Senior Designer, Sportswear Footwear

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization

At adidas, we believe that through sport, we have the power to change lives.

As Senior Designer, Sportswear Footwear, you will create compelling product stories and footwear collections that connect with consumers, with a strong focus on the China market.

Bringing together consumer insight, creative thinking, and product expertise, you will translate the Sportswear strategy into relevant and distinctly adidas design expressions. You will work in a fast-moving, collaborative environment, balancing creative ambition with operational excellence and speed to market.

Key Responsibilities

• Champion consumer obsession, bringing a deep understanding of the China consumer, culture, and marketplace into product creation.
• Translate Sportswear Footwear strategy into relevant seasonal concepts, stories, and product collections.
• Collaborate with Global Design partners to ensure local relevance and a consistent One Brand consumer experience.
• Lead the creation of innovative footwear concepts that deliver against consumer needs, product briefs, and category ambitions.
• Explore fresh expressions in form, construction, color, materials, and graphics.
• Inspire and mentor fellow designers, raising the quality and originality of the team’s creative output.
• Present design concepts and strategies clearly and persuasively to cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders.
• Partner with Product Marketing and Product Development to maintain creative intent from concept through execution.
• Manage multiple projects with agility, delivering high-quality work within close-to-market timelines.
• Contribute to an open and collaborative creator culture built on curiosity, courage, and continuous improvement.

Key Relationships

• Design Leadership and fellow designers
• Product Marketing
• Product Development
• Global Design and Creative teams
• External partners, where relevant

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong understanding of the Sportswear and Sports Lifestyle footwear market, particularly in China.
• Extensive footwear design experience, supported by a portfolio of original and commercially relevant work.
• Deep knowledge of the end-to-end footwear creation process.
• Strong design sensibility across form, construction, color, materials, and graphics.
• Ability to translate consumer and cultural insights into compelling product concepts and stories.
• Strong visual, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Ability to influence, build alignment, and collaborate across diverse and international teams.
• Proven ability to mentor others while remaining hands-on in the creative process.
• Curious, proactive, and solution-oriented mindset.
• Advanced proficiency in relevant design and visualization tools.
• Working proficiency in English within an international environment.

Requisite Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design, Footwear Design, Product Design, or a related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of seven years of relevant footwear or product design experience.
• Proven experience taking footwear concepts from initial ideation through design development and execution.
• Experience in color, materials, graphics, and product storytelling is preferred.
• Experience working with cross-functional and international product creation teams.

What We Are Looking For

You are a creator who sees design as more than the execution of a brief. You are energized by consumers, culture, and the possibility of shaping what comes next.

You are a curious and courageous creator who combines imagination with strong product judgment. You can move confidently between big-picture storytelling and the details that make a product meaningful.

You share ideas openly, bring people with you, and are ready to create footwear that feels relevant today while pushing adidas toward tomorrow.