Community Specialist, Africa

In short

This role is key to building On’s brand presence across Africa, starting with Kenya and South Africa. You will lead the planning and execution of locally relevant brand initiatives that connect with communities, athletes, retailers, and distribution partners. From supporting grassroots running groups and emerging athletes to strengthening commercial partnerships, you will help define how On shows up in key running hubs across the continent. Working closely with teams across EMEA and global functions—particularly Commercial and Brand Experience—you’ll balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution in a fast-moving, collaborative environment.

Please note this role is based out of Nairobi, Kenya with approx. 40 - 50% travel required.

Your Mission

• You will lead grassroots events and community strategies across Africa, creating locally relevant brand experiences and content that reflect On’s global vision and connect with running communities.
• You will build strong cross-functional connections between On and our retail and distributor partners to drive brand awareness and loyalty with running groups, ambassadors, and other community leaders.
• You will plan and deliver impactful 360° brand experiences, ensuring everything is customer-centric and focused on future growth.
• You will conduct regular market research to understand the needs, challenges, and trends within local running communities and adapt community initiatives accordingly.
• You will gather feedback from community members to identify opportunities for new programs, partnerships, and brand engagement.
• You will monitor community growth, engagement metrics, and event attendance to evaluate program success and report insights to the global team.

Your story

• You enjoy being out and about, visiting our communities, and building strong, lasting relationships.
• You have 3-5 years of proven experience in community building roles within the sportswear, outdoor, culture or a related consumer-facing industry where matrix collaboration between internal and external stakeholders was key.
• You have exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across cross-functional teams and external partners to deliver 360-degree campaigns.
• You are happy to step out of your comfort zone, embrace new challenges, and are eager to learn new skills.
• You thrive in collaborative environments, understanding that teamwork drives greater achievements.
• You have excellent verbal and written English skills. Understanding Swahili is an advantage
• Travel is required, approximately 40%-50% of the time, to attend activations in key markets.

What to expect

We want to set everyone up for success, so here’s the lowdown on how we hire. Our process is a two-way street – bringing you into our culture, while helping us learn how you think.

Our full process can last about eight weeks from application to offer, because we care about getting it right. These steps explain how we usually do things.

Before you get started, feel free to consider if you want to work with us. Strange question? Well, we give people a lot of space to navigate their day-to-day and that style isn't for everyone. We want you to be passionate about what you do and be sure this is the right fit. Because when skills and passion combine – it creates that 'Wow' moment.

• Step One

  It starts with you...

  You'll start by submitting your application to a specific role. We try to keep this step as simple as possible. We do get a lot of applications, but we review them all. We ask that you allow around 14 days for us to come back to you with a response. If you are a good fit to the role, someone will follow up with you within that window. If you didn't receive a reply, or were unsuccessful this time around, we encourage you to look for other possible matches at On.

• Step Two

  Interview with a recruiter

  What ignites your spirit? This is where we’ll start getting to know all about you and what makes you tick – and it’s your first chance to get a feel for our culture. Chatting with a member of our talent team, you’ll learn more about On and how we work. We’ll learn about what motivates you and what you could bring to the team.

• Step Three

  Interview with a hiring manager

  Ready to dig into the details? This second interview will be held with your future manager and will focus on the specifics of the job. Together you’ll delve into your unique skills and experiences and how they could be relevant at On. It's also a time to assess how you might feel working side-by-side. Bring any questions you have about the job, the team or anything else you might like to know – this is an open forum.

• Step Four

  The Case Study

  What's your style? This task will help us understand how you think, face a challenge and give insight into your novel ideas. Designed to give everyone their best shot, your case study is based on something you might typically experience on the job. This is your chance to show us what you’ve got. So express yourself. Be you.

• Step Five

  The Experience Day

  Your first taste of the Oniverse. This is a time to meet some of the people you'll be working closest with. In person or virtually, you'll get a feel for the day-to-day at On and the people who make it happen. You'll chat with a few potential teammates - the conversations will be as equally driven by the role and your experience as by our values. We believe how you do things is just as important as what you do.

• Step Six

  The Result

  Are we a good fit? We’ll get together internally to share our feedback and decide if we’re a match. We know that job searching is a big time investment, so it’s not a decision we take lightly. It’s also time for you to reflect on the experience – are we the right place for you? No matter the outcome, we’ll give you meaningful feedback.

Step One:

It starts with you...

You'll start by submitting your application to a specific role.

We try to keep this step as simple as possible. We do get a lot of applications, but we review them all. We ask that you allow around 14 days for us to come back to you with a response. If you are a good fit to the role, someone will follow up with you within that window. If you didn't receive a reply, or were unsuccessful this time around, we encourage you to look for other possible matches at On.