Senior Lead - Sustainability, Footwear Creation

In short

At On, innovation, performance, and sustainability go hand in hand and it's in the creation process where big ideas meet real-world impact. As Senior Lead, Sustainability - Footwear Creation, you'll turn sustainability vision into scalable reality. Working at the intersection of Footwear Development, Engineering, Materials, and Testing, you'll ensure every product decision moves us closer to a lower-impact, higher-quality future. You'll act as the change leader and trusted advisor for sustainable creation, providing the structure, expertise, and insight that enable teams to make the right decisions at the right time, while partnering closely with our Sustainability Design, Strategy and Innovation Management leaders to connect concept, creation, and scale, shaping how sustainability lives across On's entire footwear ecosystem.

Your story

• 8+ years of progressive experience within the apparel or footwear industry with similar industrial production challenges
• Educational background in material or environmental science
• You are first and foremost an operator - someone who thrives on setting targets, hitting deadlines, and turning complex strategy into structured execution.
• With a background in footwear product creation and experience working within a production or factory environment, you understand the full journey from concept to manufacturable product.
• You're motivated by solving practical challenges, aligning people, processes, and priorities to deliver measurable progress. You balance sustainability with performance, aesthetics, quality, cost, scale, and manufacturability, knowing that true innovation lives in the balance of these elements.
• You bring a project-management mindset, able to turn ambition into roadmaps and roadmaps into results. You thrive in fast-moving, cross-functional environments where precision and accountability matter.
• You are a trusted partner and change enabler, able to simplify complexity, guide teams with clarity, and use data and storytelling to drive confidence in decision-making. You may not have held a formal sustainability title, but you deeply understand sustainable creation practices and their potential to shape better products and processes.
• You combine visionary ambition with operational discipline and a passion for getting things done, turning ideas into tangible outcomes that redefine how sustainable footwear is made at scale.