Designer Clay Dean with the Cadillac Ciel concept, the design of which he oversaw during his tenure at GM's luxury brand.

One of General Motors’ top designers has quit the automaker for a new job with a maker of stylish athletic clothing.

Clay Dean, who held several key positions during his long career with GM, where he is credited with breathing new life in the Cadillac brand when he served as design chief, has taken a job as chief designer for Under Armour, a maker of sports clothing and equipment that is one of the major rival for Nike.

Dean, according to Baltimore-based Under Armour. will be responsible for driving Under Armour’s global vision and strategy for Innovation, and cross-functional collaboration with its internal design, marketing, product and category management teams.

He will be based out of the company’s Global Headquarters in Baltimore, and will report to Kevin Haley, president of category management and Innovation.

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Dean joins Under Armour after more than 20 years of success at GM, most recently leading GM’s Global Advanced Design organization. His extensive design portfolio includes leading the strategic creative vision for several of GM’s concept cars.

In addition to overseeing Cadillac, he served as the Chief Designer that produced the Hummer H2, H2 SUT and H3 programs, exploring GM’s future mobility solutions, as well as collaborating on athletic footwear projects with a major brand.

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“Clay brings a unique perspective to Under Armour and deep roots in design, manufacturing and innovation that will be critical in guiding how we make and deliver products now and in the future,” Haley said.

“At Under Armour, a relentless pursuit of innovation is at the core of everything we do. Adding Clay’s proven expertise further validates our commitment to meaningfully advance our ability to bring category-defining products and technology to our consumers,” added Haley.

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Dean was considered a top contender to replace Ed Welburn as head of GM. Welburn retired last year but the top design job ultimately the top job in GM design went instead to Mike Simcoe.