The Athlete* Future Lab explores the future edges of sport through radical imagination and rigorous investigation. The team harnesses the evolving forces shaping sport and athletes* to define enterprise-level opportunities and translate them into clear choices, investment pathways, and actionable next steps that help Nike, Inc. win next. Combining strategic foresight, ethnographic research, creative and product leadership, and business intelligence, the A*FL identifies where the future is already emerging and turns that intelligence into advantage. Its work spans Nike, Jordan, and Converse brands and nested sub-brands, with a focus on tangible opportunities for the Innovation, Design, and Product organization.
*If you have a body, you’re an athlete.
WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH
Our Senior Director will report to the VP, Space Kitchen and lead a team of foresight, research, strategy, and creative practitioners. As a player-coach, you will set direction, create the conditions for exceptional work, and remain closely involved in the A*FL’s highest-priority initiatives. You will partner with senior leaders and teams across Innovation, Design, Product, and adjacent enterprise functions to align future opportunities with strategic priorities, portfolios, and decision-making. You will also cultivate an external network of thought leaders, athletes, cultural voices, researchers, creative luminaries, and trusted partners to extend the A*FL’s perspective and impact.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
We are looking for an accomplished creative foresight and innovation leader at the Senior Director level to lead the Athlete* Future Lab. You are an enterprise thinker and inclusive people leader who can navigate uncertainty, establish a compelling point of view, mobilize others around what could be versus what is, and run the business of the team. You combine strategic range with hands-on craft: setting the agenda and operating model for the team while directly shaping research, synthesis, opportunity definition, and executive narratives when the work demands it. This role requires the judgment to balance inspiration with business reality, the influence to align senior stakeholders without relying on formal authority, and the leadership maturity to build a high-performing team through clarity, coaching, accountability, and trust. You bring experience translating future-oriented opportunities into portfolio choices, capability investments, and action across a complex global organization.
WHAT YOU BRING
Bachelor’s degree in Design, Strategy, Research, Foresight, Business or related field. Will accept any suitable combination of education, experience and training.
12+ years of progressive experience in strategic foresight, design strategy, human-centered research, product innovation, or a related discipline, including significant experience leading teams and enterprise-scale work.
Deep passion for athletes*, sport, culture, and the forces reshaping how people move, compete, connect, and create.
Demonstrated ability to set a multi-year vision, strategy, operating model, and portfolio for a foresight or innovation capability.
Proven player-coach leadership: able to direct and develop a multidisciplinary team while personally advancing critical research, synthesis, opportunity framing, and executive storytelling.
Strong people leadership capabilities, including hiring, coaching, talent development, performance management, succession planning, workload prioritization, and building an inclusive team culture.
Expert command of horizon scanning, drivers-of-change analysis, ethnographic and cultural research, scenario development, opportunity mapping, and applied backcasting.
Ability to translate ambiguity and complex signals into differentiated opportunities, strategic choices, investment implications, and actionable roadmaps for Nike.
Executive presence and exceptional verbal, written, and visual communication skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and…