---
title: 'Soft Goods Designer at Skip'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/soft-goods-designer-skip-san-francisco-txkrz0fb18r6'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Soft Goods Designer at Skip

- **Company:** Skip
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-04-16
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/skip/6aceb53e-e936-464b-9c72-a1518178e103

## Job description

## ABOUT US:

Skip is on a mission to make life joyful through powered movement.

Movement is a powerful way to build physical, mental and social health. Yet it is elusive for 2 billion people due to age, injury, or disability. We are building products that will restore mobility for millions and enable a new frontier of joyful movement experiences. We want to build a future where a grandparent can easily outrun their grandkids and no one is left behind at the trailhead.

Skip is a 22-person early-stage start-up that spun out of Google X in 2023. With deep cross-disciplinary expertise and key partnerships (e.g. with Arc’teryx) we are uniquely positioned to launch the first commercially successful wearable robotic device, the MO/GO, develop a platform to launch future Movewear products and transform millions of lives in the coming years.

## THE ROLE:

We are seeking a highly motivated and adaptable soft goods designer who is excited to solve problems that have never existed before — because the product category hasn't existed before. You will own the design and development of the garments that integrate with the MO/GO, starting with a technical pant built to work with our wearable robotic device. This isn't a fashion brief. It's a functional systems design challenge: the garment is part of the product. You'll work hand-in-hand with our mechanical and human factors engineers to make sure fabric, fit, and device work as one. Some of the specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

- Lead the design and technical development of the MO/GO integration pant from concept through production — pattern making, material selection, fit iteration, and factory handoff
- Define the functional requirements of the garment in close collaboration with our mechanical, firmware, and human factors teams — attachment points, range of motion, load paths, and sensor placement all live in your brief
- Select and qualify technical fabrics and materials for performance bottoms: stretch wovens, knits, softshells, and any novel material that earns its place on the body
- Build and iterate physical prototypes rapidly; run fit sessions with internal wearers and external test users and translate feedback into pattern and material updates
- Own the Bill of Materials, tech packs, and construction specs to a standard that factories can execute reliably at scale
- Establish and manage relationships with fabric mills, trims suppliers, and cut-and-sew factories; understand lead times, MOQs, and what it takes to actually get something made
- Contribute to the long-term Movewear soft goods platform — define the design language, material standards, and construction principles that future products will build on
- Collaborate with our Arc'teryx partners and bring that standard of craft and technical rigour to everything you make
- Wear prototypes on hikes, in the gym, and around the office — your body is a test rig

## Basic Qualifications

- 8+ years' experience in soft goods design and development, with a focus on technical bottoms
- 5+ years at an outdoor, performance, or technical apparel company — you know what makes a pant work in the field
- Expert-level knowledge of technical fabrics for lower body: stretch wovens, softshells, knits, and the trims and hardware that go with them
- Strong pattern making and garment construction fundamentals — you can read and mark up a pattern, not just a mood board
- Experience writing tech packs and managing factory relationships through production
- Ability to relocate to work at the Skip Bay Area office
- Sense of humour, tolerant of Aussie & Canadian spelling

Bonus Points

- Experience designing garments that integrate with hardware, bracing, or orthotic devices
- Familiarity with human factors, ergonomics, or biomechanics as they apply to garment design
- Experience with medical or assistive device adjacent apparel (compression, prosthetics interface, exosuit softgoods)
- Experience in start-up or early-stage product environments
- Personal motivation to improve human movement
- Taylor Swift fan. Good taste in background music :)

This is a full time hybrid position working at the Skip office in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.

Skip is an equal opportunity employer. Our hiring decisions are based on need and competence to satisfy said need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected status.

Any and all offers of employment extended by Skip are conditional on candidates’ ability to provide satisfactory proof of eligibility to maintain full-time employment in the United States.

## About Skip

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Skip develops powered movewear (wearable exoskeleton pants) that supports human movement, making walking, hiking, and daily mobility easier for people experiencing age‑related decline, injury, or disability.
- **Entity Type**: Private (seed‑stage; raised $6 M in total funding)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Kathryn Zealand (CEO & Co‑Founder), Anna Roumiantseva (Co‑Founder & CPO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Wearable robotics / consumer health & wellness / mobility technology
- **Target customers**: B2C (active older adults, hikers, people with knee pain or mobility challenges) – “the missing middle” that is neither fully disabled nor fully able
- **Mission**: “Make life joyful through powered movement” — aiming to restore mobility for millions and enable a future where no one is left behind at the trailhead

