenging leaders in creating footwear that pushes boundaries and challenges old paradigms to innovate and discover solutions for Altra customers.

• Daily management of assigned projects and workload.
• Collaborate with cross-functional product partners: Product Line Management, Product Development, Marketing, and Sales.
• Coordinate Design deadlines to ensure on-time delivery of design projects and tasks.
• Participate in product strategy meetings to ensure competitive product design and successful products for the Altra brand.
• Develop concepts and creative strategies that fulfill objectives of category, concept, briefs.
• Collaborate with cross-functional team members to ensure consumer and brand focus is met.
• Participate in creation of short-term and long-term creative direction strategies.
• Identify opportunities of improvement, process change, and initiate own proposals/projects.
• Seek out new Design resources, materials and technologies to assist in the development of leading-edge product.
• Partner with Product Line Management to develop and sharpen briefs, lead collaborative idea generation, and develop consumer insights with cross-functional teams.
• Translate briefs and marketing plans into creative concepts that are clearly articulated in mood boards, interactive prototypes then develop presentations and storytelling vehicles to socialize and gain buy-in on your ideas
• Learn new skills and stay abreast of technical and digital design developments and successfully apply these to work practices
• Verbally present concepts and design solutions to mid and senior level managers. Ability to constructively discuss, utilize, and receive feedback to create excellent product.
• Manage multiple projects, with sensitivity to department priorities and deadlines.
• Willingness and ability to travel to sourcing countries, factory partners, team offsites and brand events to drive team projects.
• Perform other duties as required/assigned by manager.

What do you need to succeed?

We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skills you'll need to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your 3-5 years of experience and professional achievements.

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• Ability to understand complex and sometimes fuzzy problems in a fast-paced environment.
• ATHLETIC Technical footwear design experience.
• Proficient at Performance Tech Pack and Tooling 2D Blueprint creation.
• Strong knowledge of foot anatomy.
• Knowledge of how to design with footwear performance and biomechanics in mind.
• Excellent rendering and presentation skills required.
• High level of performance footwear materials knowledge.
• Sound understanding of footwear manufacturing processes and technologies.
• In-depth experience with Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.) and Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, etc.).
• An abundance of curiosity and desire to learn and grow your footwear craft.

Location requirement:

This position is an in- office position in Denver, CO at our Global Headquarters.

There are also a few skills that are not required but preferred.

• Experience or interest in running.
• Knowledge of 3D software such as: Blender, SolidWorks, Rhino, Keyshot, etc.)
• AI Design and Agentic tools.

What do we offer you?

At Altra, we know you expect as much from us as we do from you. That is why we make a commitment to support and grow our people. We offer extensive development and growth opportunities for your current and future positions, a competitive compensation package, and a strong benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, and 401(k).

Our commitment extends beyond this and into your daily work life. We strive to foster a diverse and inclusive culture based on respect, connection, and authenticity. Our focus on DEI is at the foundation of who we are and what we do.

To learn more about Altra's benefits package, follow this MyVFBenefits.com and click "Looking to Join VF".

To learn more about Altra's Diversity and Inclusion efforts, go to www.altrarunning.com .

Hiring Range :

$82,080.00 USD - $102,600.00 USD ann