Senior Tooling Engineer

About the role

As a Senior Footwear Tooling Engineer, you will act as a key technical expert for Nike’s global tooling strategy, delivering high‑quality, cost‑effective tooling solutions across the footwear creation and manufacturing network.

Key responsibilities

• Provide tooling engineering expertise from product development through manufacturing, leading mold design reviews and validation.
• Develop and implement global tooling standards, best practices, and improvement initiatives focused on quality, durability, productivity, sustainability and cost optimization.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams, Tier 1/2 partners and factory engineers to support new product launches, engineering changes and factory transfers.
• Evaluate, develop and roll out advanced manufacturing technologies such as laser processing, digital manufacturing, automation, simulation and metal additive manufacturing.

Required profile

• 3‑6 years of tooling engineering experience, preferably in footwear or related precision manufacturing.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in mechanical, manufacturing engineering or a related discipline.
• Proven ability to lead cross‑functional projects, influence technical decisions and communicate effectively in English.
• Willingness to travel frequently to manufacturing sites and partner locations.

Required skills

• Mold design, manufacturing, validation and maintenance (steels, aluminum alloys, heat treatment, wear resistance).
• Engineering drawing interpretation, tolerances, dimensional inspection and CNC/EDM processes.
• Knowledge of footwear sole materials (rubber, EVA, Phylon, TPU, PU) and their tooling requirements.
• Continuous improvement tools: FMEA, DFM, RCA, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma.
• Advanced manufacturing technologies: laser processing, digital manufacturing, automation, simulation, SLM, DMLS.