Who We Are:
At Brooks, we believe movement is the key to feeling more alive. That’s why we’re driven to create gear and experiences that take people to the place that makes them feel more alive — whether it’s a headspace, a feeling, or a finish line.
Everyone who works at Brooks is propelled by a company culture that sparks excitement, fuels collaboration, inspires creativity, and ignites innovation.
Our brand values help bond us together and drive our success:
· Runner First
We act in the best interest of the runner
· Word is Bond
We do what we say we’ll do
· Champion Heart
We give our all in everything we do
· There is no “I” in Run
We stay generous with our humanity
· Keep Moving
We find ways to move every day, because joy is kinetic!
We welcome everyone from every walk of life looking to inspire others through the power of movement — because we’re all moving towards something. Let’s run there.
Your Job:
This Senior Process Engineer will validate and confirm all footwear processes from prototype to commercialization in the sample room. This person will work with Brooks’ Asia cross–functional teams and external factory partners, including, Development, Costing, Chemical Engineering to confirm the process accuracy from initial prototype to Model Fit, as well as supporting the Asia development team to achieve target costs, performance, and sustainability goals.
The Senior Process Engineer is responsible for ensuring sample room processes are standardized across the same and different T1 and T2 factory groups to enable fit, feel, & ride consistencies & quality excellence. In your role, you will generate and communicate ideas and solutions that enhance footwear performance and manufacturing quality of our products by providing optimal process recommendations and demonstrating excellent problem-solving skills. You will also be an Independant decision maker while demonstrating strong collaboration and influencing Brooks cross-functional teammates and factory/vendor partners to think creatively and achieve the best product/process results. In this role, you will have the chance to coach or lead other junior process engineers with their projects and provide technical expertise.
Your Responsibilities:
- Recommend process solutions and educate cross-functional teams on product manufacturing samples for their seasonal projects.
- Manage all related sample manufacturing process issues from development stage through model fit confirmation while partnering directly with various product creation groups (development team, engineering team, material team, Sample Room, factory process engineers, Costing, Chemical engineer and T2/T3) to document and confirm PFCs (process flow chart).
- Coach, train, mentor junior process engineers or developers to ensure that products are manufacturable and meet cost and quality objectives of the organization.
- Act as a SME in process engineering advising other Engineering teams and our factory partners.
- Manage up to 1 more junior process engineer to sharpen their skill set and grow their career (including goal setting, quarterly performance review, and participating in candidate interviews etc.)
- Lead ideation and initiatives on product improvements partnering with influencing and educating cross-functional teams to gain alignment and buy-in.
- Develop strong working relationships among engineers/developers/suppliers to enable joint problem solving to continuously refine our processes to achieve better product outcomes.
- Utilize excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to see both the broader picture and the details to find out the “whys?" and build optimal processes to improve our product development cycle.
- Own the standardization and continuous improvement of process templates across factories to ensure “fit/feel/ride” and quality consistency is maintained.
- Establish process best practices and document & record learnings from each project to educate and share knowledge with Development team.
- Lead the process of reviewing, confirming all sample PFCs and tech transferring them from R&D to Commercialization team on time.
- Create and maintain all PFC’s and technical transfer documentation.
- Proactively participate and engage in sample review meetings with developers and engineers to address process concerns and identify solutions.
- Drive sample room standardization across all T1s and T2s to streamline the multi-sourcing process and the tech transfer from sample room to production.
- Collaborate with our R&D engineering, and Development and factories to ensure that our Brooks sample PFCs are implemented properly and consistently across all models.
- Keep up to date on latest footwear trends, manufacturing process and techniques skills and advise what and how to incorporate into our current processes
- Other responsibilities as required.
- Domestic and international business travel may be required.
Your Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, or other applicable technical degrees or an equivalent combination of education and experience.;
- 7+ years relevant experience in the product development of Athletic Footwear,
- 2+ years people management experience
- Possess a deep understanding of all footwear manufacturing processes, such as: upper preparation-cutting, stitching, HF&HF welding, upper 2D&3D screen printing, molding process, bottom stock fit and assembly etc.
- Advanced level of footwear product development, commercialization, or production skills with proven cross functional project management success.
- Working knowledge of pattern/tooling/process engineering and ability to proactively recommend construction/costing/manufacturing process solutions.
- Fluent English communication skills (both speaking and writing). Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from their counterparts in Asia/US, cross-functional colleagues, factory partners, etc.
- Proven track record of successful collaboration in global product teams.
- Demonstrated ability to lead and influence in a collaborative, cross-functional group without command/ control to meet strategic objectives.
- Demonstrated ability to develop highly positive relationships with individuals and teams that are made up of diverse disciplines and cultural backgrounds resulting in effective working relationships across the company.
- Outstanding communication skills, verbal and written. Advanced ability to communicate new ideas, concepts, and functional expertise within project teams and to external stakeholders.
- Keen attention to detail in planning, organization, and execution of tasks (self and through others), while still seeing the big picture and understanding how all the pieces fit together and affect one another.
- Ability to anticipate how a decision made can affect our customers, our partners, our products or other departments’ operations and/or morale; “connecting the dots.”
- Curious and open-minded; always open to a challenge, inventive, creative. With the ability to challenge the status quo – always looking at improving our products and processes while also displaying a willingness to dive into the details.
- Strong computer skills including experience with Illustrator, MS Office software.
- Must be proficient with MS Office applications (excel, word and PowerPoint);
- FlexPLM, MS Project, Illustrator experience a plus
- Ability to understand and empathize with the runner in order to develop loyal and engaging relationships with our customers and the Brooks community.
- Embrace and live the Brooks values!
At Brooks, we celebrate diversity & equity. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment, and encourage people of all backgrounds, perspectives, experiences, and skills to apply. Brooks is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, two-spirit identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, sensory, physical, or mental disability, marital status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), honorable discharge or military status, protected citizen status, actual or perceived victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, HIV or Hepatitis C infection, political ideology, use of a trained guide dog by a person with a disability, or on any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, or any other non-merit based factors.
