Under Armour:
Sr. Manager, Footwear Material Design and Development Job in Portland, VT

Under Armour is all about performance. Because what we make empowers athletes in every form to push themselves, to turn good into great, and to stay hungry for whatever comes next. And this is exactly what we expect from each other.
Working with us means one key thing: no matter what you do, you see every day and every project as a chance to push your field forward. In every store and every office, we build teams where everyone is an MVP. And together we tackle every challenge head on. Because we work to push the gear, the game, and ourselves farther.
We’re looking for people who do more than good work. We’re looking for the Best in Every Game.
Under Armour is the chosen brand of this generation of athletes... and the athletes of tomorrow. We're about performance - in training and on game day, in blistering heat and bitter cold. Whatever the conditions, whatever the sport, Under Armour delivers the advantage athletes have come to demand.
That demand has created an environment of growth. An environment where building a great team is vital. An environment where doing whatever it takes is the baseline and going above and beyond to protect the Brand is commonplace.
The world's hungriest athletes live by a code, a pledge to themselves and everyone else: Protect This House... I Will. Our goal is to Build A Great Team! Will YOU…Protect This House?!
Summary
The Senior Material Innovation Manager - Footwear is a fast-paced, highly interactive position where you will partner closely with the footwear innovation leadership team, materials and footwear. In this role, you are the main conduit to footwear creation; responsible for material design and integrating material design, aesthetic and fuction for the end use athlete/consumer. 
As a Senior Material Innovation Manager your responsibilities include working closely with design and defining the material trend direction for all categories.  And to generate seasonal material briefs, based on the design direction, for distribution to material supply partners.  You own footwear seasonal material development and seasonal toolkit for the UA Brand.
This role is responsible for building and supporting the UA operational infrastructure and world class footwear material supply chain.  As a member of the footwear material innovation team you will become an expert on one or more of the material innovation pillars by classification.   Your responsibilities will include driving technology transfer to inline; selecting and developing with best in class material supply partners and creating/evolving communication channels between Under Armour and and our supply partners.
In addition you will build and elevate a team of associate material developers and developers integrated with in-line categories and library technicians.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Collaborate with the innovation team in the development of future footwear materials and processes, new applications and evolving material related innovation.
Meet with designers to formulate seasonal material POV. Assign seasonal material briefs to appropriate material supply partners. Presents new material concepts to product creation team; design, development and product line management.
Collaborate with development, sourcing, and production to ensure all new material developments are properly allocated and tested to meet end use, costing, logistic, and lead time requirements
Evolve core and establish seasonal material toolkits based on material classification and end use for product creation team selection.
Input and maintain supply partner and material information in the Centric 8 PLM material data library and work closely with development, supply partners and factories to ensure data integrity for style material specification and all other critical product documentation
Partner with quality to define and evlolve physical property testing methods and requirements.
Travel to global industry events to gain insight into new developments to keep the UA team informed on the latest innovations in the market
Additional Tasks
Manage data on the current status of footwear innovation developments and help to coordinate projects.
Prioritize work based on calendars; innovation platforms and seasonal product development.
Meet with product teams and communicate material POV and influence sound material decisions.
Create Seasonal POV presentations and present.
Build and maintain relationships with internal and external partners.
Assist with other tasks as assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities
Yes
Competencies
To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:
Consistently works toward producing results at the functional team levelAccountable for producing to functional area timelines
Responsible for their own execution
Sets stretch personal goals and achieves them
Inspires confidence that they will deliver. Done!Done!Done!
Goes the extra mile to ensure the functional team’s success
Takes direction and makes a project their own

Lives and inspires the Under Armour Culture throughout the CompanyEmbraces the Company values in their everyday interactions
Inspires the values in their peers
Commits time and energy to the success of the Company
A good team player

Assists in executing on a strategic plan that creates a unique advantage for UA in the marketplaceFamiliar with more complex concepts and possesses advanced skills and functional understanding of the subject matter and technical requirements of the relevant functional area
Improves performance by gaining knowledge and experience of associated areas through job contacts and training
Suggests ideas that focus on improving costs and process efficiency

Has Manager/Director’s as well as their team’s trustDelivers what is promised
Contributes to the functions goals through individual and/or team effort
Impacts functional team by providing support
Understands how his/her role fits into the functional team’s goals

Shows intellectual curiosity in every task they are asked to performSeeks to not only perform the task but understand the purpose of the task
Demonstrated effort to understand processes outside their immediate area
Performs task well with an attention to detail
Understands and appreciates the value their task adds to goal achievement

Qualifications To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to deal with vendors from a variety of countries and cultures, specifically Asia
Strong process and organization skills
An understanding of dealing with vast cultural differences and cultural barriers, specifically Asian culture, to secure the best possible outcomes for UA Footwear, which include things like costing, managing intra-vendor, or vendor-to-factory relationships
Basic math skills related to consumer goods as well as calculating interest, percentages, area, circumference, volume, etc.
The ability to define problem, collect data, and draw rational conclusions as well as recommend solutions.
Education and/or Experience
Bachelor’s Degree in Design, Textiles, or Supply Chain Management
Experience in textile and synthetic leather, leather, foams and plastics manufacturing, material development, or similar fields with an emphasis on material testing, sourcing, merchandising
Experience working with Illustrator, Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Photoshop, Keynote
Under Armour is an equal employment opportunity employer.  We adhere to a policy of making employment decisio