## Products & Services
- **[MO/GO™](https://www.skipwithjoy.com/)**: The company’s first movewear product — lightweight, apparel‑integrated exoskeleton “powered pants” that provide assistance on inclines and descents, reducing strain on muscles and joints. Built from learnings in exoskeleton force transfer, AI/ML movement interpretation, comfortable wearable design, and consumer‑tech UX. Released in partnership with Arc’teryx for testing/co‑branding (2024).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly available
- **Key Metric (Funding)**: $6 M total funding — a $3 M Seed Round and a $3 M Grant, both closed in July 2024 ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/skipwithjoy)).  
  *Note: Tracxn lists the company as “unfunded” but is likely outdated or misclassifying grants; the LinkedIn data is more recent.*
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Spun out of **X, The Moonshot Factory** (Google’s moonshot lab). Partnership with **Arc’teryx** for the MO/GO launch. Founding team includes alumni of Google X.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew +62.9 % year‑over‑year to 16 employees (as of mid‑2026). Three open roles posted (Software Engineer, Test; Firmware Engineer; Founding Marketing Lead). Company featured in National Geographic (CEO Kathryn Zealand named a National Geographic 33 honoree). Active in academic research — published a study on hip exoskeleton assistance for people with Parkinson’s disease in *Frontiers in Robotics and AI*.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Deep tech heritage**: Founders and many team members came from Google X, giving access to years of exoskeleton and force‑transfer research.
- **New product category (“Movewear”)**: First mover in blending robotic exoskeleton technology with stylish, consumer‑friendly wearables — not just medical devices.
- **Strong brand storytelling**: The mission resonates emotionally (“Help a grandparent outrun their grandkids”) and has earned media coverage in NatGeo, CES spotlights, and AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative.
- **Focus on the “missing middle”**: Addresses a large underserved market (billions with age‑related or mild mobility issues) that is ignored by both medical exoskeletons and fitness trackers.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale manufacturing and distribution**: Moving from prototype/limited runs to broader consumer availability for MO/GO.
- **Build a world‑class engineering team**: Actively hiring firmware, test, and marketing leads to expand the 16‑person team.
- **Clinical validation & partnerships**: Continued publication of studies (e.g., Parkinson’s) and collaboration with organizations like the Michael J. Fox Foundation to establish credibility and open healthcare channels.
- **Expand product line**: Use the Movewear platform to create models for different activities and levels of support.

## Why Work Here
- **High‑impact, mission‑driven work**: Engineers directly improve physical mobility for millions of people.
- **Small, high‑density team**: 16 employees with a strong ratio of technical staff (9 in technical roles). Offers the chance to own large areas of the stack.
- **Culture rooted in moonshot thinking**: Spun out of Google X; employees have backgrounds from X, Harvard, Stanford, and top robotics firms.
- **Hybrid/Office presence**: HQ in San Francisco, California. Recent job posts specify location in San Francisco Bay Area, suggesting an on‑site or hybrid expectation.
- **Perks and environment**: Working on a tangible hardware + software product that users wear and love. The team is described as passionate about movement, joy, and inclusion — events like SF Design Week “Build Your Superpowers” highlight a fun, community‑focused culture.

## Sources
1. [Skip Official Website – About](https://www.skipwithjoy.com/aboutus)
2. [Skip Careers Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/skip) (via LinkedIn)
3. [Skip LinkedIn Company Profile](https://www.linkedin.com/company/skipwithjoy)
4. [Skip on DayOne.fm](https://dayone.fm/company/skip)
5. [Tracxn Company Profile](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/skip/__d5pUuD-03STihX3ls-azp7_yxK90CKdZqKMe_5V_ybk)

## Other roles at Skip

- [Mechatronics / Power Train Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/mechatronics-power-train-lead-skip-san-francisco-xhwqnn9yfnk4) — San Francisco, CA
- [Product Design Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/product-design-engineer-skip-san-francisco-wz4q1js4r7f0) — San Francisco, CA
- [Infrastructure Security Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/infrastructure-security-engineer-skip-san-francisco-3mj34y9pndec) — San Francisco, CA
- [Hardware Reliability Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-reliability-engineer-skip-san-francisco-f77vrymrgqpp) — San Francisco, CA
- [Robotics Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-generalist-skip-san-francisco-sbhgas1my2n5) — San Francisco, CA
- [Firmware Engineering Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/firmware-engineering-lead-skip-san-francisco-zq25ysz3q2zn) — San Francisco, CA
- [Backend Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/backend-engineer-skip-san-francisco-ss58qjf9g74s) — San Francisco, CA
- [Engineering Program Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/engineering-program-manager-skip-san-francisco-0tzvkvdtzqsn) — San Francisco, CA
- [Software Engineer, Test](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-test-skip-san-francisco-hbhweafhbqbj) — San Francisco, CA
- [Motor Control Firmware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/motor-control-firmware-engineer-skip-san-francisco-y1ha2rnpa2bq) — San Francisco, CA