Women's Footwear Designer II - Genesco Brands Group

The Ideal Candidate

The Footwear Designer will join Genesco Branded Group's design team and report to the SVP of Design, contributing to the creation of commercial, brand-relevant women's footwear across the portfolio. This role is ideal for a designer with a strong passion for women's casual, western, and lifestyle footwear, viewed through a lens that blends authenticity, heritage, versatility, and modern style.

The designer will be responsible for developing footwear concepts that resonate with the female consumer, balancing western influence with comfort, wearability, and everyday utility. Working collaboratively with product development and cross-functional partners, the role requires hands-on involvement throughout the design process-from trend research and concept development through execution-bringing thoughtful, consumer-driven women's products to life across casual, lifestyle, and western-inspired categories.

How You Will Make an Impact

• Under the direction of the SVP of Design, the Footwear Designer will design and develop products that are industry leading, brand relevant, and commercial.
• Partner with Product Development and Sourcing to create market relevant products across multiple categories, ensuring integrity with respect to last, upper, and model development.
• Execute the complete vision, including Color/Cads and Materials, along with fully completed tech packs.
• Deliver on-time product solutions in conjunction with the Product Development calendar and varying business needs, ensuring that all deadlines, line plans, and deliverables are met.
• Provide and present timely and relevant business, design, consumer, and cultural storytelling in conjunction with specific projects and briefs.
• Study and research current and future trends; maintain expert knowledge in design trends, production techniques, and new technologies.
• Special projects as assigned.

Experience and Skills You'll Need to Have

• Bachelor's degree in industrial design or related field.
• 4+ years of experience in footwear design.
• Must have a strong knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite - Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.
• Ability to create mechanical drawings and read blueprints.
• Must have working knowledge of duty rates of footwear, aiding in material selections in hitting pricing objectives.
• Must be proficient in creating line art and color cads in Illustrator.
• Working knowledge of Macintosh systems, Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint), Outlook, and PLM.
• Must have traditional hands-on footwear development skills - Proto corrections, materials, tech packs, specs.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Energetic, inspiring, creative, forward-thinking, and enthusiastic about design.
• Self-motivated and equally comfortable working within a team - must be a team player.
• Organized, structured, asks questions, and seeks understanding first.
• Pushes oneself to exceed expectations.
• Excels at being adaptable, versatile, and able to work under pressure.
• Ability to work under deadlines, manage multiple priorities, work independently, take initiative, and pay close attention to detail.
• Ability to adapt to quickly changing priorities and fast-track projects as needed.
• Strong knowledge of fashion and market trends with an understanding of each brand's market position and the drive to evolve it.
• Must be able to travel both domestically and internationally.