Lead - Footwear Design

In short

We’re excited to offer the opportunity to join On as a Lead Footwear Designer within the Performance All Day vertical. In this role, you will champion the creative direction and strategic design exploration of future-forward footwear concepts. You will steer the full creative process—from early insights and design vision to validated product concepts ready for development—guiding both the team and category toward new and inspiring innovations that elevate the On design language.

Your Mission

• Lead Design Exploration for an entire footwear family, providing strategic direction and ensuring design cohesion across models and seasons.
• Own the creative journey end-to-end, from insight gathering to validating concepts and briefing for production readiness.
• Drive and define the movement-lifestyle aesthetic, delivering technology-driven yet culturally relevant design solutions.
• Establish the creative foundation by developing concepts, narratives, inspiration frameworks, mock-ups, visuals, and 2D/3D design assets.
• Set new creative standards, bringing bold originality, curiosity, and a forward-looking vision that identifies new business and design opportunities.
• Shape the future style direction, fueled by a deep understanding of fashion, culture, sustainability, and evolving consumer lifestyles.
• Communicate creative strategy clearly and convincingly to stakeholders, confidently presenting long-term vision and seasonal direction.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration, partnering closely with On’s Zurich and Vietnam product creation & development teams to ensure aesthetic excellence aligned with performance.
• Leverage consumer and cultural insight, using trend intelligence and future-living research to influence design direction and cross-category thinking.
• Stay ahead of materials, construction, and industry innovation, connecting these insights with On’s brand identity and performance DNA.
• Mentor and inspire designers, fostering a high-level creative culture and supporting the growth of others through feedback, reviews, and example.
• Act as a brand ambassador, building strong relationships across design, innovation, product management, and marketing.

Your story

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Industrial/Product Design or related field.
• 7 + years of relevant footwear or product design experience, with proven impact at a senior or lead design level.
• Strong knowledge of footwear materials, constructions, knits, engineered textiles, and emerging manufacturing technologies.
• Demonstrated ability to set creative direction and own a category, from early vision to execution-ready outcomes.
• Exceptional skills in 2D design tools (Adobe Creative Suite); 3D capabilities (Rhino, Blender, Gravity Sketch, etc.) are a strong advantage.
• Awareness of AI as an emerging design tool, and interest in integrating it into exploration workflows.
• Advanced sketching, storytelling, prototyping, and visualization skills.
• Bold, boundary-pushing creativity with strong business and consumer awareness.
• Clear, structured communicator with excellent presentation skills.
• Strong time-management abilities and comfort leading multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Passion for working cross-functionally and nurturing team culture.
• Fluent in English; additional languages are a plus.

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. If you're a good fit to the role, a recruiter will follow up with you directly. 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. If you're a good fit to the role, a recruiter will follow up with you directly. If you didn't receive a reply, or were unsuccessful this time around, we encourage you to look for other possible matches at On.