Director, Color & Trend Footwear Design

Your Job
As the Director, Color & Trend Footwear Design, you will own and direct the aesthetic readiness of Brooks Running footwear seasonal design markers, including the emotional storytelling of color, graphic, material, finishes and trend to constantly increase the scope of design and trend. You will lead the emotional experience of our footwear products, connecting functionality with our aesthetic vision. Your responsibilities include defining long‑term seasonal palettes, overseeing design functions for all product lines, coaching leadership teams, managing risk, and ensuring alignment with the broader Seasonal Creation Leader group.

As a member of the leadership team, you will thrive in ambiguity, collect empirical data from runner‑consumer habitats, and use trend research to guide product quality and design direction. You will provide clear communication to internal and external stakeholders, serving in a partial or whole design leadership role for our brand’s aesthetic language.

Your Responsibilities

Upgrade the aesthetic competitiveness of our products through direction, education, and coaching.

Co‑create the creative foundation CRAFTED BEAUTY – PERFORMANCE EXPRESSIONS with the Director of Footwear Innovation.

Represent the design team on the Seasonal Creation Leader team to align cross‑functional decisions across Horizon 1 (1‑3 yrs) and Horizon 2 (5‑10 yrs) with an applied color strategy.

Manage, lead and direct the Brooks Running Footwear Color & Trend Team.

Lead teams through product review gates, ensuring adherence to seasonal and long‑term calendars.

Mentor managers and stakeholders on critical thinking and process improvement.

Oversee the inline color palette and color CAD creation process.

Oversight of color, graphic, material, and finish palette creation and pre‑development.

Participate in the footwear steering committee and calibration process.

Demonstrate strong people leadership skills rooted in Connect principles.

Promote Brooks’ core cultural values and maintain team culture and morale.

Create organizational design aligned with business strategy.

Provide career‑development planning, coaching, training, and support for continuous learning.

Model leadership behavior across the organization.

Drive performance management using Brooks performance tools.

Initiate recognition, rewards, and celebrate wins.

Direct and lead color, graphic, material, and finish design reviews.

Create visions extending seasonal stories into new areas, connecting trends to our portfolio.

Innovate identity principles to maximize perceived value and competitiveness.

Guide product design presentations and deliver final color CADs and material maps.

Remain up‑to‑date with industry knowledge and ensure consumer relevance.

Integrate 3D CAD with design leads.

Attend trade fairs, cultural events, sporting events, and store visits for design insights.

Synthesize results into presentations that drive aesthetic conversation across the enterprise.

Incorporate a global point of view, addressing regional market differences.

Influence Merchandising to create strong product stories across Apparel and Footwear.

Provide direction to Footwear Development, integrating design to express performance and manage cost.

Partner with Marketing and Product Marketing for storytelling and inspiration.

Present new color and material directions to product teams and senior management on a seasonal basis.

Qualifications

4‑year college or university degree in product, graphics, apparel or footwear design, or equivalent education/experience (international education a plus).

14+ years of experience creating color/material/textile programs and future vision of consumer goods, ideally sports industry.

Extensive experience creating aesthetics and stories for international markets.

Ability to scale and balance aesthetics across NA, EMEA, APLA.

7+ years of managerial experience, managing direct reports and developing talent.

Thorough knowledge of art and design with clear visual design understanding.

Proven experience leading vision and strategy execution.

Experience managing external resources.

Conceptual understanding across product categories.

Design flexibility and conceptual thinking.

Ability to create designs that meet category needs and commercial opportunities.

Capacity to operate in a fast‑paced, ever‑changing environment.

Ability to inspire and motivate a team to produce best work.

Build and foster relationships in a team setting; engage multiple stakeholders.

Desire to push the brand forward.

Influence and collaborate with key business partners.

Attention to detail in planning, organization, and task execution while seeing the big picture.

Demonstration of innovation and initiative—willingness to dive into details and help wherever needed.

Passionate participation in Brooks’ sports activities a plus, though understanding the runner is paramount.

Mastery of Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop.

Competency using Apple Mac OS.

Proficiency with MS Office Suite.

3D skills not required, but a plus.

Embrace and live Brooks values.

Travel 10% domestically/internationally.

Compensation
The pay range for this position, based out of the Brooks Seattle HQ, is $186,192 – $297,928 per year. Base pay will vary based on knowledge, skills, and experience.

Other
Brooks offers a robust benefits package to employees and their families.

Benefits
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
Generous PTO including five weeks of paid time off, eleven paid holidays, paid sick and parental leave.

Bonus
Annual bonus based on company performance may be offered in addition to base pay.

Perks
Product discounts, employee recognition, fitness discounts, volunteer and donation benefits.

Location
You will spend 4 days per week in the Seattle office to foster collaboration and creativity.

At Brooks, we celebrate diversity & equity. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment, and encourage people of all backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, and skills to apply. Brooks is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, two‑spirit identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, the presence of a physical, mental, or sensory disability, marital status, pregnancy, caste, citizenship or immigration status, honorably discharged veteran or military status, actual or perceived victims of domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking, HIV or Hepatitis C infection, political ideology, use of a trained service animal by a person with a disability, or on any other basis protected by federal, state, or local law, or any other non‑merit based factors.

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