Description

In short
As a Lead, Innovation commercialization engineer, you will be a driving force at the forefront of On's product evolution. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy to lead complex projects, challenge conventions, and champion innovative approaches that define the future of footwear. This role requires you to master technical complexity, manage key stakeholder relationships, and translate visionary concepts into scalable, performance-driven products.

Your Mission
- As a leader within the team, you will independently manage multiple high-impact footwear development projects from confirmation through production, define methods and procedures for new assignments, and potentially supervise other team members.
- You will spearhead upper grading through the computational design process, leveraging your expert knowledge of manufacturing processes, fit, and material properties. Your strong root-cause analysis mindset will be crucial in troubleshooting significant and unique issues related to assembly, fit, and wear.
- As the central hub for On’s key manufacturing regions, you will act as a critical liaison between On's inline development and production teams, working closely with strategic vendors to ensure product intent is maintained while meeting commercial and operational requirements.
- Collaborating with computational designers, you will work on upper patterns and tooling construction adjustments to enhance fit and durability, and to ensure scalable manufacturing. You will be responsible for full-size run grading, technical manufacturing operation manuals, initial production trial, ERP system update, and scalability sign off, among others.
- You will own the documentation of complex tooling and upper-related issues, defining and communicating clear correction actions to all stakeholders for 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 another relevant technical field.
- Deep expertise in computational design as well as 2D and 3D tools - from early explorations to production-ready 3D datasets.
- Proven ability to not only lead the scaling of new technologies but also to assess 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 and 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, navigating ambiguity, and making independent judgments on complex and significant issues.
- Experience in mentoring junior team members or supervising project activities is a strong plus.
- Ability to travel up to 15-20% of the time.

About the Team
On's Innovation team is an agile, interdisciplinary group of footwear creation, advanced manufacturing, and future-of-sport experts, driving 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.