Skechers · 2 days ago
AI Engineer, Design Innovation
Manhattan Beach, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$150K/yr - $220K/yr
5+ years expSkechers is a global lifestyle brand headquartered in Southern California, known for its commitment to comfort innovation. The AI Engineer - Design Innovation will play a crucial role in developing AI-powered design tools specifically for Skechers' Design team, integrating advanced technologies to enhance footwear and apparel design workflows.
FashionLifestyleShopping
Responsibilities
Lead the design, development, and deployment of AI-powered design tools, integrating with cutting-edge image generation models including OpenAI (GPT-Image-1, DALL-E 3), Google Gemini 2.5 Flash, FLUX 1.1 Pro Ultra, Stable Diffusion 3.5, SeedDream v4, and Ideogram 3.0 for footwear and apparel automation
Integrate and optimize multiple AI APIs with a 'Lego-building' approach - viewing APIs as building blocks to create proprietary solutions that don't exist off-the-shelf, specifically for fashion and footwear design applications
Develop and maintain multi-API orchestration including Google Gemini, OpenAI, and Fal.ai integrations with advanced prompt engineering techniques to enhance design workflows and maintain brand consistency while generating new designs
Build scalable image generation pipelines for batch processing handling hundreds of concurrent requests, with intelligent routing between AI providers based on task requirements using cloud services (AWS, Vercel, Replit, or equivalent platforms)
Create and deploy web applications using JavaScript/TypeScript, React/Next.js, and Tailwind CSS components to provide designers with intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces for AI-powered design tools, collaborating on frontend development
Coordinate with cross-functional teams as the sole software developer among footwear designers, graphic artists, and merchandisers - bringing significant autonomy and creative freedom to integrate AI solutions tailored for creative workflows
Develop automated systems for CMF variations, component swapping, style transfer, and other design workflows with queue management solutions for handling high-volume AI generation tasks
Design and implement database solutions using PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM for storing design assets, API response caching, user data, and design iteration histories with efficient file storage
Execute against the product backlog efficiently, rapidly prototyping and experimenting with emerging models to multiply creative team output through intelligent automation
Implement quality validation, automatic retry logic, and brand consistency checks to ensure all design-focused requirements are met while managing API rate limits and costs across multiple providers
Stay up to date with the latest advancements in generative AI from Google, OpenAI, ByteDance, and emerging ai models / companies, proposing and implementing innovative AI solutions based on real team needs
Other duties as assigned
Qualification
Required
B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computer Graphics, or equivalent proven years of experience
5+ years of experience in software development with a focus on AI applications
3+ years of experience with Python
3+ years of experience in developing REST APIs with JSON, HTTP protocol, Postman and/or curl
Web development experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and modern JS frameworks
Experience with AWS Lambda, API Gateway, S3, and other cloud services
Working knowledge of Linux, Windows, SQL and NoSQL database systems (MongoDB), and networking
Experience integrating with 3rd party APIs, particularly design and creative tools
Experience working with DevOps teams on implementing CI/CD pipelines and monitoring/alerting
Ability to communicate complex technical topics to creative professionals with precision and clarity
Ability to translate creative requirements into technical specifications accurately and effectively
Preferred
Experience with modern JavaScript Frameworks like React/Next.js or Flutter for building designer-facing applications with understanding of UX patterns and mobile-first design principles
Graphic design experience or background working closely with creative teams is highly preferred
Experience working directly with business facing groups outside of development is ideal
Experience working within an Agile team environment is ideal
Understanding of fashion/footwear industry trends and design processes is a huge plus
Company
Skechers
Skechers is a Fortune 500® company — a growth-oriented brand that designs, develops, and markets a diverse product portfolio of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children around the globe.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Skechers has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (8)
2024 (8)
2023 (8)
2022 (7)
2021 (2)
2020 (2)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$500M2025-05-05Acquired
2019-11-26Post Ipo Debt· $500M
1999-06-09IPO
Leadership Team
John Vandemore
Chief Financial Officer
Christopher Coye
Senior Vice President IT & CIO
Recent News
bloomberglaw.com
2025-12-06
2025-12-05
Sports Business Journal
2025-12-05
Company data provided by crunchbase