Senior Lead - Footwear Tooling Engineer

In short

As the Senior Lead of Footwear Tooling Engineering, you will define the strategic vision and direct the engineering execution for the bottom units of On’s high-performance footwear. Working in a highly collaborative environment, you will lead a team of tooling engineers to shape the future direction of our pinnacle performance products and technologies, actively advancing On’s sustainability and innovation goals.

You will act as the overarching authority on bottom unit development, bridging the gap between On Labs in Zurich and our Tooling and Manufacturing partners in Asia. From concept inception through commercialization, you will guide your team and cross-functional partners on bottom unit materials, complex geometries, and construction. Beyond daily development, you will be the primary driver for organizational process improvements, budget management, and long-term capability building for tooling across the company.

Your mission

• Technical Direction: Direct the holistic bottom unit development strategy for On’s performance and lifestyle products, serving as the ultimate technical authority on materials, mold construction, and advanced manufacturing capabilities.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Act as the strategic engineering partner to senior leadership across Design, Development, and Product Management, guiding teams through complex design and construction constraints to achieve pinnacle biomechanical performance.
• Process & Workflow Transformation: Spearhead structural workflow evaluations, establishing macro-level process improvements to maximize global efficiencies, accelerate prototyping, and advance testing protocols.
• Manufacturing & Technology Strategy: Leverage deep expertise in advanced performance foam technologies and tooling constructions to act as the primary technical advisor to product creation teams. Guide Design, Development, and Product Management on design feasibility, manufacturing capabilities, and the successful integration of next-generation midsole components.
• Global Partnership: Drive strategic partnerships with our Asian tooling counterparts and tier-1 mold shop teams, elevating collaboration models and proactively resolving high-level manufacturing concerns and tooling revisions.
• Quality & Standards: Establish best-in-class standards for manufacturability and durability, overseeing the team's review of 2D/3D CADs and physical prototypes to ensure strict alignment with product specifications.

Your story

• Brand Experience: Proven track record working directly within a global performance athletic footwear brand. You must possess a deep understanding of the brand-side product creation lifecycle, consumer expectations, and how to align technical engineering with overarching brand strategies.
• Experience: 10+ years of progressive experience in footwear engineering, specifically focused on footwear tooling, bottom unit development, and production.
• Technical Authority: Expert-level knowledge of footwear materials, advanced mold construction, and manufacturing processes. Deep mastery of plastics injection molding principles, structural design constraints, and tooling cost analysis.
• Software Proficiency: Strong background overseeing or executing 2D and 3D CAD work (Rhino, SolidWorks, etc.), 3D modeling, and rapid prototyping tools.
• Biomechanical Application: Extensive experience translating biomechanical performance principles into functional, manufacturable bottom unit designs.
• Strategic & Collaborative Mindset: Proven ability to influence cross-functional directors and leads across Design, Product Management, and Testing.
• Global Communication: Exceptional communication skills with a track record of successfully navigating and negotiating with international manufacturing partners on complex tooling and production challenges.
• Agility: Excellent project management and resource allocation skills, with the ability to manage multiple overlapping timelines and departmental priorities.
• Travel: Available to travel to Asia up to 2-4 times a year for strategic factory and mold shop visits.