Lead – Footwear Developer (Performance Trail)

As a Lead Footwear Developer for Performance Trail, you will own the technical realization and process management of On’s most rugged off-road products. You will manage the entire development lifecycle—from initial concept to on-time production and commercialization—serving as a thought leader who ensures every innovation is grounded in technical reality. This role is for a developer who embodies the athlete spirit, possessing a deep curiosity to engineer industry-leading products for the most demanding environments.

Your Mission

• Process & Timeline Ownership: Own and represent the product development process for the Performance Trail category, ensuring all critical dates and calendar milestones are met through on-time production.

• Technical Stewardship: Act as the technical advisor during briefing and design phases to ensure complex trail concepts are aligned with performance metrics and global manufacturing capabilities.

• Communication Hub: Facilitate technical alignment between Zurich-based teams and Asia-based sourcing partners, acting as a "technical translator" to preserve the performance integrity of the trail category.

• Material & Tooling Expertise: Provide expert recommendations on specialized trail materials, high-traction compounds, and technical tooling to balance functional requirements with pricing targets.

• Validation & Insight: Work hand-in-hand with the testing team and biomechanics experts to validate prototypes, utilizing an athlete and consumer insight mindset to solve complex off-road hurdles.

• Cost & Efficiency Management: Monitor product costs and identify opportunities for construction efficiencies without compromising the technical "soul" of the trail product.

Innovation Commercialization: Partner closely with the innovation team to successfully bring new trail-specific technologies and "Swiss Engineering" breakthroughs to market.

Your Story

• Experience: 6+ years of experience in the footwear industry, with a background rooted in high-performance running/trail and technical outdoor complexity.

• Trail Thought Leadership: Recognized for your extensive knowledge of the trail running industry and your ability to translate athlete needs into industry-leading technical solutions.

• Advanced Development Expertise: Proven knowledge in the end-to-end product development process; including prototyping and sampling management.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Strong ability to connect, lead and influence diverse teams—including design, product marketing, and innovation—across different geographical locations.

• Strategic Judgment: Highly skilled at evaluating technical trade-offs to balance cutting-edge innovation with commercial scalability.

• The Athlete Spirit: You possess a genuine passion for the trails and a relentless drive to build the best fitting, performing, and desirable trail products in the market.

Your Team

You will join the Zurich-based Footwear Development team, a high-performance collective of engineers, developers, and makers who serve as the technical heart of the brand. In Zurich, our team acts as the primary link between the Consumer, Athlete, Biomechanical Research, Material Science, Design, and Sourcing, ensuring that every innovation is grounded in technical reality before it reaches the athlete.

Our mission is to relentlessly elevate the performance and technical attributes of our running footwear. We don't just facilitate product creation; we engineer the "ride." As part of the Performance Run vertical, you will be surrounded by specialists who are obsessed with creating the best fitting, performing and desirable running product in the market. We pride ourselves on a culture of technical rigor and "Swiss Engineering," where we challenge the status quo to create the highest performing and desirable product in the industry. Your role within this team is to ensure that as our category expands, our technical standards and the performance "soul" of our run footwear remain uncompromised.