Manager, Footwear Innovation Development - Athlete

Brooks Running; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 127,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid time off

Product discounts

401K and match

Seattle office‑based

Job summary

Brooks Running in Seattle seeks a Manager, Product Development, Footwear Innovation to lead the footwear innovation development team from concept through production. You will guide cross-functional teams across the US, Asia, and factory partners to ensure products meet Brooks' high standards for quality, fit, feel, ride, and performance for athletes through commercialization handoff.

You will generate ideas grounded in engineering principles, solve problems for athletes, and improve

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Design, or related field.
• 7+ years of relevant experience in athletic footwear product development.
• 3+ years of proven leadership of high-functioning teams.
• Excellent verbal and written English communication with cross‑functional partners.
• Strong interpersonal, organization, and detail‑oriented skills.
• Ability to connect the dots and influence decisions across teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead footwear innovation development from concept to production and ensure on-time delivery.
• Guide cross-functional teams across the US, Asia, and factories; ensure manufacturability and performance standards.
• Coach team members and support career development; build strong internal/external partnerships.

Skills

Leadership

Problem solving

Communication

Presentation

Team coaching

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Flex PLM

MS Project

Illustrator

MS Office

Job description

Job Requirements

The Manager, Product Development, Footwear Innovation leads the footwear innovation development team in bringing athlete-focused products from concept through production. Working closely with cross-functional product creation teams across the US, Asia, and factory partners, you will guide the development process and ensure products consistently meet or exceed our standards for quality, fit, feel, ride, and performance for athletes through commercialization handoff. You will generate and communicate ideas grounded in engineering principles to solve problems for athletes, enhance footwear performance, and improve manufacturing efficiency, while applying strong problem-solving, decision-making, presentation, and communication skills.

The Manager, Product Development, Footwear Innovation leads the footwear innovation development team in bringing athlete-focused products from concept through production. Working closely with cross-functional product creation teams across the US, Asia, and factory partners, you will guide the development process and ensure products consistently meet or exceed our standards for quality, fit, feel, ride, and performance for athletes through commercialization handoff. You will generate and communicate ideas grounded in engineering principles to solve problems for athletes, enhance footwear performance, and improve manufacturing efficiency, while applying strong problem-solving, decision-making, presentation, and communication skills.

You will connect the team’s work to broader business priorities and strategy, coach team members through assigned projects, and support their career development. In partnership with the Senior Manager, Footwear Innovation, you will help guide the team toward company objectives while building strong relationships with internal and external partners. Success in this role requires a collaborative leader who recognizes that teamwork is essential to Brooks culture.

Product Development & Technical Execution

• Lead thought around footwear innovation and problem solving for athletes and achieve on-time delivery in terms of seasonal calendars with high-level understanding of the concepts of footwear creation process-pattern engineering (pattern making, block system and grade rule), model making, costing implications, materials application.
• Lead meetings with cross-functional teams during various phases to review and evaluate issues and drive action plans with an in-depth knowledge of manufacturing process and the ability to learn new manufacturing techniques and lead implementation to apply them to products;
• Demonstrate strong problem-solving skills with persistent questioning to find out the “whys?” and be proficient at problem solving for development or production issues - understanding the upstream and downstream effects;
• Effectively communicate with Asia and US teams on any issues and viable solutions for construction, cost and aesthetics.
• Lead the innovation development team to ensure that products are manufacturable and meet highest level of performance, quality and fit expectations.

People Management & Team Development

• Manage team members (including goal setting, performance review, hiring decisions, team culture, etc.) and encourage team members to actively engage in questions, research, observing, networking and experimenting to inform project and program direction.
• Provide training and coaching for the developers to build their skill sets and develop opportunities for them to grow their career.

Partnerships & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Develop strong working relationship with internal and external partners to enable joint problem solving to achieve win-win situations.

Market Awareness & Process Excellence

• Keeps abreast of market trends, category goals, new technology and consumer needs throughout the development process and engages appropriately to ensure projects are completed within corporate guidelines and goals for all facets of product creation.
• Work with Senior Manager to standardize the development process across teams and factories, deliver training and share the best practice to the cross-functional product teams.

Work Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree (preferably in Industrial Engineering, Design, etc.)
• 7+ years relevant experience in the product development of Athletic Footwear or extremely specialized in running category. Practical management skills and experience is required.
• 3+ years proven track record leading high functioning team
• Excellent verbal and written skills in English - Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from their counterparts at US headquarters, cross-functional colleagues, factory partners, etc.
• Excellent interpersonal communication and presentation skills; must be extremely detail-oriented.
• Strong organizational skills and independent work habits;
• Keen attention to detail in planning, organization and execution of tasks, while still seeing the big picture and understanding how all of the pieces fit together and affect one another.
• Ability to anticipate how a decision made can affect our customers, our partners, our products or other departments’ operations and/or morale; “connecting the dots.”
• Demonstration of innovation and initiative – always looking at improving our products and processes while also displaying a willingness to dive into the details and help out wherever necessary.
• Passionate participation in Brooks’ sports activities a plus, overridden by the ability to understand and empathize with the runner in order to develop loyal, engaging relationships with our customers and the Brooks community.
• Must be proficient with MS office application (Excel, Word and PowerPoint); Flex PLM , MS project , Illustrator experience a plus.
• Embraces and lives the Brooks values!

Benefits

Brooks is proud to offer a robust benefits package to our employees and their families!

• Benefits- including medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance, HSA and employer contribution, FSA, family & fertility assistance, 401K Savings Plan and match, employee assistance program, and transportation assistance.
• Paid Time Off- Brooks offers generous time off including five weeks of paid time off, eleven paid holidays, paid sick and parental leave.
• Bonus- in addition to base pay, Brooks employees may also be offered an annual bonus based on company performance.
• Perks- including product discounts, employee recognition, fitness discounts, volunteer and donation benefits.
• Location- You will spend 4 days per week in our Seattle offices, as we believe our organization flourishes when connections, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and celebrations happen in person.

Compensation

The pay range for this position, based out of the Brooks Seattle HQ, is $126,670 - $202,714 per year. Base pay offered will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.