Footwear Development Manager

Location: Bayreuth, Germany

Company

hirify.global develops child safety and lifestyle products including car seats, baby carriers, kids' furniture, strollers, and footwear as part of Goodbaby International Holdings Ltd.

What you will do

• Lead the end-to-end footwear development process from concept through commercialization, production readiness, and launch.
• Translate design concepts into technically feasible, manufacturable, scalable, and cost-effective footwear solutions.
• Create and maintain technical specifications, product requirements, and development documentation.
• Coordinate prototypes, samples, technical reviews, fitting sessions, wear testing, and sample iterations.
• Define and review constructions, materials, components, lasts, tooling, and manufacturing processes.
• Collaborate with Design, Product Management, Innovation, Sourcing, Quality, suppliers, and factories while managing milestones, testing, validation, costing, and quality activities.

Requirements

• Degree or professional qualification in Footwear Development, Footwear Technology, Product Engineering, Industrial Design, or a related field.
• Several years of professional experience in footwear development; juvenile or children's footwear experience is preferred.
• Strong technical understanding of footwear constructions, materials, components, manufacturing processes, fit, lasts, patterns, tooling, and product testing.
• Experience working directly with footwear factories, suppliers, and development partners.
• Ability to translate creative concepts into technically feasible and scalable products.
• Strong project management skills, including management of multiple developments and seasonal timelines.
• Good understanding of quality, costing, and commercialization requirements.
• Hands-on, solution-oriented, highly organized, communicative, and collaborative working style.
• Fluent English required; willingness to travel internationally when required.

Nice to have

• Knowledge of children's product safety requirements and testing standards.

Culture & Benefits

• International environment with employees from more than 29 nations.
• Inclusive workplace focused on diversity and equal opportunities.
• Values-driven culture centered on Imagination, Belief, Passion, Strength, Respect, and Love.
• Competitive salary, attractive annual leave, and discounts on hirify.global products.
• Opportunities for professional and individual development in a rapidly growing business.