3D CAD Footwear Designer (Altra)

Job Overview

As an Inline 3D CAD Footwear Designer at Altra, you will help bring the company’s inline footwear product to life through advanced 3D design and visualization. You will work closely with Footwear Design, Development, Product Management, and Innovation teams.
Responsibilities

Create high‑quality 3D models of footwear concepts, components, and tooling from concept through commercialization.
Partner with Footwear Designers to translate sketches and design intent into digital 3D form.
Build and refine outsole, midsole, and upper models to support design reviews, prototyping, and factory communication.
Develop compelling renderings and visualizations to communicate product ideas, storytelling, and material/color execution.
Support rapid iteration by creating fast‑turn digital prototypes to accelerate decision‑making and reduce development cycles.
Collaborate cross‑functionally with Development, Product Management, and Tooling Manager to balance performance, manufacturability, and cost targets.
Maintain digital model integrity and support handoff to factory partners for tooling and engineering refinement.
Explore and pilot new workflows and tools in computational design, parametric modeling, and digital creation to improve team capabilities.
Contribute to establishing and evolving Altra’s 3D digital product creation standards and workflows in partnership with the Design Director and cross‑functional stakeholders.
Travel as needed (approximately 10%) to Asia, Europe, trade shows, races, factory sites, or other locations that advance the work and projects.
Collaborate closely with Innovation Footwear Design and Development partners to develop breakthrough concepts that push performance forward.
Partner cross‑functionally with Run Research, Product Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering to ensure designs are rooted in performance science and aligned with real‑world manufacturing constraints.
Qualifications

4-6 years of professional experience in footwear design, product creation, or advanced 3D modeling.
Strong proficiency in Rhinoceros 3D, Blender, SolidWorks or similar 3D surfacing/modeling software.
Strong understanding of footwear construction, tooling development, materials, and manufacturing processes.
Ability to create both rapid concept models and highly refined production‑ready geometry.
Strong visualization and rendering skills to clearly communicate product concepts and storytelling.
Excellent collaboration skills and ability to work cross‑functionally within a triad model (Design, Development, Product Management).
Strong understanding of performance footwear and athlete‑first product thinking.
Strong organization and time‑management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
Preferred Skills

Experience with computational or parametric workflows such as Grasshopper or Houdini.
Experience working directly with factories and tooling partners in Asia.
Knowledge of rendering platforms such as KeyShot or Maya.
Passion for running, movement, and performance product design.
Compensation & Benefits

Hiring Range: $82,080.00 - $102,600.00 USD annually.
Position eligible for additional compensation awards, including an annual incentive plan.
Benefits include medical, dental, vision, retirement, and other programs (details provided during hiring).
Benefits overview available at www.MyVFbenefits.com.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Altra is committed to creating an inclusive environment that welcomes and values the differences among all employees. All qualified applicants for employment will be considered without regard to an individual’s race, color, sex, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, marital status, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local laws. If you require accommodations during the application process, please contact us at peopleservices@vfc.com. VF will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals to the extent required by applicable law.

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