Senior Specialist - Footwear Materials

Senior Specialist - Footwear Material Sourcing

In Short:

As a Senior Specialist, Material Sourcing, you will drive end-to-end material sourcing inline with On’s global sourcing strategy. You will work closely with suppliers, factories,and cross-functional teams to ensure materials meet performance, quality, timeline, cost, and sustainability requirements. You will play a key role in material development, supplier management, and sourcing execution for high-performance footwear products.

Your Mission:

• Lead end-to-end material sourcing activities in alignment with On’s sourcing strategy.

• Identify, develop, and manage material suppliers to support business and product needs.

• Evaluate supplier capabilities in terms of lead time, manufacturing process, quality standards, and target pricing.

• Ensure material availability according to development timelines, sourcing policies, and commercialization milestones.

• Support the creation and sourcing of technical, high-performance materials in line with design briefs.

• Own material-related execution from concept through production, ensuring smooth integration between T2 suppliers and T1 factories.

• Contribute to material-specific targets linked to On’s sustainability roadmap.

• Identify opportunities to improve material performance, sustainability, and operational efficiency.

• Manage and maintain core and seasonal material toolboxes, material libraries, and relevant PLM updates.

• Define and manage technical specifications, quality standards, and sourcing execution for textiles and components.

• Partner with testing and QA teams to ensure materials meet required physical testing criteria and approval standards.

• Troubleshoot material issues using technical knowledge of yarns, constructions, polymers, and material performance.

• Build strong working relationships with material suppliers, chemical vendors, factories, and internal stakeholders.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Design, Development, Product Marketing, Innovation, Sustainability, Planning, and factory teams.

• Experienced in leather: sourcing, grading, quality guideline, leather process.

Your Story:

• Bachelor’s degree in Textile Engineering, Footwear Technology, Material Science, or a related field.

• Around 5+ years of experience in the global footwear industry or a related field.

• Strong experience working with material suppliers and manufacturing partners in Asia.

• Good understanding of footwear design, development, and technical performance materials.

• Strong knowledge of textiles, yarns, constructions, polymers, and material testing requirements.

• Experience managing material development and sourcing from concept to commercialization.

• Strong project management and cross-functional communication skills.

• Able to work independently in a fast-paced, international environment.

• Fluent in English; Mandarin is a plus.

Meet Your Team:

• You will be working with some of the brightest minds in the industry

On is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating a work environment that is fair and inclusive, where all decisions related to recruitment, advancement, and retention are free of discrimination.