Become a Part of the NIKE, Inc. Team
NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, push boundaries, and deliver what has never been done before. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream, and create. Its culture thrives on diversity and imagination. At Nike, it’s about bringing skills and passion to a challenging, constantly evolving game.
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
NIKE’s Product Integrity organization is building a strong Color & Material Quality and Capability ecosystem to ensure consistent product performance and aesthetics for athletes.
As the Senior Manager, Footwear Material Quality Engineering, you will lead the Tier 2 material issue management team, focused on resolving color and material manufacturing issues at the source during production.
This role is accountable for end-to-end issue resolution, timely containment of manufacturing risk, and disciplined execution across root cause analysis, corrective actions, and closure validation. You will partner across Supplier Management, material vendors, and Tier 1 factory teams to drive fast resolution and protect product quality and delivery.
We are looking for a strong people leader who sets clear priorities, defines roles and responsibilities, removes barriers, and coaches a team through high-pressure, ambiguous situations. You actively manage performance, provide regular feedback, build team capability, and create a culture of accountability, teamwork, and continuous improvement.
This role bridges in-season execution with longer-term capability by generating insights from issue trends and feeding them into programs and governance—ensuring issues are resolved and recurrence is reduced over time.
WHAT WILL YOU WORK ON?
- Lead End-to-End Material Issue Resolution
Own Tier 2 material issue intake and technical resolution, driving timely containment, escalation, and mitigation of risks to product quality and delivery. Ensure strong execution of RCA, CAPA, and closure validation with a high bar for speed and rigor. - Partner with Supplier Management, Vendors, and T1 Factory Partners
Work closely with Supplier Management and material vendors to drive RCA and CAPA while aligning on priorities and timelines. Partner with Tier 1 factories to implement containment, validate impact, and ensure effective resolution at the source. - Drive Visibility, Governance, and Clear Communication
Establish structured reporting, dashboards, escalation pathways, and communication rhythms that provide clear visibility to leadership and partners. Translate complex issues into clear insights to enable faster decisions and stronger alignment. - Generate Insights and Enable Continuous Improvement
Analyze issue trends, failure modes, and recurring patterns to generate actionable insights. Translate those insights into inputs for capability programs and governance, enabling a closed-loop system that reduces recurrence. - Lead Team Performance, Capability, and Operating Rhythm
Lead and coach a team of material quality engineers, setting clear priorities across weekly and seasonal work. Actively manage performance, provide consistent feedback, remove barriers to execution, and build a culture grounded in accountability and growth. - Integrate Across the Product Integrity Organization
Partner with Capability Programs, Standards & Governance, and Supplier Management to ensure alignment and effective handoffs. Translate issue insights into capability gaps and support program activation informed by real-time learnings.
WHO WILL YOU WORK WITH?
This role reports into the Color & Material Manufacturing Quality organization within Product Integrity and partners closely with:
- Footwear Tier 2 Supplier Management teams
- Tier 2 material vendors and Tier 1 shoe factories
- Product Integrity teams (capability programs, governance, issue management)
- Cross-functional product and engineering teams
WHAT YOU BRING?
- Bachelor’s degree in Material Science, Textile Engineering, Footwear Manufacturing, or related field, or equivalent experience
- 10+ years of experience in material manufacturing, quality engineering, or issue resolution in Footwear (preferred) or Apparel
- Strong expertise in material manufacturing processes, quality issue diagnosis and resolution, and supplier engagement
- Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems using independent judgment and operate effectively with non-routine information
- Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex issues clearly across cross-functional and leadership audiences
- Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop a team, including setting goals, clarifying responsibilities, and driving performance
