Become part of the Converse Team
Converse is a place to explore potential, break barriers 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 Converse, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving world to make things better as a team.
Converse designs the future. At Converse, designers chase their curiosities and build what’s next, shaping the culture and advancing human creativity. The Design Teams include artists, inventors and specialists, all with different focuses, including color and material experts, and apparel, footwear and graphics designers. Converse designers look to the future, courageously pursuing materials, ideas and forms that further elevate the consumer’s experience, raise the bar for modern style and reduce environmental impact.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We’re looking for a Senior Manager, Mens Sports Style with outstanding design skills to build original, athlete-led product and stories for the Converse Basketball Consumer. This role must demonstrate creative excellence, understanding both the art and science of product creation and an exceptional knowledge of Basketball culture – on and off court. Through professional athlete engagement and basketball consumer connection, this role will be able to translate innovative ideas into significant products that resonate with our consumers and will respond to business objectives with creative design solutions aligned to consumer insights. This role will assist in setting direction, concept & design for our Basketball category – both professional athlete models and the broader collection. Excellent communication skills will be critical with teammates across the organization, including listening, collaborative problem solving & deep emotional intelligence. The role demands big picture thinking and strong leadership capabilities with regards to product relevance, product positioning, timing & collections.
WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON
If this is you, you’ll be working within the Footwear Design function, with a sharp focus on Basketball footwear product – both performance and lifestyle. You will elevate the consumer experience through athlete centric storytelling, outstanding product craft & use of performance technologies. You will engage directly with professional athletes to build product to the highest level of performance and style. You will ensure key product creation process dates/gates are met, design tools are effectively applied, and cross-functional partnership occurs appropriately. You will be the expert in Basketball culture and will help to educate the broader Product Creation Function on the latest trends and research regarding Basketball Culture and the Basketball Marketplace. You will create consumer relevant original concepts that appropriately reflect Converse’s Design Ethos and our Creative Direction. You will maintain healthy cross-functional relationships and build matrix relationships outside of immediate team. You will demonstrate curiosity and proactively enhance business acuity. You will strive to continuously improve the Footwear Design function, identifying ways to work smarter, gain more insights and position the brand competitively in the market.
WHAT YOU BRING
Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design or Product Design and 8 years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the job offered or a related occupation or no degree and 7 years of progressive work experience involving the following:
- Performance and lifestyle basketball footwear design
- Expertise in basketball culture and marketplace
- Pro Athlete product creation experience
- Pro Athlete engagement
- Presentation and public speaking skills
- Technical footwear manufacturing
- Factory experience
- Rapid prototyping skills
- Basketball and lifestyle trend insights/research
- Mood board creation
- Consumer insights research
- Market Research
- Illustrator
- Photoshop
- Miro
- Keynote
- 3-D modelling tools and 3D printing experience a plus
- AI ideation and rendering skills a plus
Converse is more than a company; it’s a worldwide advocate for self-expression. This belief motivates our employees, permeates our working environment and inspires our products. No two of us look or think exactly alike. We are each one-of-a-kind. Individually and as a culture, we have the freedom to create and grow professionally. Generous benefits packages only sweeten the experience. From Boston to Shanghai, from Brand Design to Finance, Converse is a brand that celebrates the unique and creative people of the world. Together, we’re different.
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