Senior Footwear Designer at Arc'teryx's Portland, OR office (on-location), designing technical performance footwear for mountain athletes: driving designs from concept through production, building the brand's footwear design DNA, creating tech packs and prototypes, and collaborating with materials, development, and merchandising teams. Requires 7+ years of hands-on performance footwear design expe
Compensation
$107K–$141K / yr
Location
Portland, Oregon
Work setup
Onsite
Seniority
Senior
Employment
Not specified
Experience
7+ years
Category
Design
Posted
Skills
design-for-manufacturing
Must have
Bachelor's Degree in Industrial/Product Design, or equivalent industry experience
7+ years of hands-on experience designing performance footwear
Thorough understanding of footwear manufacturing processes
Meticulous attention to detail; able to design a cohesive collection of footwear
Hands-on experience creating tools and construction methods
Excellent planning, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
Proactive in identifying root causes of issues and seeking the best solutions
Highly flexible and adaptable when faced with ambiguity
Effectively balances autonomy and collaboration
Inspires breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement
Passion for outdoor activities and excellent intuition for the activities the product is made for
Ability to travel nationally and internationally ~35% of the time
Based out of the Portland office, performed on-location
Full description
Your opportunity at ARC’TERYX:
As a Senior Footwear Designer, you design and develop advanced comprehensive product solutions that are aligned with the Arc’teryx design philosophies, continuously exceeding our users’ evolving needs. In this role, you will support with establishing the long-term vision and design strategy for our Footwear category, helping define a strong and ownable footwear DNA that connects technical innovation, mountain utility, brand expression, and commercial relevance. You will bring your curiosity and passion for product to imagine and build innovative, relevant, and resolved footwear designs that create meaningful commercial drivers for the business. You are an innovative problem solver with a focus on collaborative teamwork.
This role is based out of our Portland office and is expected to be performed on-location.
Meet your future team:
The Arc’teryx Footwear team creates innovative, technical product that exceeds the core mountain athlete’s needs in the outdoors. We are builders, problem solvers and passionate outdoor enthusiasts. Fueled by curiosity, we take an immersive approach to identifying our athlete’s needs and build, test, and validate products that solve for real functional challenges. We are a passionate collective with a focus on collaborative teamwork and our vision is to redefine the industry.
If you were in the Senior Footwear Designer role now, here are some of the core activities you would be doing:
- Executing all design needs for assigned collection and projects within the seasonal offering
- Supporting stage gates, meetings, presentations, and long-term strategy work
Helping build and evolve a clear footwear design DNA that strengthens Arc’teryx’s point of view across form, fit, function, materials, and brand expression
- Partnering with PLM, Development, Merchandising, and Commercial teams to identify and build key product drivers that balance athlete needs, brand leadership, and business growth
- Creating strong working relationships with your immediate team, cross functionally, and with overseas teams; communicating clearly and frequently on all topics related to our design, athlete and guest
- Serving the mountain athlete and broader guest needs through research and observation, leveraging user-centered and iterative design approaches
- Driving the design process from ideation and concept, through to the guest
- Supporting the execution of new technologies, materials, constructions, and design for manufacturing techniques
Taking on athlete and user feedback in order to improve upon initial design proposals
- Mentoring designers, developers, and new teammates by sharing skills, knowledge and experience
- Creating and visually conveying concepts, tech packs, patterns, mock ups, and prototypes to prove new concepts; presenting work at all stage gates in internal reviews and meetings as needed
- Providing the Product Creation Development team with detailed product tech packs, inclusive of spec drawings, patterns, fits, materials and color information
- Collaborating with the Raw Materials team to source, develop, and test new materials
- Developing and maintaining a thorough understanding of existing Arc’teryx materials and manufacturing techniques
- Defining and building in collaboration with other designers, creating new and better toolbox solutions
- Staying current with industry trends
- Assisting with product design changes; addressing in-line production needs as required
- Collaborating with the Colour team to provide end-use needs, material considerations and feedback
- Adhering to the Arc’teryx sustainability design principles, while also driving future initiatives in consideration of footwear needs
Here are some of the things you could be working on in the future:
- Working on reimagining technical footwear for the mountain athlete
- Contributing to the creation of a new footwear chapter for Arc’teryx, centered on product, process and team
- Building signature footwear concepts and commercial product drivers that establish a distinct Arc’teryx footwear DNA in the market
- Collaborating with Arc’teryx athletes and other industry representatives to help ensure Arc’teryx is exceeding our athlete and guests’ evolving needs
- Collaborating with Footwear leadership team to make decisions on product solutions, sharing of responsibilities, workload and overall product plans
Are you our next Senior Designer – Footwear?
- You have a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial/Product Design, or equivalent industry experience
- You have 7+ years of hands-on experience designing performance footwear
- You have a thorough understanding of footwear manufacturing processes
- You have meticulous attention to detail, able to design a cohesive collection of footwear
- You have hands-on experience creating tools and construction methods
- You have excellent planning, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
- You are proactive in identifying the root cause of issues, seeking the best (sometimes not the easiest) solutions, with an unwavering commitment to do what is right
- You remain highly flexible and adaptable when faced with ambiguity
- You effectively balance autonomy and collaboration
- You inspire breakthrough thinking and continuous improvement
- Your passion for your work is paralleled by your passion for getting outside and living it
- You have excellent intuition for the activities we make product for
- You have the ability to travel both nationally and internationally for an average of 35% of your time
Compensation
The salary range for this role is USD$107,000 - USD$141,000
Total Rewards
Most new team members join between the start and midpoint of the range, where you can contribute right away while continuing to grow your craft, your collaborations, and your impact at Arc’teryx. This range reflects market alignment and the scope of the role. Individual pay is determined by your skills, experience, and level of responsibility.
We’re committed to fair, equitable, and competitive pay, reviewed regularly to ensure internal alignment and market relevance. Transparency is part of how we follow through on our commitments and how we honour the value you bring to our team.
In addition to base pay, Arc’teryx supports people through benefits designed to sustain both work and life:
Health & wellbeing - Extended health, dental, and vision coverage, including mental health support, fertility benefits, and a 24/7 Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Financial wellbeing - Immediately vested 401(k) retirement savings plan matching, eligibility for Arc'teryx Annual Incentive Plan and access to Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP), where applicable.
Time & Flexibility - Paid time off, and No Wasted Day program (dedicated paid days to get outside & explore).
Family support - Parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents, including an option to ease the transition back to work.
Growth, community & gear - Professional development opportunities, Arc'teryx Academies (outdoor skill-building events), Employee Belonging Councils, and access to employee discounts and Pro Deals (exclusive discounted pricing on gear).
*Eligibility for certain programs may vary by role.
Equal Opportunity
Arc’teryx is committed to actively creating and fostering a culture of inclusivity where voices are heard, people are seen, and values are respected. We care about the uniqueness of our applicants, employees, and guests, and we do so in a safe space fueled by curiosity and acceptance.
Creating an inclusive workplace is connected to our core value Do Right while also having the added benefit of helping make our business better. We believe inclusion helps us to create a healthier, happier workplace, drive creativity and innovation, and reflect the communities where we operate.
All applicants, employees, and guests can expect equality of opportunity and fair treatment in alignment with our values.
Leave it Better
We believe that the mountains transform us, that how we adventure matters, and that there’s always a better way.
Join us in creating positive change in ourselves, our communities, and the world.
Live it. Get out there - the mountains make us better
Disruptive evolution. In pursuit of better. Always.
Commit. We set bold objectives and see them through.