Sr. Manager, Color Design - HOKA Footwear

At Deckers Brands, Together, Every Step is a promise kept that every employee can bring their authentic self, is valued and supported, as a whole person, at work and beyond. Together, Every Step is how we continue to deliver exceptional business results, experience an amazing place to work, and have a positive impact on the communities and world around us. 

Job Title: Sr. Manager, Color Design - HOKA Footwear

Reports to: Director, Color Design - HOKA Footwear

Location: Portland, OR (In Office)

The Role

As Sr. Manager, Color Design for HOKA Footwear, you’ll guide the long-term color vision for the brand, ensuring seasonal relevance, athlete credibility, and commercial impact. You’ll sit at the intersection of design, product, brand, and merchandising, elevating color as a strategic tool to drive emotion, storytelling, and brand differentiation. You’ll push newness in product, explore bold ideas, and translate insights into meaningful solutions, bringing clarity, craft, and momentum to the design process from concept to final product.

We celebrate diversity--of your background, your experiences and your unique identity. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and equitable workplace where all of our employees can Come as They Are. We believe that when we bring our different perspectives to work, we are truly Better Together.

Your Impact

• Lead color design on category priority projects, building dynamic color tools and strategies
• Develop seasonal color palettes that deliver the uniquely HOKA Footwear experience, inspiring consumers globally
• Work against seasonal project briefs, annual franchise concepts, and long-term design strategies
• Explore “blue sky” opportunities that champion the spirit of HOKA as a tinkerer, challenger, and creator
• Collaborate with business partners to deliver color that accelerates the business
• Partner with design functions to build products, seasonal strategies, and long-term concepts with a holistic point-of-view
• Manage multiple creation calendars for seasonal Inline, collaboration, and SMU design projects
• Set color direction for projects/categories and contribute to annual and seasonal Creative Vision
• Mentor design team in understanding of consumer and market acumen
• Attend seasonal kickoff and participate in design travel and inspiration planning

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in industrial design, product design, or a related field
• 8+ years’ experience in color design, preferably in footwear
• Expert in color theory and regional/global trends
• Advanced understanding of footwear material, construction, and process
• Proficient in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Miro or Lucid
• Expertise in leading generative AI platforms (e.g., Midjourney, Vizcom)
• Strong leadership and communication skills, with a track record of building and mentoring creative teams
• Portfolio showcasing macro trend insights, color design direction, creative excellence, and application of footwear color
• Promotes healthy dialogue, values all opinions, and displays humility
• Collaborates and builds relationships across the organization
• Demonstrates agility and inspires vision for change
• Holds self and others accountable for achieving results while role-modeling company values
• Empowers decision-makers and upholds decisions once made
• Finds ways to achieve financial and ESG goals simultaneously
• Keeps team motivated by providing opportunities to contribute to society

What We'll Give You –

• Competitive Pay and Bonuses - We’ve created a variety of competitive compensation programs to foster career development, reward success and to show our employees just how much they’re valued.
• Financial Planning and wellbeing - No matter what financial goals our employees have set, we want to help them get there. Our plans provide powerful ways to protect income, pay for expenses and invest in the future.
• Time away from work - Sometimes we need time away to be with family, focus on our health or just simply recharge. Our plans support our employees’ needs to get out, get healthy and come back stronger than ever.
• Extras, discounts and perks - Being