Principal Innovator, Footwear

The NXT Footwear Team works to invent and create performance driven technologies, product concepts and platforms for our product creation teams. We are seeking a Principal Innovator who has a strong background in footwear development & manufacturing, innovative thinking and complex problem solving with a positive mindset.

You will report to the NXT Director of Footwear Product Creation, located in Taichung Taiwan. You will work closely with Nike’s manufacturing partners in Taiwan and collaborate with global experts across Product Engineering, Design, Material Development, Chemical Engineering, Product Testing, Future Capabilities, Cushioning Innovation, NSRL and inline blended Sport teams. 

We are seeking a curious and driven Principal Innovator to join our team in Taichung, Taiwan. The ideal candidate will demonstrate deep expertise in footwear development & manufacturing as well as a broad understanding of adjacent functions in order to effectively lead new footwear projects across all NXT phases of development. They are curious problem solvers who can collaborate across functions to develop novel solutions with a high-level of ambiguity in a dynamic, results-oriented environment. They are a self-starter, flexible thinker, effective communicator, team builder, and confident program manager.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Product Development, Design, Engineering, or a related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training

• 8+ years of experience in product or technology project management or equivalent experience

• Deep experience in footwear development and manufacturing with an understanding of footwear testing, design, athlete insights, material development, and costing. 

• Strong organization skills with an ability to prioritize and manage simultaneous workstreams that are both future looking and time-critical

• Demonstrated program leadership in advancing projects through explore and discovery phases and across multiple sports and product types

• Ability to effectively communicate complex topics and concepts to a wide and diverse global audience to create impact, drive consensus, and align stakeholders.

• Effective team builder who can cultivate a positive, creative, inclusive collective of highly specialized and qualified individuals with diverse expertise

• Ability to deal with ambiguity and work in a dynamic, results-oriented environment

• Demonstrated verbal and written English communication skills in order to clearly articulate goals and objectives, facilitate meetings, and influence global stakeholders

You will be empowered to lead and project manage multiple footwear projects at one time across a diverse portfolio of product types.  Each project will have multiple work-streams, each with its own timelines and functional resources.  You will be responsible for creating the project plans, keeping the team on track to meet those timelines, and actively communicating with NXT leadership on progress to ensure alignment of resources, risks, and readiness.

As a Principal Innovator, you will be responsible to:

• Navigate ambiguity and deliver disruptive innovations that bring new performance benefits within our goals for performance, manufacturability, cost, and sustainability.

• Be the connective voice across global, multi-functional teams

• Work with these multi-functional teams to drive product and process excellence from initial idea to into physical samples, inclusive of performance and manufacturing validation, while maintaining the vision and design intent.

• Collaborate cross-functionally to commercialize product innovations.

• Collaborate cross-functionally to create comprehensive presentations and documentation.

• Develop, lead, and implement organizational initiatives and processes that contribute to the global footwear innovation strategy.