Lead - Footwear Materials Costing

In short

We are seeking a hands-on Footwear Material Manufacturing Expert with deep knowledge of footwear-relevant materials, processes, and cost drivers. This role requires someone who truly understands how materials are made — from compounding to forming to finishing — and can translate that expertise into long-range cost strategy for On Running Footwear. As a collaborative partner across Materials, Development, Product Strategy, Innovation and Production, you will shape our multi-year material cost roadmap, define seasonal material cost direction, and guide strategic choices across categories. This role is more providing on material cost strategy and on selected supplier's discussion and negotiation.

Your Mission

Material Cost Strategy & Roadmap Build and own the 3–5 year material cost roadmap across key categories (foams, textiles, rubbers, plastics, sustainability materials, etc.). Translate manufacturing trends, input-cost movement, and technology changes into cost strategic implications. Recommend proactive strategies including material substitution, platforming, sourcing shifts, and Volume leverage. Seasonal Material Cost Direction Be able to provide seasonal material cost guardrails for Materials, Development, Design and Product Strategy from Costing perspective Identify high-impact materials each season and align cost expectations early. Influence material choices through early insights on cost, manufacturability, and future risk. Material Manufacturing Expertise Support as On Running’s material manufacturing experts, able to deep-dive into: EVA & Rubber compounding Foam and midsole technologies (traditional, supercritical, injection, etc.) Textile knitting/weaving/dyeing processes Plastics molding and recycling flows Adhesives, films, and structural components Evaluate new technologies for cost, scalability, manufacturability, and performance impact. Cross-Functional Partnership Partner with Materials, Development, Product Strategy, Innovation, to align cost strategy and seasonal direction from Cost Perspective Support internally Costing team with frameworks and insights to guide their supplier price negotiation. Build trust-based relationships with T2/T3 suppliers as needed. Data, Insights & Governance Build cost models and material insights to influence cross-functional decisions. Maintain governance on material cost logic and ensure alignment across all product creation teams. Communicate cost risks, opportunities, and long-term outlook.

Your story

7–10+ years in material manufacturing or material engineering — footwear materials strongly preferred. Strong technical understanding of EVA, rubber, foams, textiles, plastics, and advanced materials. Ability to translate technical material understanding into cost strategy and design guidance. Strong analytical skills and comfort with cost modeling. Excellent collaborator with a team-oriented, open, positive mindset. Able to influence without direct authority and work across functions with clarity and humility. Experience in material costing or cost engineering is a strong plus.⸻Why This Role Matters You will be the material cost expert guiding On Running’s cost competitiveness for the next coming years You will influence design and development early You will shape material Cost frameworks that support smarter decision-making across Materials, Development, Design and Product Strategy.

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.