Design Manager, Footwear Sportstyle - H/F

Design Manager, Footwear Sportstyle - H/F

Amer Sports is the global leader in sports equipment with brands Salomon, Arc'teryx, Peak Performance, Atomic, and Wilson.

Salomon SAS, "The Mountain Sport Company," was born in 1947 in the heart of the Alps and the cradle of modern alpinism. Thanks to the passion for sports and innovative design, Salomon has created a vast range of new revolutionary concepts in bindings, shoes, skis, and clothing for alpine and Nordic skiing and has been able to provide innovative solutions in footwear and equipment for snowboarding, competition, mountaineering, hiking, trail running, and many other sports.

Through this focus on performance, Salomon innovates and excels in mountain sports, converting new ideas into products and pushing the limits of what is possible. Salomon's commitment, culture, and heritage are all linked by a simple concept: every employee can make Salomon the reference mountain brand. Salomon is committed in a responsible way to the outdoor through its sustainable development program. Diversity is one of Salomon's five values, which is why we are committed to creating an accessible environment for all.

The headquarters of Salomon is based in Annecy (74), France.

Description of the Position

Are you a Designer Footwear H/F and you have already led a creative team? Do you naturally navigate between fashion, sport, and outdoor? Do you have a keen eye for urban style, sport lifestyle, and sneaker culture, while also understanding the technical codes of the field?

Join our Softgoods team in our new Parisian offices and help shape the future footwear collections.

Your role:

As a Design Manager Footwear, you define, embody, and drive the design strategy of your Sportstyle perimeter. You are responsible for the creative vision, artistic direction, and overall coherence of the footwear collections. You manage and develop a team of designers distributed between Annecy and Paris, in a creative international environment in strong transformation.

Your responsibilities:

• Define & pilot the design strategy
  • Construct and carry a clear, inspiring, and differentiating design vision.
  • Ensure creative coherence and brand expression across all footwear projects.
  • Translate business needs and market insights into structured design orientations.
• Pilot the creation process
  • In close collaboration with the Head of Offer:
  • Participate in the elaboration of briefs (concepts, innovations, products).
  • Define the necessary resources: planning, budget, allocation of designers.
  • Organize and animate the design validation instances.
  • Challenge and guide the teams on 2D/3D creations and color proposals.
• Define & embody the artistic direction
  • Determine the guidelines: shapes, colors, materials, graphics, branding.
  • Inspire the teams through trends, uses, and cultural influences.
  • Ensure the artistic vision in the short and long term.
• Deploy & evolve the design strategy
  • Supervise the evolution of footwear lines and their stylistic coherence.
  • Collaborate with 3D teams and CMF.
  • Encourage the integration of modern tools: AI, digital design, innovative workflows.
• Manage & develop the design team
  • Give the direction, set the priorities, and accompany the individual objectives.
  • Create the conditions for success, encourage taking initiative and experimentation.
  • Provide regular feedback, develop skills, and value talents.
  • Work in synergy with all Softgoods teams.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in design preferred
• Experience:
  • 10 years of professional experience desired in footwear product design and development
  • Knowledge of current design, knowledge of target markets (needs, attitudes, and consumer behaviors)
• Sportstyle knowledge:
  • Sharp sense of urban aesthetics, sport lifestyle, and sneaker culture.
  • Ability to navigate between fashion, sport, collaborations, street trends.

• Skills:
  • Managerial
    • Experience in direct management of creative teams.
    • Ability to accompany designers of varied experiences.
    • Ease in multisite management Paris/Annecy.
  • Digital transformation & innovative mindset
• Languages: Fluent English is indispensable
• Tools:
  • Mastery of the Office Pack
  • Mastery of design software

Additional Information

• Contract: Full-time permanent contract
• Location: Position based in Paris (in our new Hub)
• Ability to travel: To our factories (Asia), markets (Asia, US, Europe) and to attend Fashion Week