Footwear Designer Jobs

Footwear Designer jobs are open across athletic, fashion, outdoor, and private-label brands, from junior designer to creative director, with specializations in performance footwear, fashion footwear, and sustainable materials development. See the openings below and apply to the ones that match your experience.

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Overview

Open roles22
Top stateOregon
Top employerNIKE
Top cityBeaverton, OR
Work type75% Hybrid
Top industryFashion

Showing 5 of 22+ Footwear Designer jobs

Lead Designer, NikeSKIMS Footwear & Apparel Materials Design
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New 14h ago
Lead Designer, NikeSKIMS Footwear & Apparel Materials Design
NIKE
Los Angeles, California
Content & Communications
Creative Direction
Marketing
$109k - $220k/yr
Bachelor's degree
10,000+

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Lead Designer, Streetwear Looks Of Footwear Product Design, Global Jordan
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Added 1w ago
Lead Designer, Streetwear Looks Of Footwear Product Design, Global Jordan
NIKE
Beaverton, Oregon
Project Management
Software Engineering
Technical Product & Program Management
Bachelor's degree
10,000+

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Lead Designer, Core Studio Performance Footwear Color Design
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Added 1w ago
Lead Designer, Core Studio Performance Footwear Color Design
NIKE
Beaverton, Oregon
Business Strategy
Growth Marketing
Product Management
Bachelor's degree
10,000+

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Expert Designer, Running Innovation Footwear Product Design
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Added 2w ago
Expert Designer, Running Innovation Footwear Product Design
NIKE
Beaverton, Oregon
Business Strategy
Growth Marketing
Product Management
Bachelor's degree
10,000+

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Lead Designer, Kids Footwear Product Design, Global Jordan
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Added 3w ago
Lead Designer, Kids Footwear Product Design, Global Jordan
NIKE
Beaverton, Oregon
Project & Program Management
Solutions Engineering & Architecture
Technical Program Management
Bachelor's degree
10,000+

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Footwear Designer Job Market

Who's Hiring

  • NIKE10
  • Cole Haan2
  • Under Armour2
  • Deckers Brands2
  • CELLA1

Top Industries Hiring

  • Fashion & Apparel

What Employers Look For

The qualifications that appear most often in footwear designer jobs.

  • Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for technical sketching and colorway development
  • Experience with 3D footwear design tools such as Rhino or Modo
  • Understanding of footwear construction methods including last development and pattern grading
  • Bachelor's degree in footwear design, industrial design, or a related field
  • Ability to create detailed technical specification packages for factory production
  • Experience collaborating with overseas manufacturers and interpreting prototype feedback

Tips for Your Footwear Designer Job Search

Tailor your portfolio to the category

Athletic brands and fashion houses evaluate very different portfolios. Curate your work so the first three projects reflect the category you're targeting, whether that's performance running, luxury leather goods, or outdoor technical footwear.

Show construction knowledge on your resume

Many footwear designer job descriptions screen for last-making, pattern grading, or factory communication experience. Call out the specific construction methods you've worked with, such as vulcanized, cemented, or strobel, so your resume clears initial filters.

Apply early to roles that fit

Migrate Mate lists footwear designer openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.

Name your CAD tools explicitly

Rhino, Adobe Illustrator, and Modo each signal different parts of the design pipeline to hiring managers. List every tool you've used for conceptual sketching, 3D modeling, and colorway development separately rather than bundling them into a generic software list.

Prepare a sample brief response for interviews

Many footwear design interviews include a live or take-home design brief timed to 30 or 60 minutes. Practice narrating your ideation process out loud, from consumer insight to silhouette decision, so you don't lose time explaining your method under pressure.

Negotiate around sample and factory access

Salary isn't the only lever in a footwear designer offer. If the role limits overseas factory trips or prototype budgets, ask directly how those decisions are made and whether the team has flexibility, since access to development resources affects your ability to do the job well.

Footwear Designer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions

Which companies are hiring the most footwear designers?

The most active employers for footwear designers right now are NIKE, Cole Haan, and Under Armour, and the most openings are in Oregon, Maryland, and California, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. Demand tends to be strongest at athletic and outdoor brands, though fashion and private-label retailers post roles consistently throughout the year.

How many footwear designer jobs are remote?

About 75% of footwear designer openings are fully remote or hybrid as of November 2026, reflecting the hands-on nature of prototype review and factory communication that most roles require. Colorway design, digital concept work, and trend research are the sub-areas most commonly listed as remote-eligible.

How do you become a footwear designer?

Most footwear designers start with a degree in footwear design, industrial design, or fashion design and build technical skills in CAD tools and construction methods during school. Completing internships at brands or manufacturers gives you factory exposure that's hard to gain elsewhere. A portfolio showing sketching, 3D modeling, and finished product development is what moves candidates through screening.

How do you get hired as a footwear designer with little experience?

Entry-level footwear designer roles typically accept candidates who can demonstrate strong technical sketching, basic CAD proficiency, and an understanding of construction fundamentals, even without full-time experience. Freelance projects, school collaborations with brands, or spec work built around real consumer briefs all count as portfolio evidence. Applying to junior roles at smaller brands or private-label manufacturers is often more accessible than starting at a large athletic company.

What does the footwear designer interview process look like?

Most footwear designer interview processes include a portfolio review, a conversation about your design process and category knowledge, and a design exercise or brief response. The brief is often timed and may be completed at home or during a second round. Candidates who reach final stages typically present their brief response to a panel that includes both design and product development stakeholders.

Where can I find and apply to footwear designer jobs?

You can find and apply to footwear designer jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from companies across the United States. Search the listings to find roles that match your experience level and category focus, then apply directly to each one that fits.

See All 22 Footwear Designer Jobs

Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.

Find Footwear Designer Jobs