Senior Lead - Sustainability, Footwear Creation / Senior Lead - Sustainability, Footwear Creation

Join Us as Senior Lead, Sustainability - Footwear Creation

At On, we believe innovation, performance, and sustainability are inextricably linked. As a Senior Lead in Sustainability - Footwear Creation, you will transform visionary sustainability concepts into tangible realities. You will collaborate at the intersection of Footwear Development, Engineering, Materials, and Testing, ensuring that each product decision guides us toward a lower-impact, higher-quality future. Your role as a change leader and trusted advisor in sustainable creation will be pivotal in providing the structure and expertise needed for effective decision-making, while closely partnering with our Sustainability Design, Strategy, and Innovation Management leaders to integrate sustainability into every aspect of On's footwear ecosystem.

Your Mission

• Translate sustainability from concept to scale: Guide the transition of sustainability ambitions into everyday practices, ensuring every step in the design, development, and scaling processes minimizes impact while enhancing product quality.
• Define and implement frameworks: Establish frameworks, tools, and metrics to embed sustainability in Development, Engineering, Materials, and Testing.
• Act as a thought partner: Assist teams in interpreting data and making informed decisions regarding materials, processes, and product construction.
• Provide clarity and structure: Ensure consistent application of sustainability principles across the creation process.
• Anticipate dependencies: Translate complex goals into practical roadmaps that balance innovation, performance, cost, and manufacturability.
• Communicate progress: Use storytelling and data to connect initiatives with tangible impacts across products and teams.

Drive Sustainable Creation and Material Integration

• Lead key initiatives: Scale up projects like dope dyeing and low-impact dyeing solutions across core footwear franchises, aligning teams across Development, Engineering, Materials, and Sourcing.
• Integrate sustainability into workflows: Seamlessly include sustainability considerations from material selection and component engineering to prototyping and testing.
• Collaborate with Sourcing: Act as the bridge for transfer and scaling, preparing suppliers for successful commercialization.
• Work with Testing: Validate the durability and quality of products to ensure sustainability choices enhance performance and longevity.
• Partner with Material Leadership: Evolve the footwear material toolbox to increase the use of preferred, low-impact materials without compromising on aesthetics or quality.
• Track and report KPIs: Monitor metrics related to material integration, waste reduction, sample creation, and process improvements, contributing to On’s Impact Progress Report.

Enable Teams and Lead Change

• Serve as a change catalyst: Inspire teams to see sustainability as a driver of innovation and quality.
• Deliver training and tools: Equip creation teams with the frameworks needed to make sustainability-focused decisions decisively.
• Provide expert guidance: Offer coaching on LCA interpretation and sustainable decision-making processes.
• Foster collaboration: Ensure effective sustainability practices and learnings are shared between our Zurich Lab and VN creation hubs.
• Influence peers and leaders: Embed sustainability into planning and success metrics across Product Creation.

Your Story

We are seeking candidates with:

• 8+ years of progressive experience in the apparel or footwear industry, facing similar production challenges.
• An educational background in material or environmental science.
• A proven track record as an operator, capable of setting targets, meeting deadlines, and executing complex strategies.
• Experience in footwear product creation with insights into the journey from concept to manufacturable product.
• A motivation for resolving practical challenges, aligning processes, and delivering measurable progress in sustainability while balancing aesthetics, quality, and manufacturability.
• A project-management mindset that transforms ambition into actionable roadmaps, particularly in fast-paced, cross-functional environments.
• A trusted partnership ability accompanied by clear guidance and a knack for utilizing data storytelling to instill confidence in decision-making.

While you may not have held a formal sustainability title, your understanding of sustainable creation practices will be instrumental in shaping better products and processes. You combine visionary ambition with operational discipline, ready to turn innovative ideas into palpable outcomes that redefine sustainable footwear production at scale.

Apply online using the form below. Only applications matching the job profile will be considered.

About the Team

We are a small team with big responsibilities. In our Footwear Materials team, we implement and execute the sustainability strategy across the company through sustainable materials, shaping the future of our organization. Our work encompasses research, strategic planning, project implementation, and product innovation with a focus on sustainable materials and footwear. A primary objective is to actively drive material sustainability priorities while collaborating intensively across departments, ensuring effective communication and education surrounding these critical topics. As the Senior Lead, you will play a vital role in leading the team and fostering collaboration across our global footwear creation network.