In Short
As a Lead Innovation Commercialization Engineer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of On's product evolution. With a high degree of autonomy, you will lead complex projects, challenge conventions, and advocate for innovative approaches that redefine footwear. This position demands mastery of technical complexity, the ability to manage key stakeholder relationships, and the talent to translate visionary concepts into scalable, performance-driven products.
Your Mission
- Independently manage multiple high-impact footwear development projects from confirmation through production, defining methods and procedures for new assignments, while potentially supervising other team members.
- Spearhead upper grading through the computational design process, leveraging your expertise in manufacturing processes, fit, and material properties. Your strong root-cause analysis mindset will be essential for troubleshooting significant and unique issues related to assembly, fit, and wear.
- Act as a critical liaison between On's inline development and production teams, collaborating closely with strategic vendors to ensure product intent is upheld while meeting commercial and operational requirements.
- Collaborate with computational designers on upper patterns and tooling construction adjustments to enhance fit and durability, ensuring scalable manufacturing. You will be responsible for full-size run grading, technical manufacturing operation manuals, initial production trials, ERP system updates, and scalability sign-off.
- Own the documentation of complex tooling and upper-related issues, defining and communicating clear corrective actions to all stakeholders regarding manufacturing guidelines.
Your Story
- 8+ years of progressive experience in the footwear industry, with a significant focus on innovation and bringing new technologies to market.
- Bachelor’s or Master's Degree in Engineering, Material Science, or a relevant technical field.
- Deep expertise in computational design, as well as in 2D and 3D tools—from early explorations to production-ready 3D datasets.
- Proven ability to lead the scaling of new technologies while assessing their commercial viability and factory readiness.
- Expert-level knowledge of advanced footwear manufacturing processes, including robotics, automation, tooling, molding, injecting, welding, lasting, and assembly. You understand factory capabilities, tolerances, and limitations, and know how to engineer for scalable replication.
- A natural technical curiosity coupled with a robust, root-cause analysis approach to problem-solving.
- Exceptional communication, negotiation, and influencing skills, with the ability to confidently present to senior management and external partners.
- A demonstrated ability to work with a high degree of autonomy, navigate ambiguity, and make independent judgments on complex and significant issues.
- Experience in mentoring junior team members or supervising project activities is an advantage.
- Willingness to travel up to 15-20% of the time.
About the Team
On's Innovation team is an agile, interdisciplinary group composed of footwear creation specialists, advanced manufacturing experts, and visionaries in the future of sport. Together, we drive On's future innovations and athlete-informed technologies that set On footwear apart. We challenge the status quo and push boundaries to pioneer footwear innovation. As a member of the On Innovation Team, you will think outside the box and bring new, innovative ideas to life.
Application Process
Apply online using the form below. Please note that only applications matching the job profile will be considered.
Work locationZürich, Switzerland