Senior Lead - Lightspray Digital Engineering

This role acts as a driving force at the intersection of digital design and advanced manufacturing, with a primary focus on tackling technical complexity and advancing parametric design systems. The postholder oversees the end-to-end integration of pioneering footwear, ensuring that visionary aesthetics align with demanding performance, grading, and scalability requirements. Drawing on expertise in digital parametric systems and product creation, the role bridges the gap between early algorithmic concepts and high-volume manufacturing and leads a specialised team of computational design experts with a high degree of autonomy.

• Build, mentor, and inspire a team of computational design experts, fostering a culture that connects creative exploration with scalable engineering.
• Spearhead the integration and scale process by translating early conceptual 3D datasets into fully production-ready manufacturing blueprints for Lightspray products.
• Engineer designs for factory replication using expertise in system automation, robotics, interoperability workflows, data management, and parametric dependencies.
• Implement parametric design principles to build highly adaptable systems, taking full ownership of inline product creation, full-size run grading, LS upper-pattern adjustments, and tooling intersections to ensure consistency across all sizes in line with Swiss engineering standards.
• Build and scale a centralised digital library of reusable, parametric design modules, leveraging AI and generative algorithms to deploy components across multiple footwear lines with accuracy and consistency.
• Develop advanced parametric models and Grasshopper scripts to automate the generation, modularity, and scaling of complex footwear elements across samples and full-size runs.
• Act as the critical liaison between Innovation, Footwear Design, and strategic Tier 1 and Tier 2 vendors to negotiate technical requirements, update ERP systems, and finalise scalability sign-offs.
• Apply a rigorous root cause analysis approach to document and resolve complex LS upper requirements and create clear manufacturing manuals for factory partners.

• 7–10 years of experience in high-level product design environments, with a strong portfolio of computational design and performance product solutions.
• Proven experience leading teams and large-scale projects in agile environments.
• Deep expertise in computational design as well as 2D and 3D tools, from early explorations to production-ready 3D datasets.
• An innovative mindset with a strong drive to push the boundaries of footwear design.
• Ability to work independently under deadlines on multiple projects simultaneously, combining creative thinking with engineering problem-solving skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, with a natural technical curiosity and a robust, root-cause analysis approach to problem-solving.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and influencing skills, with the ability to confidently present to senior management and external partners.
• A demonstrated ability to work with a high degree of autonomy, navigating ambiguity and making independent judgments on complex and significant issues.
• Experience in mentoring junior team members or supervising project activities.
• Ability to travel up to 15% of the time.

• Good understanding of traditional manufacturing processes in high-performance footwear.

• An environment designed to give people the tools to develop holistically – to stay active, to learn, explore and innovate.
• Access to personal self-care for both physical and mental well-being.