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
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
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
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
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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, or equivalent industry experience
- 7+ years of hands-on experience designing performance footwear
- Thorough understanding of footwear manufacturing processes
- Experience creating footwear tools and construction methods
- Meticulous attention to detail and ability to design cohesive footwear collections
- Excellent planning, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
- Flexibility and adaptability in ambiguous situations
- Ability to balance autonomy and collaboration
- Passion for outdoor activities and intuition for the activities the products support
- Ability to travel nationally and internationally for an average of 35% of the time
What We Do
Arc’teryx is a global design company based in North Vancouver, B.C. that specializes in technical high-performance outerwear and equipment. We design and manufacture a wide range of mountain sports outdoor apparel and equipment for all conditions and experiences, including mountaineering, ice and rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, and trail running. Our company is built on a passionate and relentless commitment to design, craftsmanship and performance. We have a unique construction process that enables us to create technical products that can be trusted to perform at the point of extreme need. We are uniquely positioned in our industry as we have our own factory located in New Westminster, BC, which enables us to build products with a meticulous focus on detail and performance. We leverage this manufacturing knowledge and share it with our global partner factories. In the Coast Mountain Range behind our headquarters and design centre in North Vancouver, we field test our products in real world conditions allowing us to create the best-fitting, longest-lasting, highest-performing technical products available. We distribute our outerwear and equipment through more than 3,000 retail locations worldwide, in over 40 countries globally, including 38 branded and outlet stores in Europe, North America and Asia. The company started with six employees in 1989 and now has more than 1000 employees in Canada.
