Head of Footwear Development - Football

This executive technical leadership role is based at the Zurich HQ and is responsible for driving On's entry and dominance in Football footwear. The role serves as the ultimate technical authority for the category, connecting radical design vision, elite biomechanical performance and next-generation manufacturing feasibility while shaping the long-term vision for a new and critical category. It reports directly to the Head of Innovation Footwear, leads the dedicated Zurich-based Football Development team and partners closely with global footwear leadership.

• Define and execute the overarching technical and development strategy for Football footwear, including adoption of agile, disruptive manufacturing methods and next-generation tooling.
• Drive category-defining innovation directly from the inline development process to elevate brand equity, performance standards and technological capabilities across the organisation.
• Serve as final technical authority during briefing, design and execution phases, ensuring football-specific demands such as traction, stud configuration, upper lockdown, ball feel and touch meet rigorous scientific standards.
• Lead high-level alignment between Zurich-based Design, Product Management and Biomechanics teams and Asia-based development and manufacturing partners to safeguard the performance identity of the football category across all franchises.
• Build, mentor and scale an elite team of developers and engineers, inspiring a culture of curiosity, technical rigour and hands-on experimentation.
• Identify technical bottlenecks and transform global supply chain capabilities by partnering with tier-1 suppliers and novel manufacturing vendors to enable quick-turn, high-agility production.
• Establish and oversee category-wide validation benchmarks for fit, feel, traction, energy return and long-term durability across all factory partners.

• 10–15+ years of deep expertise in footwear development, with a proven track record specifically within high-performance Football (Soccer) footwear.
• Demonstrated experience implementing unconventional, agile or disruptive manufacturing methods, such as advanced automation, additive manufacturing, 3D/textile innovation or automated bonding.
• Experience building, leading and mentoring technical teams, with executive presence to influence product management, design and external partners at the highest levels.
• Comprehensive understanding of football-specific biomechanics, plate dynamics, stud pressure distribution, specialised last development and upper material behaviour under match conditions.
• Exceptional ability to balance high-risk/high-reward innovation with commercial viability and global supply chain scalability.
• Natural bridge-building capability to translate creative vision into technical reality across diverse, multi-regional teams from HQ to Asia execution.
• Fluency in English, verbal and written, with exceptional consultative and strategic presentation skills.
• Deep knowledge of football footwear heritage combined with an obsession for tearing down old rules to build radical new systems.
• Focus on both the "how" and the "where next", ensuring the football category's technical roadmap pushes the limits of physics and athlete capability.
• Agility to pivot quickly, challenge traditional manufacturing timelines and integrate cutting-edge concepts into inline production.

• Zurich HQ