Lead Product Engineer, Kids Footwear

Nike
Beaverton, Oregon
Report

Job Description

Become a Part of the NIKE, Inc. Team

NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world’s best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At NIKE, Inc. it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

The first spark of a product idea sets the NIKE, Inc. Product team into motion. The team of developers, testers, engineers, designers and managers obsess over Nike’s iconic silhouettes and create groundbreaking new styles. They collaborate, ideate and refine products’ construction, fit and materials. They maintain a keen understanding of consumer and market trends. They skillfully operate at the intersection of buyer needs, technical feasibility and business objectives. And they work lockstep with Merchandising, Design, Manufacturing and others to produce the final result: products that reflect the soul of sport and inspire athletes to reach new levels of performance.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We are looking for a Kid’s Footwear Lead Product Engineer to be an integral part of our Footwear Product team, creating fantastic footwear for our youngest athletes! The ideal candidate must be a self-starter, a quick learner, a strong communicator, a great teammate, and exhibit strong leadership skills. As a member of our Nike Kids team, we’ll look for you to display the ability to gain knowledge of kids’ footwear needs and to solve problems that are relevant to the age/stages of a kid's development – we call this a “Kids First Mindset”.

As a Kid's product lead engineer, you will lead kids’ product excellence in alignment with our Kids' divisional strategic priorities and key initiatives on Fit, EASE, Sustainability, and DE&I. Everything starts with our Kid's consumer insights to make “kids right” products in relationship with their ages and developmental stages.

Be Innovative: Innovation is not always about making something differently, it can be about doing something differently…

Align with our Footwear Strategic shared values on: Authenticity – Accountability – Curiosity – Courage – Competitive



WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON
You will focus on product excellence, connecting Kid’s consumer insights, NSRL science, and divisional and functional best practices that ultimately drive and support quality, craftsmanship, and process optimization. You'll collaborate with offshore and onshore teams providing input on design constructions, product engineering standard processes, material choices, costing optimization, and construction. You’ll facilitate the division's standard methodologies and engineering functional initiatives. You will be the connector between our KIDS WHQ team, cross-functional partners, and our Asia counterparts, driving an inclusive product creation process and getting our product “Ready for commercialization” with confidence.

Leverage divisional, functional, and technical expertise to influence the product and process from development to manufacturing. Partner with innovation to provide engineering and manufacturing solution paths that bring concepts to life. Identify and solve product issues that arise in our development, commercialization, and post-production stages. Drive valuable engineering perspective, provide technical training and consultation. Support engineering digital product creation strategy by applying tools like FEA, advanced mechanical testing, and wear testing methods in collaboration with our cross-functional teams.



WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH
As a member of the Kids Footwear Team, you will work collaboratively with key functional partners throughout the Product Development process. This includes Footwear Product Development, Footwear Product Testing, Footwear Material Design and Material Development, Product Design, Product Management, Product Merchandising, Sourcing, Business Ops, Value Engineering and our Asia partners– both within NIKE and external to NIKE. You will need to navigate the Nike matrix to ensure that our processes model and match NIKE Kids Footwear Engineering divisional and functional standards and methodologies driving product excellence. You will be the key point of contact for our Asia teammates and ensure that communication during the product development and manufacturing process is clear and accurate.

WHAT YOU BRING
  • Bachelor’s degree preferred, or relevant work experience in Footwear, Product Testing, Development, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience and training.
  • Navigate between obsessing about the product details/craftmanship and communicating with clarity your vision and ideas.
  • Ability to communicate proficiently with multiple partners with in-depth and in high-level communication with positive energy as seen fit.
  • Be comfortable to start with a blank canvas, bridging traditional footwear practices inside or outside of Nike, and be fearless to drive the future of Kids’ footwear.
  • An inclination to think out of the box, explore, learn, and find ways to innovate and improve our Kids products, applying consumers insights, NSRL science and data analytics, fitted for “Kids play right” across ages and developmental stages.
  • Proficient in reading technical drawings, specs, design sketches and/or 3D digital files and link them together as a system approach to identify potential problems and/or challenges and provide complete problem-solving/options and solutions.
  • Demonstrating a good understanding of lasts, footwear pattern engineering, tooling, and manufacturing process is preferred.
  • Knowledge of materials, materials properties, test methods, and applications with clear understanding how they work together within our product creation process as a system versus a silo approach.
  • Creative problem-solving skills.
  • Ability to identify & drive valuable engineering solutions from the conceptual stage all the way to manufacturing
  • Ability to lead and coach peers inside and outside the product engineering function with courage, and influence on mastering the fundamentals.
  • Provide support, fill in, and lead more extensive initiatives for the Kids Engineering director.
  • Value differences and be able to work across cultures while navigating Nike’s organizational matrix
  • Be able to take initiative and operate independently and within teams.
  • Demonstrate leadership identity and capabilities, and proven operational skills with Nike
  • Digital proficiency with 2D/3D CAD/CAM tools, is a plus

NIKE, Inc. is a growth company that looks for team members to grow with it. Nike offers a generous total rewards package, casual work environment, a diverse and inclusive culture, and an electric atmosphere for professional development. No matter the location, or the role, every Nike employee shares one galvanizing mission: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.

NIKE, Inc. is committed to employing a diverse workforce. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or disability.


Nike
Engineering
Full Time
Onsite
Competitive
See Description for Experience
2 years, 3 months ago